Portland and Beirut rub shoulders again as Beacon Sound and Ruptured reveal their second co-release, the new album by Lebanese ensemble Kinematik entitled Murur al-Kiram. Over the course of 11 tracks, the band uses electronics, intricate double-drumming, guitar and bass to construct ambient soundscapes and hypnotic, propulsive rhythms – conjuring the ghosts of a diminishing future as well as an unresolved past. Subtle in both angst and joy, the album celebrates small victories in the face of great defeats, echoing the band’s conflicted mindset towards life in their country and community. Indeed, with the recent mass protests against dire social and economic conditions, still unresolved at the time of this writing, a vision of a democratic and postsectarian Lebanon has come more clearly into view, led in no small part by young people and the vibrant cultural milieu of Beirut.