Thursday, October 29, 2015

Support for Israel or Shameless Self-Plugging

I played a gig at a venue which had a stand of Five Towns Jewish Times newspapers. Here is the ENTIRE text/coverage of the rally in Times Square last week in support of Israel that supposedly drew 7000 people according to its organizers as published in the recent edition. Support for Israel or Shameless Self-Plugging by/for musicians? We report, you decide!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Believe It!

Check out what happens at 17:20, that is all! GINDI TLV FASHION WEEK Tovale SHOW 2015



Via Tablet Magazine

Not Hip To Be Skver

חגיגות בסקווירא: ריקודים ושתיית לחיים - בחצרות קודש - בחצרות חסידים - בחדרי חרדים



Public dancing and celebrating in Skver as the arsonist/attempted murderer of a Skver dissident family gets re-classified as a youthful offender -- he was 18 at the time -- and has his seven year sentence reduced to time served.



The singing of this tune in particular "וכל קרני רשעים אגדע תרוממנה קרנות צדיק", "אויביו אלביש בושת ועליו יציץ נזרו", (it's the first one in this clip) is just offensive!

Hatikvah In Depth

Hatikvah: Conceptions, Receptions and Reflections

Wolf Krakowski: Di Nekht Fun Amol (Those Nights)

A Commentary on Palestinian Snuff Songs

A Pop Culture That Fuels Jew Hatred

Monday, October 26, 2015

Friday, October 09, 2015

Yitzchok Meir Malek

Here's an odd one...



Yitzchak Meir Malek posted this video of him singing Shema Yisrael as a call to prayer on his Facebook page, where it has received over 10,000 shares, 9,900+likes and 1,400 comments thus far.











He's also posted a news article about his singing: WATCH What This American Israeli Singer Did To Teach Muslims A Lesson About God And Jerusalem.



Setting apart the question of whether this is an appropriate response or not, here is a larger issue here. Nowhere in the post or article does it indicate that it's not his voice. An awful lot of people have commented complimenting him on his voice and he hasn't acknowledged it there either, as far as I can tell. It's pretty dishonest for a singer to put something out, representing or implying that its his singing, and not clarifying that it isn't him, when so many obviously are taken in. It is insulting to his listeners, to all of those vocalists who work hard at their craft, and, of course, to the singer whose work he lifted without attribution.



Here's the clip he used, which was posted to YouTube in 2007. The singer in the track is unidentified.



Cool Israeli Piyut Show

Check it out! A Piyut-based American Idol  style TV show in Israel just finished its first season.

Thursday, October 08, 2015

Zeyer Sheyn, Lipa!

Now that's what I'm talking about!