Beirut's Ruptured Reissues Decade-long Anthology of The Incompetents 

Beirut-based DIY record label Ruptured Records has revisted more than a decade-long career of the Lebanese experimental rock project The Incompetents on a new 19-track anthology. Titled A Temporary Convergence Of Interests [The Disgruntled Best Of], the collection is a vinyl reissue of standout recordings from across five releases from the band’s discography.

Formed in 2007 by Lebanese songwriter Serge Yared and pioneering producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Fadi Tabbal, The Incompetents began almost by accident before evolving into a shape-shifting project that would absorb new musicians, sounds, and ideas over the years. The band became a foundational fixture of Beirut’s independent music scene with their affinity for dark humour and unprecedented approach to music that was often rooted in unpredictability and experimentation.

Spanning material from their 2008 debut More Songs From The Victorious City through 2020’s Pretium Doloris, A Temporary Convergence Of Interests avoids presenting The Incompetents as a band with a neat musical trajectory. Instead, it traces the constant movement at the heart of their work, drifting between post-punk, art rock, freekish folk, improvisation, and spoken word without settling comfortably into any one category, a trajectory partially shaped by the musicians who passed through the band’s orbit.

Recorded primarily at Tunefork Studios and co-produced by Fadi and Serge, the collection reflects the wider creative community surrounding Beirut’s independent music scene during that period of time, with contributions from Abed Kobeissy, Amine Daher, Malek Rizallah, Maya Aghniadis, Paed Conca, and Stephane Rives. The band’s final recordings also brought in members of Lebanese trailblazing outfit Postcards, the likes of Julia Sabra, Pascal Semerdjian and Marwan Tohme.

Holding the catalogue together is Yared’s distinctive songwriting and vocal performance, literary without being precious, self-deprecating without losing its bite, and often preoccupied with the absurdities and contradictions of everyday life.

The anthology arrives six years after Pretium Doloris, expanding the band’s existing catalogue with bonus tracks and rarities while marking the first time their work has been collected on vinyl. But rather than serving as a greatest-hits package, it functions as a snapshot of a particular moment in Beirut’s independent music history, and of a project that was defined by its willingness and hunger for experimentation and change.

The collection is accompanied by artwork from Alfred Tarazi, whose distinctive visual language became closely intertwined with The Incompetents’ identity throughout their existence.