Monday, February 21, 2022

Thursday, February 03, 2022

Vus Far A Casio Iz Dus?

How OMB beats influenced Reggae

One day, someone will write a doctoral thesis on how the beats in early one-man-band arranger keyboards influenced Chasidic music.

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Thursday, January 06, 2022

Talmudic Ballad Project


 

BDE - Yoram Taharlev Z"L

Yoram Taharlev, well known Israeli songwriter and poet dies at 84.

Taharlev penned lyrics for numerous Israeli hits. One of his well-known songs was Al Kapav Yavi. Here's a classic recording of it by Yehoram Gaon.



Other well-known lyrics he penned include Bapardes, Od Lo Tamu Kol Pla'ayich, Kum Vehithalech Ba'aretz, and Shehashemesh Ta'avor Alai.

Yehei Zichru Baruch!

Tuesday, January 04, 2022

K'shmo Ken Hu

Beautiful song by Danny Zamir! He's had a rough time of late. So amazing that he can turn it into such powerful art.




 

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

I Miss the Poshiter Yid

He wouldn't have shilled for CBD gum with kosher certification, I don't think.



Sunday, December 05, 2021

Monday, November 22, 2021

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

From the mailbag...

Rabbi Alty emails a link to his new Leonard Cohen cover in the spirit of the season.



Sunday, August 08, 2021

Just Stop It!

I have to say this!

It's becoming a thing to do the Shlomo Carlebach bit in the middle of Im Eshkachech. "If you would have stop a Yiddele on the way to the gas chamber and ask him 'where are you going?' He'd have answered: 'I'm on my way to Yerusholayim'... etc." I've had several singers do this at gigs I played.

I can not express how tasteless I feel this is. I have no words. Just chills. You all need to stop it; not post video clips of yourselves doing it. For goodness sakes, there are still survivors at some of these events and there are many children (and grandchildren) of survivors. Maybe Shlomo could pull this off (I'm not convinced). You, however, definitely can't.

Un A Taam


Thursday, August 05, 2021

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Shavous Is Coming

A Karaite setting of an ancient piyut for Shavuot. It's apparently unclear if the author, Elyakim, was Karaite or Rabbinic.

Ronnu Shamayim Shavuot Song (w/translation and transliteration)

Ronnu Shamayim (Shavuot Song) Instrumental

Tuesday, April 06, 2021

Eschew Censorship

Came across this channel the other day. Someone, presumably a Chasid/Yeshiva community member, who wanted to be able to listen to secular pop instrumentals with plausible deniability, uploaded an album of "Munkatcher nigunim" to YouTube. Here's "Nigun L'harchakas Sheidim [a melody to keep away demons].





Saturday, March 13, 2021

Sunday, January 17, 2021

"World Of Good" Arranged and Performed by Tali Yess Lyrics by Moshe Yess OBM


Can't believe it's already been ten years. A beautiful tribute to Moshe Yess Z"L... His son Tali Yess releases a cover of a song Moshe wrote to mark his tenth yahrtzeit.

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

From the mailbag... Orthoglocks

From the mailbag:

After a somewhat short to medium length hiatus from releasing new music, Orthoglocks is the latest (and first of 2021) Edd Bundy 'Themed' beat tape to be released.
Basically taking things back to ancestral roots, this instrumental album embodies and delves into the Jewish musical world whilst adding the usual Edd Bundy sounding Hip Hop twist on things.

The entire project is available on a "name your price" basis via Bandcamp, just trying to brighten up the day of a few people along the way in a time where importance lies on a few laughs, a few smiles and some really good Hip Hop.


Tracklisting:

01 Bund The Edd
02 Hella Greater
03 Going AvraHAM
04 Its Shalom Shot
05 Jank Coy
06 Tumbala Liker
07 Dreidilla (Skit)
08 Eights
09 Jew Shot Yananana
10 Synagogue Chess
11 Halev Ready

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

From the mailbag...

Rabbi Moshe Friedman writes:

For the Chanukah period, I thought you’d be interested in covering this year’s most exciting new Chanukah music video.  “Light One More” by Rav Mo is a hip-hop/pop breakout song, produced by a Grammy award-winning producer and mastered at the world famous Abbey Road Studios in London.


With a message of increasing light in the darkness, it addresses some of the difficulties of families separated during the Covid lockdown.  For more information please see the attached press release and photograph.


The video can be viewed here: Rav Mo - Light One More feat. Yoni Shine - Hanukkah - YouTube

Monday, December 07, 2020

From the mailbag...

Ari Goldwag writes:

I just put out a new video, and I'd love it if you'd share it on your blog.
I really try to create songs with meaningful lyrics and music, as well as videos with good content - the idea behind the video is that the lyrics speak of our trust in Hashem (Bitachon) and our ecstatic song for all the good He does for us. I tried to express that in the imagery of the caterpillar (our hope for the future) and the butterflies - the beautiful expression of Hashem's kindness that comes when we wait for it.
Thanks so much,
Ari Goldwag

Lehrhaus on Hanan Ben Ari

Don't Summarize Me On Wikipedia

Monday, November 09, 2020

Lord Rabbi Sacks ZT"L on Jewish Music

A worthwhile interview with the late Chief Rabbi in which he shares some thoughts on the importance of Jewish music in several places.
Listen here:  Behind the Bima

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Bein Kodesh L'Chol in Yiddish

Such a good song deserves sharing here, even if it's a Yiddish version of it with cheesy video effects. And of course, the original by Amir Dadoun and Shuli Rand is incredible.

Friday, August 07, 2020

Monday, August 03, 2020

Dovid Lowy- Bereshit Olam w/Menachem Herman


A tasteful arrangement. Also a rare appearance by Menachem on acoustic guitar.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Metal-ish?

Over at the Forward... Why Jewish music should take a lesson from heavy metal

An odd venue for an odd piece. It really needed an editor familiar with a wide range of Jewish music, not just the pop/simcha stuff.