With 'Golden Beirut: New Sounds From Lebanon' Out Here Records set out to map the little-known Lebanese underground scene; an original and fun idea in theory, but unfortunately yours truly wasn't too impressed with this compilation as the Lebanese underground scene apparently produces the same electro, hip-hop and indie rock we're flooded with on a daily basis in Europe. For a country like Lebanon - the so-called gateway to the Middle East - that might still be innovative or even revolutionary, but we missed an own identity (exceptions in the track list being Shift Z & Hiba El Mansouri's 'Ahwak' or Ziyad Sahhab's 'Rawak').