Checkpoint 303 – New tunes from occupied territories

by Esra'a (Bahrain)

I am providing two amazing samples of a band I recently found. I saw that we were getting a few hits from the band’s website, and after checking it out I couldn’t stop listening to their very unique and original music. How the band describes itself -

checkpoint 303 is inspired by the sounds that pace the daily lives of millions of people in the middle east. screeching sounds of bullets. echoing injustice. uproar. revolt. despair and sadness. and still amidst all this the soothing sounds. of hope. of normality. trivial acts. life like everywhere else. this is not a video game. violence is not a moving image on tv. it’s the daily nightmare of millions…

And below are two songs which are worth a listen. I’ll start with my favourite one of all -

(If you are an Arabic speaker, pay special attention to the lyrics it starts with, it’s the beginning of a beautiful poem.) The track’s name is Rissala Min Qalandia:

[audio:http://checkpoint303.free.fr/audio/Rissala-Min-Qalandia-checkpoint303.mp3]

This next one includes sounds and noise of war and its destructive tools (guns, etc) and it’s very great how they integrated those sounds into the song, it would sound great to the background of a documentary.

This one’s called Streets of Ramallah:

[audio:http://checkpoint303.free.fr/audio/StreetsORamallah-checkpoint303.mp3]

Do you like what you hear?

Go check out the band’s website!

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