Oi Va Voi - Klezmer Electronica Refugees

How embarrassing. I was chatting online last night with a fine fellow who was looking for klezmer electronica music. I made a few suggestions including my blog posts on Zohar, GhettoPlotz, Jewdyssee, Anakronic Electro Orkestra, Socalled, and Oi Va Voi. So where's the Oi Va Voi link?

No where. I've never blogged about Oi Va Voi. sigh. I've mentioned them a few times, but no link of their own.

So let's get to it.

According to their Wikipedia bio...

"Oi Va Voi is a British band that takes its name from a Yiddish-derived exclamation popular in modern Hebrew meaning, approximately "Oh, dear!" It is an experimental band from London, England, which formed in the late 1990s. Their sound draws on Jewish music from both the Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions, including both klezmer and Ladino music, as well as Eastern European, especially Hungarian folk music, as well as contemporary electronic music."

Any wonder I love these guys? They've got four albums out, including the brand new "Travelling The Face of the Globe." I actually don't own any yet, mostly because they're not available on eMusic. Writing this post reminds me I going to need pickup them up soon.

Here's great video for Everytime, from their new album. The only disappointing thing about it is that it's two minutes shorter than the same track on their MySpace page. What's been trimmed out? Primarily a lovely klezmer influenced clarinet solo. Bah. The contrast of the pop vocals with the clarinet was part of what made the song for me. But it's still a good pop tune. Enjoy.

Everytime

Also very much worth checking out are their songs Ladino Song, Yuri, and Yesterday's Mistakes. Each has it's own take on including Jewish music elements. Great stuff.

For more info, check out their MySpace page, their Wikipedia page, and short video interview with them on Sarajevo TV. As a promo for their new album, their offering a track from the new album for the price of your email address.

Hat tip to funborn for posting the video.