Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels, by Mayssa Jallad

Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels

by Mayssa Jallad

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jiristepan Darkened pop full of collective memory and architecture. Fascinating sonically and emotionally.

littlemerman What a special and haunting record.

Brad Rose This was featured on the March 27, 2023 episode of Foxy Digitalis Daily: foxydigitalis.zone/2023/03/27/foxy-digitalis-daily-3-27-23-mayssa-jallad/ Favorite track: Holiday Inn (January to March).

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Download includes a high-res map of 1975 Beirut in PDF format, showing the key buildings of the "Battle of the Hotels" - based on Mayssa Jallad's Master's thesis ("Beirut’s Civil War Hotel District: Preserving the World’s First High-Rise Urban Battlefield") – the map was designed in Beirut by Josette Khalil, Leen Charafeddine, Maya Chams and Mayssa Jallad.

[THE VINYL VERSION OF THIS ALBUM WILL BE AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER 2023]

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Full Digital Discography

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Kaput, Enfin La Nuit, Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels, Low Toms Bright Bells and Darkest Spells, Snakeskin, The Silence Between The New World And The Aftermath, Sanctuary, On The Rooftop Looking Up, and 53 more. , and , .

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1.	Etel 04:12	lyrics	buy track
Etel أمشي وحدي وأنظرْ إلى الآفاقْ ما هذهِ الشمسُ الزرقاءْ مَنْ يسكنْ هنا لا أحدْ يسكنْ هنا مدينتي رهينةُ ناطحاتِ السحابْ دهاليز دهاليز I walk alone and look at the sky What is this blue sun? Who lives here Nobody lives here My city is the hostage of skyscrapers Corridors, corridors
2.	Kharita 01:57	lyrics	buy track
Kharita أمشي وحدي وفي يدي خريطَهْ لا أفهمْ منها شيء ء ء ء ء I walk the streets alone, in my hand a map That I don’t understand
3.	Baynana 02:53	lyrics	buy track
Baynana هناكَ مستشفى هنا ولكنني لا أراهْ هناك فندقٌ هنا يملأُ السماء هناك قناصٌ هنا يسقطُ منَ الفضاءْ هناك أشباحٌ هنا والقتلةُ أحياءٌ احرارٌ بيننا There is a hospital here, but I don’t see it There is a hotel here, it fills the sky There is a sniper, he falls in space There are ghosts here and the killers and free and alive among us
4.	Mudun 02:32	lyrics	buy track
Mudun يُقَسِّمونَ الأحياءْ، يَضُمّونَ الأراضي يُفَكِّكونَ العائلاتْ، يُدَمِّرونَ المَباني يُوَظِّفونَ الأقرِباءْ، يُهَجِّرونَ الأهالي يَستَثمِرون المشاريعَ الكُبرى، يُشَرِّعونَها بالتَّوالي وإنْ تَجَرّأتَ أن تَفضَحَهم يُهدّدونكَ بالماضي وإنْ تجرّأتَ أن تفضَحَهُم يهدِّدونْ فَيرتَفِعُ القَنّاصُ في ذاتِ المِصعَدِ ويُباشرْ بالقتالِ في غُرَفِ النّومِ الفارِغَهْ والمطابخِ الفارِغَهْ وغُرَفِ الجلوسِ وغُرَفِ العاملاتِ ودهاليزِ السماء كل هذه البيوت الفارغة ومدينتي مُدنْ They divide neighborhoods, they merge plots They tear up families, they destroy buildings They hire their relatives, they displace locals They fund grand projects, and license them afterwards And if you dare expose them, they threaten you with the past And so the sniper rises up in the elevator and starts to kill In the empty bedrooms Empty kitchens Empty living rooms Empty maids rooms And the corridors of the sky All these empty houses And my city becomes cities
5.	Haigazian (October 22) 02:10	lyrics	buy track
Haigazian (October 22) يختبئُ أحدٌ في جسدي بينَ قناطري وأشعرْ به يركُضُ والسلاحُ في يدِهِ يختبئُ "أزرقٌ" في جسدي يريدُ اقتحامَ البنكِ المركزي كالآخرينَ في شارع ِ المصارفِ ولكنْ أرى الحمراءَ تتصدّى ويشتدُّ القتالُ في دهاليزِ القِنطاري Someone is hiding in my body, between my arches, I feel them running with weapons in their hands Blue is hiding in my body. It wants to invade the Central Bank like they all did at Banks’ Street But I see Red is resisting and the fighting moves to the corridors of Kantari
6.	Burj Al Murr (October 25 to 27) 02:45	lyrics	buy track
Burj Al Murr (October 25 to 27) يختبئُ "أحمرٌ" في جسدي يتسلّقُ عَمودي الفِقَري يتنفّسُ ثقيلاً في رِئَتي يصلُ إلى رأسي ينظرُ مِن عيوني، يقتُلُ مِن عيوني صَوبَ شرقِ بيروتْ والزُّرقُ في "رِزقَ" لا يطالوني فيَعبُرُ بعضٌ منهم مِن المقاطعة الرابعةِ إلى فندقِ السماءْ يَدخلونَ لشراءِ السّكائرِ ولا يَخرُجونَ بعدَها والعرقُ يَصُبُّ على جِباهِ رِجالِ الأعمالْ مِنهمْ مَن يختبئُ تحتَ الأسِرّةِ، مِنهمْ مَن يشاهدُ الاقتحامْ إقتحامَ الفنادقِ منَ الشُّرُفاتِ إلى الشَّمالْ يأتي الزُّرقُ في القواربِ مِن خليجِ التِّنّينْ يأتي الزُّرقُ مِن زيتونةِ الدّهاليزْ ويُسَيطرونَ على مِنطقةٍ ليسَتْ مِلكَ أحدٍ بالتّحديدْ Red hides in my body He climbs my spine He breathes heavily down my lungs He reaches my head Looks through my eyes Kills through my eyes Towards East Beirut And the Blues at Rizk could never reach me So some of them cross from Sector 4 towards the sky hotel They come in to buy cigarettes and never leave And businessmen are sweating of fear Some hide under beds And some observe the battle to the North The Blues invade with boats at the Dragon’s bay The Blues invade through the corridors of Zaituneh And they take control of an area that is not the property of anyone in particular
7.	Markaz Azraq (December 6) 03:41	lyrics	buy track
Markaz Azraq (December 6) لا أعتَقِدْ أنّني أحسَستُ بِعُنفٍ كهذا رجُلٌ يصرُخْ في مداخلي رجُلٌ يصرُخْ في سلالمي رجُلٌ يصرُخْ في شوارعي ويحُضُّ الزُّرقَ إلى الثأرْ لا أعتَقِدْ أنّني أحسَستُ بِعُنفٍ كهذا فَقَدَ ابنَهُ الأوّلَ البريءْ قَتَلَهُ قاطعُ طُرُقِ زحلة-ترشيش وبعدَ ثلاثةِ أشهرٍ معَ الـ ب. ج.، قتلوا ابنَهُ الثّاني لا يَعتقدْ أنّهُ أَحَسَّ بعُنفٍ كهذا "ليسَ مِنهُمْ بَريءْ، ليسَ مِنْ مُسلمٍ بَريءْ" لا أعتقدْ أنّهُمْ أَحَسّوا بِعُنفٍ كهذا وفي غُضونِ ساعتَيْنْ قَتَلوا ثلاثَمِئَهْ بذريعةِ الهَوِيَّهْ مِن أمامِ "مركزي" إلى مدخلِ المرفأِ مِن ساحةِ الشهداءْ إلى شِركَةِ الكهرَباءْ فَلْتَسقُطِ المفاوضاتُ مَعْ دمشقْ وتهدئةُ القياداتْ اشتعلتِ المدينةُ وَوَلْوَلَتِ النّساءُ مِن الشُّرُفاتْ ولكن لَمْ يَنَمْ ولكن لَمْ يَنَمْ ولكن لَن يَنامَ بَعدَ ذاكْ I do not think I’ve ever felt such violence A man screams at my entrances A man screams at my stairs A man screams at my streets and calls the Blues for revenge I do not think I’ve ever felt such violence They killed his innocent first son Killed by a pirate on the Zahle Tarchich road And three months in with the Be Jin they kill his second son I do not think he’s felt such violence There are no more innocents No more Muslims are innocent I do not think they’ve felt such violence And in the span of 3 hours, they killed 200, on identity card From my headquarters to the port From Martyrs Square to the Electricity building Let the Damascus negotiations be damned And the leaders’ calming voices too The city was on fire and women wailed from balconies But he never slept But he never slept But he never slept after that
8.	Markaz Ahmar (December 6 suite) 02:53	lyrics	buy track
Markaz Ahmar (December 6 suite) لا بدَّ من ردٍّ أحمرْ لا عودَه لصُلحٍ أكبرْ "الزُّرقُ أفشلوا كلَّ تفويضْ افتعلوا مجزرَه لكي نستجيبْ فكيـــْــــــــفَ نستجيبْ؟" فَرسمَ قاْئدُ الـــــْــــــحُمْرِ خطاً على الخريْطَه يمتدُّ من المرْفأِ إلى ساحةِ الشهداءْ "لا بدَّ من الردِّ لتحريرِ المقاطعة الرابعةِ لا بد من الرد لتحريرِ الفنادقِ من الفاشي" لا بد من الرد... لِتُقْسَمَ مدينتي The Reds must respond There is no turning back The Blues have made all negotiation fail" They provoked a massacre so that we respond How shall we respond And so the Red leader drew a line on a map from the port to Martyrs' square We must respond to free sector 4 We must respond to destroy the fascist hotels We must respond to divide the city
9.	Al Hisar (December 8) 02:05	lyrics	buy track
Al Hisar (December 8) حاصر الحمر منطقة الفنادق رجِعوا إلى أدراج برج المر احتلوا رياضَ الصلحَ و ساحة النِّجمةِ أخذوا مركزاً في البالم بيتش دخلوا خِلسةً الى الورشةِ أمام التنين (أي السان جورج) قاتلوا ... خرجت قوى الأمنِ منهُ أشعَلوا النارَ في الفينيسيا حتىْ اختنقَ الزرقُ فيه دخلوا الألْكزار ثمَّ الإكسلسيور احتلوا كلَّ الفنادقِ بقيَ الهوليداي إنْ The reds encircle the hotel district Thy return to Burj el murr They take control of Riad Al Solh and Place de l’Etoile They take the Palm beach as headquarters They sneak in to the construction site in front of Saint George They fight him until Internal Security Forces flee They set the Phoenicia on fire suffocate them all They invade the Alcazar And the Excelsior All the north hotels are theirs except the Holiday Inn…
10.	Holiday Inn (January to March) 04:48	lyrics	buy track
Holiday Inn (January to March) يختبئُ أزرقٌ في جسدي يعْزِفُ الآلاتِ، يشربُ النبيــْــــذ واقفاً في المصعدِ، متّكئاً على الصواريخ ويدورُ المطعمُ ويدورُ التقنيصْ ويدورُ المطعمُ ويدورُ التقنيصْ على بُعدِ أربع ِ كيلومترْ في الكرنتينا مجزرةْ في الثامنِ عَشَرْ من كانونِ الثاني وعلى بُعدِ عِشرينَ كيلومترْ في الدامور مجزرةْ في العشرينِ من كانونِ الثاني كيفَ نستجيبْ؟ كيفَ نستجيبْ؟ Blue hides in my body Plays music on the instruments, drinks wine Standing in the elevator, leaning against missiles And the restaurant spins while the sniping goes on 4kilometers away, in Karantina A massacre On the 18th of January 20kilometers away, in Damour A massacre On the 20th of January How shall we respond How shall we respond How shall we respond
11.	Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29) 03:33	lyrics	buy track
Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29) يختبئُ ستةٌ في جسدي اثنان على المدخلِ اثنان على الثاني إثنان على الرابع ِ والعشرين أتى الصاروخُ الأحمرُ من المدرسةِ دمرَ المِدفع الأرق على الأرضيِّ مشَّطَ الحمرُ شَعري.. طابقاً ، طابقاً هربَ الزرقُ كلهم ، إلّا القناصون مسكَهُمُ الحُمرُ وألقوهُمْ من رأسي الى كعبي ثم جرّوهمْ سحبوهمْ بالسياراتِ في المدينةِ هرب الزرقُ إلى مركزِ المقاطعةِ الرابعةِ حاربوا في الهيلتون والنورماندي ولكنهم خسِروا المعركةَ وانقسمتْ مدينتي غرباً وشرقاً أهلاً وعقلاً هرّبَ الزرقُ أهلَهُمْ وتركوا باقي المسيحيين صفّهم الحمرُ على الحيطانِ Six of them hide in my body Two at the entrance , Two on the second floor Two on the 24th The Red missile came from the school Destroying the walls and heavy weapons on the ground floor The Reds combed my hair floor by floor All the Blues fled, except for the snipers The Reds captured them and threw them From my head to my heel And then they dragged their bodies in the city The blues fled to the Sector 4 They fought at the Hilton and Normandy But they lost the battle and the city was divided East and west, people and mind The Blues saved their families and left the rest of the Christians The reds lined them up on the walls
12.	Al Irth 01:58	lyrics	buy track
Al Irth كانتْ أولُ حرب ِ أبراج ٍ في العالمِ يَدرُسونَها في الجيش الأمريكي ورِثناها في حاضرنِا العنيفِ حاولوا محوَها في اتفاقِ الطائفِ وفي مشروع ِ وسطِ بيروتَ التجاريِّ ضاعت خريطتي من يدي وضاع الناس في أحياء الآخرين ... انتهتِ المعركةُ في آذارِ ستةٍ وسبعين وانتهت معاركٌ أخرى وانتهى غزوُ اسرائيل ولكنَّ الحربَ لم تنتهِ لكنَّ الحربَ لن تنتهــــــــيْ ما دُمنا نصوتُ للحمرِ والزرقِ في البرلمانِ لن تنتهي And it was the first highrise urban battle in the world A case study for the American Military We inherited it In our violent present They tried to erase it in the Taef Agreement And in the Solidere project The battle ended in March 76 But the war did not end Other battles ended and the Israeli invasion ended But the war did not end The war will not end As long as we vote for the Reds and Blues

about

“Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels” is a concept album born of the idea of merging singer/songwriter Mayssa Jallad’s two vocations: music and urban research/architectural history. Written in collaboration with producer Fadi Tabbal, the music builds upon Tabbal’s spatial approach to sound and Jallad’s research on Beirut’s Hotel District.

The album is a reference to Jallad’s Historic Preservation master's thesis, in which she detailed the history of the “Battle of the Hotels”, a 5-months battle that took place in Beirut at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War, from October 22nd, 1975 to March 29th, 1976.
Jallad saw architecture as a main protagonist of the battle, as she discovered it was the first high rise urban battle in the world. The close of the battle resulted in the 15-year Green Line, an urban rift which split Beirut into “East and West”, restricting movement and communication and creating a violent divide that still resonates today.

The album comprises two parts. Part A: Dahaliz, is a stroll in the city, where Jallad tries (and fails) to follow an old map. Musician Youmna Saba is a companion in this journey of remembering the once winding corridors (“Dahaliz”) of the city, destroyed by new developments since the 1960s. Empty skyscrapers propel her onto a past filled with the violence of snipers, and a present filled with the glamorous injustice of empty luxury real estate endorsed by powerful warlords-turned-politicians.

In Part B: Maaraka, Jallad inhabits the building of the Battle of the Hotels, as its events unfold. She calls the fighting militias the Blues and Reds, respectively the Lebanese Front (Christian Nationalists) and the Lebanese National Movement (Pro-Palestinian leftists), leveling the playing field, and drawing a map of the battle through songwriting. Sary Moussa produces the conclusion of the battle in “Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29)”, which ends with the ultimate severance of the city of Beirut.

The music caters to post-war youth who have never been taught this difficult history. Once we consider the “Battle of the Hotels” as our common heritage, it provides an opportunity to teach the value of civil peace. It is also a call to protest for the renewal, rather than the recycling of the political class that has once destroyed the country and holds us, to this day, hostage of its violence.

"There’s a stoic determination in the purposeful acoustic guitar strums that hold the fractured sonic architecture of Mayssa Jallad’s “Markaz Azraq (December 6)” together. Her words carry the weight of a thousand suns. Still, her delivery is plaintive and unafraid as she tells the story of a nameless man who lost both sons during the Battle of the Hotels. Once the instrumental palette expands, the warm glow from Fadi Tabbal’s synth personifies the steely perseverance needed in the face of such destruction." – Foxy Digitalis, February 2023

"In an overwhelmingly creative and critical act, Mayssa Jallad turns the destruction of the Lebanese Civil War into a stunning,
two-sided album driven by poetic songwriting mixed with historical narration, lush strings and synths, gentle drones, and her
incredible vocal prowess." – Maha ElNabawi, SceneNoise, March 2023

"(Marjaa) is, as one might expect, a sombre affair largely comprised of Jallad's delicate vocals backed by acoustic guitar and ethereal synthesizer. Elsewhere, co-composer and producer Fadi Tabbal adds the crackle of distant artillery and a ghostly wind between the high-rise blocks." – Daniel Spicer, Songlines, April 2023

"As a lyrcist, Jallad is poetically laconic. One track, 'Kharita', from the Dahaliz section, has two just lines: 'I walk the streets alone, in my hand a map/ That I don't understand. It's this precise, minimal weightiness that helps make Marjaa such an accomplished and unusual album." – Louise Gray, New Internationalist, April 2023

"In the end, the album, like the city on which it is based, feels like an infinite loop of history, relayed through the brave yet saintly voice of an artist who has taken the task of documenting the past through music." – Christina Hazboun, Bandcamp, April 2023
daily.bandcamp.com/features/mayssa-jallad-marjaa-battle-of-the-hotels-interview

credits

released March 3, 2023

All lyrics by Mayssa Jallad.
All music by Mayssa Jallad and Fadi Tabbal.

Additional music on “Etel” and “Kharita” by Youmna Saba.
Additional music on “Baynana” and “Mudun” by Marwan Tohme.
Additional music on “Al Hisar” by Farah Kaddour.
Additional music on “Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29)” by Sary Moussa.
Additional music on “Holiday Inn (January to March)” and “Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29)” by Pascal Semerdjian.
Additional music on “Al Irth” by Yara Asmar.

Mayssa Jallad – vocals on all tracks, nylon guitar on tracks 1, 3 & 7, piano on track 10
Fadi Tabbal – synth on tracks 1 to 8 & 10, electric guitar on track 2, acoustic guitar on track 7, sound design on tracks 9 & 12, bass on track 10
&
Yara Asmar: metallophone on track 12
Farah Kaddour: buzuk on track 9
Sary Moussa: synth and electronics on track 11
Youmna Saba: oud on track 1, vocals on track 2
Julia Sabra: backing vocals on track 8
Pascal Semerdjian: drums on track 6, 10 & 11
Marwan Tohme – acoustic guitar on tracks 3 & 4, backing vocals on track 8

Produced by Fadi Tabbal and Mayssa Jallad except “Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29)” by Sary Moussa.
Mixed by Fadi Tabbal and Sary Moussa at Tunefork Studios.
Mastered by Heba Kadry.

Cover design by Josette Khalil, Leen Sharafeddine, Maya Chams and Mayssa Jallad. Calligraphy by Ali Assi.

Based on the thesis by Mayssa Jallad (2017). Beirut’s Civil War Hotel District: Preserving the World’s First High-Rise Urban Battlefield. doi.org/10.7916/D84M9GS0

Thank you to Marie-Joe Younan, Mona Hallak and the AUB Neighbourhood Initiative, Ziad Nawfal, Samer Etyen Chami, Ely Dagher, Yasmine Sarout, Gregory Buchakjian, Paul Jureidini, Rana Abou Chacra, Aya Jallad, Mustapha Sleiman, Karim Sleiman, Maria and Rachid Jallad.

To the families of victims and disappeared, then and now.

RPTD 044

[THE VINYL VERSION OF THIS ALBUM WILL BE AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER 2023]

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Ruptured Records Beirut, Lebanon

Ruptured Records was founded in 2008 by DJ and radio host Ziad Nawfal and sound engineer & studio owner Fadi Tabbal, as an outlet for their activities as producers and promoters in Beirut. Ruptured releases music by artists from Lebanon and the MENA region in a variety of formats - with a strong focus on experimental rock and leftfield electronic music. ... more

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