Fantôme de Nuit

Fantôme de Nuit (FDN) is a Beirut-based label launched in late 2014 with over 20 artists based in 9 countries around the world. FDN is a label, artist collective, party brand and podcast founded and run by Technophile (aka Nesta) Wissam Jabbour and 3LIAS. It includes 3LIAS, Three Machines, Rolbac, Patch/wrk., JOOL, Ali Ajami and Monokultur from Lebanon, Adam Zahran from Egypt, Signal Deluxe, Silky Raven and Derek Marin from Germany, From Sky and Thomas A.S. from Italy, Zeque from Mexico, Anton Kubikov from Croatia, Nick Devon from Greece, and Daylomar based in the UK.

Transcends Genres

Good electronic music today does not fit in one genre or sub-genre. More importantly, the true efficacy of an artist is not in producing singles on an album, but creating a set that can both control a dancefloor, and set the tone for you when listening at home or on the move. Of course, there’s always a signature sound that differentiates artists and productions on a particular label, and when it comes to FDN, things are always on the deeper side of music.

Whether it’s melodic with subtle undertones, acid jazz with plenty of improvisation, hard-hitting techno or of course, deep house and its deep roots in Beirut and other like-minded electronic music scenes across the globe.

Beautifully Produced

It’s All About the Showcase

When one plays well-established venues or clubs, there’s only so much freedom an artist can enjoy in terms of set creation. It always has to fit a certain set of criteria, and parts of the crowd are there for the whole experience, not just the music. One thing I love about the FDN Showcase events is that often, they’re intimate gatherings in private venues with the sole purpose of, you guessed it, showcasing upcoming work.

This means that the artists have complete freedom to play what and how they really want to. A nu-disoc set followed by a housey one that opens up to a techno one followed by a dub set and wrapping things up with back-to-back back-and-forths by the artists present at the party.

It’s also a very formative experience for Lebanon’s electronic music scene, helping expand their tastes and understanding of the different nuances electronic music has to offer. Lebanon’s electronic music scenes are thriving and plentiful, and showcases like FDN help refine people’s already sophisticated musical palate when it comes to deep house, techno and other beloved scenes in Beirut’s nocturnal world.

And the Podcasts

There’s nothing like a good old party. A night out in the club. A themed private party in a cool location somewhere far away. But, understandably, most of our listening time is spent during the week at home or school or work. That’s when we listen to sets on SoundCloud and YouTube, shazam the tracks we love and populate our music library with them, downloading an emergency set or two for when the Internet in Beirut is too slow and we need to plug in the aux cable at a house party!

That’s why podcasts and online radio shows are so important. They allow music lovers to discover tracks produced or curated and assembled together by folks devoted to that art. They also take you on a nice auditory journey the DJ or producer has prepared and shared. Most importantly, they familiarize you with the artist or label’s sound and style. Like, sometimes we’re hanging out at someone’s place and someone says “badda shi set Recondite” or “7ottelle set Solomun heik 3al ba7er” or “Fiya Boiler Room set taba3 Stephan Bodzin”, etc.

FDN Podcasts, now in their 15th edition, are 60 to 90 minute downloadable sets uploaded every month on the Fantôme de Nuit Soundcloud page. Below are some of my favorite FDN episodes by 3LIAS, Rolbac and Three Machines. You can check out the rest by going to the FDN Soundcloud page.

3LIAS

Patch/wrk.

Who are playing in Berlin’s Suicide Circus and About Blank this month!

Technophile

What’s Next

Success stories like FDN signal a shift in the Beirut scene from just curating good music to creating it on a much larger scale. Production is not new in Beirut, but collectives and labels are taking it a step further, and I’m extremely excited about that. In other words, Beirut is cementing itself more and more as a worthy part of the global clubbing community. We have artists from abroad coming in droves every weekend, and we are sending our own talents across Europe and the Middle East. Exciting times if you’re a passionate electronic music lover like myself, and I can’t wait to catalog all the awesome upcoming stuff from FDN and the scene in Beirut in general!

So, stay tuned!

artwork by Gail Saab and Karen Klink