While to some the name “Beirut Groove Collective” may sound like a hipster’s art rock band fantasy, it is the real brainchild of Lebanese DJ Ernesto Chahoud, better known as DJ Spindle. “Middle Eastern Heavens II” is an exclusive mix for Jakarta Records’ 10th radio episode. Middle Eastern funk and disco galore, Chahoud amalgamates a variety of traditional music with Western influences, providing a view into what was happening back in the 70s in the area.
About Ernesto Chahoud
Ernesto Chahoud is a musician and DJ from Beirut. Born in 1981, 5 years after the Lebanese Civil War began and a year before the Israeli invasion, Chahoud was brought up in a communist militant family, where “scores of armed fighters – both women and men – would be in the house around the clock”.
His formative years mixed communism and revolutionary music from the Middle East with Western music as the Beirut music scene began to boom in the 90s. From there, he began frequenting flea markets and collecting records from around the world.
Stream ‘Middle Eastern Heavens II’ below.