Bombs fall, and there's not much we can say about it on ESB. This is what it sounds like when one lone Lebanese trumpeter with nerves of steel braves an aerial bombardment to perform an experimental duet with the IDF ordnance. His name is Mazen Kerbaj, and he's a prolific experimental musician and graphic artist in Beirut.





Please check out his blog.

I think a klezmer group should play during a Katyusha strike in Haifa, or maybe an Afghani troupe lay down some rhythms while the Taliban and NATO clash. My open statement to musicians in conflict zones around the world: don't give up on your music. Don't get me wrong, we all want you to be safe. No one would ever ask of you to put yourself in imminent danger to make or record music...but if you can safely and cautiously continue to express yourselves as you would in times of relative peace, then by all means, record music, and send it to us, like Mazen Kerbaj has. Music listeners in North America are very comfortable, and your work might inspire more of us to think beyond the freshest remix or the latest show and realize that music is more than just a light hobby you engage in for fun and enjoyment. To speak with music is to sing the soul itself.

Let's make a compilation out of this. We'll call it MUSIC IS BETTER THAN WAR.

By the way, Canada, in case you haven't noticed, we're totally at war in Afghanistan, and it's only intensifying.



ESB PLAYLIST 8/4/06

A-TRAK - Knucklehead
ESG - Gimme A Blast
ESG - Insane (Bass Mix)
PINK SKULL - Y;aaa nnng!
MICHAEL DRACULA - Destroy Yourself
BLACK MOUNTAIN - Stormy High
BLACK MOUNTAIN - Voices
SANDRO PERRI - Sky Histoire
BLACK OX ORKESTAR - Ratsekr Grec
BLACK OX ORKESTAR - Bukharian
THE HUMAN BEINZ - Nobody But Me (Pilooski Edit)