Hanukkah Day 3: A Disquieting Hanukkah - Marc Weidenbaum's Anander Mol, Anander Veig

Marc Weidenbaum is the author of Disquiet, a blog on ambient and electronic music. Recently he was commissioned by Tablet Magazine to put together an album of re-mixed Hanukkah music called Anader Mol ,Andander Vieg which roughly means, according to Weidenbaum, "another time, another way." The result is an intriguing, if highly uneven, collection. It's free for download from Tablet magazine, along with a excellent audio interview by Tablet's Sara Ivry. The Disquiet site has info on all the artists, both the remixed and the remixing. Check 'em out.

These tracks are not Hanukkah party music (at least not at your typical party). These tracks are intended as a more more nuanced exploration. The Mark Rushton remix of Dov Rosenblatt, Rosi Golan, and Deena Goodman's Ma'oz Tzur and Paula Duant's remix of Girls in Trouble's Sivivion Sov Sov are gentle, buzzing dreamscape. The Diego Bernal and Cut Loose remixes of the 4th Ward's "Ose Shalom" and of the Klezmer Reb's "Yishma" (respectively) are fun, but stiff, bounces.

Sadly, many of the tracks are just terrible. The OCP remix of the Alexandria Kleztet's Chanukah Chag Yafe sounds like a cheap Christmas toy. The Roddy Schrock Hava Nagial oscillates back and forth between a poorly executed baseball game mix and tinkly, but obvious and cliched piano. The XNTRXX and Diego Bernal remixes of Dave Tarras's "Die Golden Chasene" go no where.

This is one of those.. you're results will vary kind of discs. Give it a listen and see if something grabs you. Personally, I love to see experiments like this, even if the outcomes aren't always wonderful.