Di Nigunim

I'm in San Diego again. I seem to end up here pretty regularly for work. I was just flipping through the local arts & events rag. You know the kind I mean. Cheap paper. Ink coming off on your fingers. Sections titled "Roam O Rama" and "Club Crawler." Advertisements for bars, babes, and botox. Personal classifieds that would completely creep you out if you actually understood what was being requested/offered. My kind of rag. It's the first thing I grab in any town I visit. Sort of like sniffing a friendly dog's ass.

And there it is. Page 89. Klezmer Gypsy Punk. A full page spread on San Diego's very own Di Nigunim. Other than noting that the band is kicking off a tour and that the band's worst fears include "capitalism," "subliminal democracy," and that "Jesus is real" the write up was pretty pointless. My buddy Heeb'n'Vegan did a much better job back in July. I'll now plagiarize quote him shamelessly respectfully...

"Di Nigunim seems to have found a magical middle ground between klezmer and punk. They definitely have a punk foundation and punk instruments, unlike some punk-edged contemporary klezmer acts. And unlike some kitschy Jewish punk bands, their klezmer slant isn't mere shtick.

Is Di Nigunim a punk band with a klezmer slant or the other way around?
Di Nigunim is definitely a punk band with a klezmer slant and not the other way around. We try to make up in furious dance energy what we lose in musicianship. Our band has some amateurs, like myself, but also some superb true talent, like our singer/guitarist, Ben, and our trumpet player, Sean."

I haven't heard their whole album, but I love the tracks on their MySpace page. Go check 'em out. While they don't have the musicianship or songwriting chops of klez-punk pioneers Golem!, their DIY edge-of-chaos esthetic is more authentic punk and makes me want to hora in a mosh pit. This is clearly a band to see live and I hope I get the chance soon. (Di Nigunim's MySpace page hints that they might be playing somewhere around here tonight, but isn't specific. MySpace has decided (probably correctly) that my emails are all spam so it's not letting me get a hold of them. Grr.)

Sadly, none of their YouTube videos are worth much, losing sound quality, band energy or both. Ah well. With that warning, here's the best of the bunch.

Di Nigunim...Shalom Aleichem

Hat tip to YouTube user Titastuff

Oh yeah, the band says...