Habibi Funk 023: Marzipan

Released

Charif Megarbane is a Bandcamp success story if ever there was one. Since 2005 he’s been releasing a truly astonishing amount of music under dozens of names (Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Firahc Enabragem, Trans Mara Express, Heroes and Villains, Free Association Syndicat to name a few), mostly through the Bandcamp page for his “label” Hisstology. For years the Lebanon-native churned out record after record, always playing every single instrument himself and making music that ranges from Italian-style film scores, beat tapes, scorching funk, afrobeat, soul, experimental electronica and more. Marzipan, released on by-now-legendary label Habibi Funk, perfectly encapsulates Megarbane’s incredible musical breadth while still sounding like a cohesive album. While different tracks wander off to explore all sorts of sounds, the fil rouge here is definitely Megarbane’s home country and wider region, so that Marzipan feels like a psychedelic, feverish ride through a drama filled Middle Eastern movie: “Lebrary” as he calls it, a vision of Lebanon told through kaleidoscopic, expansive sounds of library music.

Megan Iacobini de Fazio