Hanukkah Sampler from Craig Taubman

Craig Taubman, of Craig & Co, has a great Hanukkah offer. A nice mix of Hanukkah tunes, mostly from his label's stable of Jewish liturgical-pop musicians, offered up free on Amazon. Check it out.

Here's one of my favorite tracks from the disc. It's the Klezmatics performing Woody Guthrie's "Hanukkah Gelt" from their recording "Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah."

Hanukah Gelt (Klezmatics)

Update: I just not this note in the comments, presumably from Craig Taubman.

"One minor clarification. Of the the 18 tracks on the cd none of the artists are currently signed to our label. Furthermore, outsde of my “liturgical pop music” the balance of tunes comes from a very eclecltic selection of artists including folk (Mare Winningham,Yael Meyer and Ilana) , classical (Milken) Cantorial (alberto), rock (Naomi and Rebbe Soul) Gospel (Joshua Nelson and hip hop (Smoothe e ) genres. Keep spreading the news!"

Hanukkah Day 20: Samuel Adler's Flames of Freedom

Ok..so it's December 23. Hanukkah is long done and for varying reasons I never got out my last two Hanukkah posts. I'm not sure if I'll get the last one out, but I really wanted to share this one.

As I've mentioned, I've been listening and researching a lot more Jewish art music lately. One contemporary composer who's name I run into again and again is Samuel Adler. As his Milken Archive biography notes, "With a catalog comprising more than 400 secular and liturgical works, German-born Samuel Adler is a highly prolific American composer, as well as an accomplished conductor and a respected educator." He's the son of the equally famous composer and cantor Chaim Hugo Adler and has had a long and deep involvement in Jewish liturgical music in the US, including a stint heading the Reform movement's Transcontinental Musical Publishers and teaching at School of Sacred Music of Hebrew Union College. (for more info also see his wikipedia biography.)

Among his Jewish output is an outstanding set of Hanukkah music, The Flames of Freedom (available from the Milken Archive). Flames is "a cantata for three-part treble-voice chorus and piano, based on ten well-known Hanukka songs and hymns together with original music to two other liturgical Hanukka texts. It consists of eight short movements, each representing one of the eight Hanukka lights."

Unlike many art music adaptations of Jewish melodies I've heard, there is no hint of sentimental sweetening and swelling nostalgic orchestrations. Instead, these are wonderful new compositions that use original themes as jumping off points for new explorations. I don't pretend enough knowledge to really review art music pieces, so I'll leave it at that this... They're wonderful.

You can listen to clips online at the Milken Archive to hear the recorded performances. It turns out that Flames has also been arranged and published as sheet music for high-school choral's. Here's "William Floyd High School Women's Choir under the direction of Kristin Cimonetti performing" Flames of Freedom III. Hannerot hallalu (The Lights We Have Kindled) during their Winter concert, January 5, 2010. Lovely.

Flames of Freedom III. Hannerot hallalu (The Lights We Have Kindled)


I actually emailed Adler earlier this week. According to his bio, "His articles on Jewish music have appeared in the Central Conference of American Rabbis journal; Jewish Music; European Judaism; Musica Judaica; Diapason; The American Choral Review; and many others." I was hoping that he might have reprinted them in a book form or have them available somehow. No such luck. I'll have to try to hit the source journals.

Hanukkah Day 5: A Hanukkah Sound Archive

So, we're 5 days into Hanukkah and you're thinking...yeah, I got this. Got my blessings back, warmed up my Ma'ot Tzur. Checked in on Teruah for that new Maccabeats video that everyone's talking about.

I hear you. Me too. So it's time to mix it up. How about switching to a Carlebach blessing melody?


Or a Ma'oz Tzur melody from Hungary?


Or maybe adding Dak il tas from Turkey.


The Sound Archive at the Jewish National University and Library has got you covered. It's Hanukkah page has a fascinating variety of audio recordings and maybe your new favorite melody.

The Library's aims are "To collect, preserve, cultivate and endow the treasures of knowledge, heritage and culture in general, with an emphasis on the Land of Israel, the State of Israel and the Jewish people in particular." There's a lot of great stuff in the archive, though you'll have to fight with a pretty terrible search interface.

Update: After posting this, I got a FaceBook note from Francesco Spangolo with more details about the JNUL. Spangolo is "a multidisciplinary scholar focusing on Jewish studies, music and digital media. Intersecting textual, visual and musical cultures, Spagnolo has contributed extensively to academia, cultural heritage and archival institutions, and live and electronic media in Europe, Israel and the United States. " Francesco and I have been crossing paths for a quite a while and I very hope to meet up with him someday.

"The National Sound Archives do not, unfortunately, maintain a dedicated website but they are currently digitizing the bulk of their collection in order to make it accessible online. The short story, off the top of my head: the NSA (aka Fonoteqah Leumit, or Phonotèque Nationale) were founded at the Jewish National and University Library in 1964 by musicologist Israel Adler (Berlin 1925 - Jerusalem 2009). They include thousands of archival recordings of the many musical traditions of the Jewish Diaspora, made on location and in studio, as well as non-Jewish traditions recorded in Israel (Samaritans, Druze, Beduin, Greek Orthodox, Syriac, etc.). Most of the recordings were made by fellows of the Jewish Music Research Center (JMRC) of the Hebrew University, which was also founded by I. Adler at the same time. The NSA are an amazing institution, and hopefully it will be known more once it fully goes online. The selections you posted were made by Ruti Freed, a longtime archivist at the NSA, who retired last year. The current director is Dr. Gila Flam.

They are my home away from home and I was just there last month, finishing to gather all the materials for a new CD project (an anthology of archival recordings) to be published next year. (The first one, Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954-1961), came out almost 10 years ago...). "

Thanks Francesco!

hat tip to the Miss Music Nerd blog, where I found the link to the JNUL sound archive.

Hanukkah Day 4: The Fountainheads takes on the Black Eyed Peas- We're heading for meme, people

Ok, clearly the idea of doing a fun Hanukkah re-do of a pop song is going to be the meme this year. They're starting to pop up everywhere. Which is awesome... keep 'em coming

Today's is from the "Fountainheads, a group of Jewish students from universities around Israel who've all spent time at Ein Prat Academy, a pluralistic study place for secular and religious students to build mutual respect." The Fountainheads took on the Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling." Ok..maybe it's not as polished or snappy as the Maccabeats or Six13 videos, but I dig it. It's got a irrepressibly fun DIY vibe. Happy Hanukkah gang!

I Gotta Feeling Hanukkah - The Fountainheads

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.

Hanukkah Day 2: Matisyahu's Miracle on Ice

I'm about to head over to my little wigglers elementary school to talk about Hanukkah to their kindergarten and 3rd grade classes. Should be a hoot. Last time I did this, my wife came too and got a room full of first graders to pound their desks yodeling "sufganiyot! sufganiyot! sufganiyot!" (as we were, of course, handing out sufganiyot).

For my Hanukkah day 2 pick, here's a video my wife and older wiggler were enjoying this morning. It's Matisyahu, showing that he can go head to head with Lipa Schmeltzer for awesome over-the-top Hanukkah silliness. Here's the official blurb. (I love blurbs).

"An uplifting pop gem arriving just in time for the holiday, "Miracle," produced by Dr. Luke protégé Kool Kojak (Flo Rida, Katy Perry, Ke$ha), is drenched in a joyful spirit and features chiming synths, bouncing beats and an irresistible chorus.

Matisyahu says, "There are so many Christmas songs out there. I wanted to give the Jewish kids something to be proud of. We've got Adam Sandler's song, which is hilarious, but I wanted to try to get across some of the depth and spirituality inherent in the holiday in a fun, celebratory song. My boy Kojak was in town so at the last minute we went into the studio in the spirit of miracles and underdogs and this is what we came up with. Happy Hannukah!"

Here we go then....

Miracle: Matisyahu on Ice


Sigh. If you click through to the video page at YouTube scroll down through the comments you'll see a lot of cranky antisemitic and anti-Israeli diatribes. Hanukkah is, in part, about the need to stand up for the right to believe as you choose. It's sad to see how current that need still is.

Oh...and it's worth pointing out that you can buy a copy of the Miracle track and pre-order Matisyahu's new album & DVD set "Live at Stubbs II" at his website. If you're on the East Coast, you can also check out his Festival of Lights tour schedule.

Hanukkah Day 1: Maccabeats vs Six13 & NCSY in Hanukkah A Capella throwdown

Woot!!! Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah! My kids are spazzing out and I am too. I've been listening to Hanukkah music for a couple of weeks now and am ready to roll with a ton of great Hanukkah music. To kick this off, here's a battle of the bands between the Maccabeats and Six13, two great Jewish a capella groups. Both are whooping it up with a pair of fun Hanukkah rewrites of recent pop tunes.

First, here's The Maccabeats with Candelight, a redo of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" (inspired by Mike Tompkins' a cappella version.) The video's been getting a lot of distribution, including a shout out from the Huffington Post.


Candlelight - The Maccabeats



Second, here's Six13 with I Light It, their redo of Justin Beiber's "Baby," Kanye West's "Heartless," and "I Like It" by Enrique Inglesias. The song was written in collaboration with NCSY, the Orthodox youth organization, as a Hanukkah howdy. Check the video website for full lyrics.


I Light It - NCSY Chanukah Musical Remix 2010


Hat Tip to Immanuel for emailing me about the Maccabeats video and Duvi Stahler of NCSY for emailing me about the NCSY/Six13 video.

End Posthumous Conversion - Another musical response to Senator Hatch

As I mentioned on Tuesday (Conan O'Brian (and Jewschool's) response to Senator Hatch's Chanukah Song) and last week (Chanukah music: A response to Jeffery Goldberg & Senator Orin Hatch), there's been a lot of buzz around Senator Hatch's Chanukah song. While most commentary has been positive or a little bemused, there has been some negative remarks. For example, here's a comment I got on Facebook...

"The Mormons have terrible history of being ant-Semitic. Even in modern times, they have proven themselves to be a group of people that want nothing more than to convert Jews to Mormonism. Twice since WWII, Mormons have been caught trying to convert the Jews that had died at the hands of the Nazis. I so wish this was not true, but the most recent occurrence of this bit of doing happened in and around 1996 or 1997. Sorry Orin Hatch, I do not trust you. http://www.avotaynu.com/mormon.htm"

This being a music blog, I was delighted when my friend Binyomin Gizberg, of JewishMusician.com and the Breslov Bar Band followed up on this thought with a musical response.....

"We covered Senator Hatch's song at our Chanuka concert @ Banjo Jim's. I wrote an additional verse for it. Hey, if Sen. Hatch can write a song telling Jews how to celebrate Hanukkah, then it's fair for me to write a verse telling Mormons to stop posthumously baptizing Jews who died in the Holocaust."

The 3rd verse:

The Macabees fought many years ago
for the right to observe our religion.
Today we fight the Mormon Church
saying: "end posthumous conversion!"

Senator Hatch, tell your church
to do what's just and right.
Let our dead rest in peace!
(and remember why Macabees fight!)"

So there.

Chanukah Chanukah by the PS22 Chorus

The PS 22 elementary school chorus, of Staten Island, NY, has been featured on NPR, Nightline and MTV and have sung with pro's including Stevie Nicks and (my celebrity crush) Tori Amos. Every year they do a phenomenal Chanukah song. I was pretty proud of my daughter's 2nd grade class busting out "Oh Chanukah," but this is something else entirely...

PS22 Chorus "CHANUKAH CHANUKAH" Hebrew Traditional

Also check out their 2008 version of Maoz Tzur. For more info about their adventures, check out their blog.

Menorah Mashup: Crazy Chanukah Mixes & Mashups

What better way to continue the, evidently quixotic, quest for new Chanukah music than on a mashup mix tape. DJ BD is a well known DJ and mashup artist with a number of well regarded mixtapes. He, along with DJ Flack, FAROFF, voicedude, and ATOM, recently put out a great little compilation of Chanukah craziness. I've previously blogged his "House of Pain vs Klezmer" video. As with all such compilations, it's an uneven set but it's got a few gems (including the FAROFF's previously mentioned "House of Klezmer" remix). Great fun.

As fair warning, these mixes contain some "strong language" and aren't particularly respectful of artist copyright, though DJ BD cheeful lists his ingredients as follows "Frank Yankovic and His Yanks, Gwen Stefani, House Of Pain, Frank Zappa, Amsterdam Klezmer Band, Pa Brapad, several iterations of The Dreidel Song, several iterations of Hava Nagila, South Park, a dash of Chingy, Adam Sandler, The Star Trek Theme, Van Halen, James Caan, Charlton Heston, Fonzie, Sarah Silverman, Trio, Three Weissmen, Craig and Co, Alan Sherman, Pudie Tadow, and two seconds of Black Eyed Peas."

Voicedude's "Dreidel All The Way"

Hat Tip the Boing Boing blog

Yidcore does Adam Sandler's Chanukah Song

It's easy for the dedicated Jewish music fan (meaning me) to be snarky about Adam Sandler's Chanukah Song. It's got nothing to do with Chanukah other than name checking a bunch of Hollywood Jews in bad rhyme. It's famous because Sandler was famous and was able to sing it on national TV. I could go on, but let's face it. It's a great song, simple, funny, with a radio friendly structure and memorable lyric that really resonates with the audience. And that's a real accomplishment, one that defeats a lot of earnest songwriters.

I often argue (as I did in my last post) that there is a lot of great Chanukah music out there, I need to admint that Sandler's song is one of them. Not only is it well known across the Jewish and wider American community, it has quickly been covered and adapted by a variety of other musicians. And that is pretty much the definition of a classic.

Here's one of those covers...the Aussie band Yidcore, who've upped the tempo and swapped out Hollywood actors for Jewish punks.

Punk Rock Chanukah Song

If that wasn't enough for you, check out Neil Diamond's cover (and BJ & Nate of the 108's and Pheobe's).

UPDATE: I should mention that I've seen a lot of "Chanukah Song" action on Twitter this week. Here's a typical example "Busker in Govt Center T-stop singing the happy Hannukah song abt who is Jewish & not."

Hat tip to Michael Croland, of the Heeb'n'vegan blog, for pointing me to the Yidcore video.

Chanukah music: A response to Jeffery Goldberg & Senator Orin Hatch

Chanukah Sameach everyone,

It's that time of year again. Insert your favorite stereotype here .......................... Now sigh loudly. For me this time of year is all about explaining to people far and near that there really, actually, honestly, (no kidding) is good Chanukah music. More than just Dreidel. Really. I do it so often I was thinking writing an open letter to somebody about it, but then the whole Jeffery Goldberg / Sen. Orrin Hatch thing blew up.

In case you missed it, here's the quick version. It turns out that Senator Hatch is a songwriter. He's written a lot of songs. Including Christmas songs. And now a Chanukah song. Because he loves the Jews. Then Jeffery Goldberg, of the Atlantic, sucked up to interviewed him. Because there's no good Chanukah music. And Hatch's song was "heartfelt."

Whew. Got that? Read Goldberg's post if you want. Or check out the video of the song. I won't repost it here.

So back to the open letter. I was itching to write a letter, had the perfect opportunity, but gotten beaten to the punch. Here's Cantor Marsha Fensin response, which she's graciously allowed me to reprint here. All I can add is, "Yeah, what she said."

Dear Jeffrey,

I read with interest your story in the Atlantic Magazine about Orrin Hatch and his Chanukah song, which, of course, is making its way around the internet. Each year around Chanukah I listen to much uninformed, dismissive banter from radio talk show hosts ( and now magazine columnists) about Chanukah music. I take great exception to your comments and attitude that there isn’t much Chanukah music and what there is seems awfully boring and certainly nothing you can rock to. You can make the same comments about Christmas music—some of it is great, some of it is silly, some of it you can rock to, some of it you cannot.

As far as the religion of composers who write Chanukah, or Christmas music for that matter, your comments show a real lack of knowledge of what is out there and who is writing it. Yes, many Jews have composed some of the greatest Christmas music over the ages. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been Jews who have composed some of the greatest Chanukah music.

I am sending you a sampling of some of what is available out there, and believe me, there is tons and tons. I invite you share all this music--some beautiful, some banal, some adult, some children's, some lyrical, some that really rocks. --with your reading audience. If I had the money I would have sent you a dozen or so actual CDs; however, in my sampling I do have some web sites with large enough snippets to play for your listening enjoyment. You may even be intrigued enough to get a few of the Cds I have recommended. I wish you and yours a Happy Chanukah, a Merry Christmas, a joyous Kwanzaa, and every other holiday that adds light to our hearts at this dark time of the year,

Sincerely,

Cantor Marsha Fensin

I have included two pages of links to individual artists, collections, web sites, etc.

I take that back. I'll add one thing. Mr. Goldberg, Senator Hatch's song was TERRIBLE, no matter how heartfelt it was. Add it to the small list of "sparse and uninspiring" Chanukah songs that you know.

Hanukkah Day 6: Safam's "Candles of the Menorah"

When I was putting together that suggested playlist for the Lite Rock station, I came across a song and a band I hadn't heard of. The band is Safam and the song is "Candles in the Menorah." It was one of those mind-blowing moments I live for. Where had this been all my life? Seriously. A solid band, writing songs from the Jewish experience, in ENGLISH (at least some of them)? How come I never heard of them? (Ok. I know the answer to that: I grew up attending an isolated Conservative synagogue in Connecticut with few Jewish friends. How could I have heard of them?)

Safam describes themselves as "Safam, the Boston based six-man band, has dominated Jewish music in America with their "Jewish-American Sound" since 1974. Often copied, never duplicated, they are originals -- original music, original lyrics, original arrangements -- their songs have become a fabric of our Jewish lives." I believe it. I see a lot of testimonials around the internet commenting on how Safam is beloved.

While "Candles in the Menorah" lack's the anthemic power of Peter Yarrow's "Light One Candle" and the home-spun sing-along quality of Flory Jagoda's "Ocho Kandelikas," two new additions to the standard Hanukkah repertoire, it captures a rich and timeless depth of experience in a radio-friendly manner. To some degree, "Candles" is nothing more than a non-confrontational universalization of Chanukkah into a Jewish flavored 'be good to others' Christmas carol. That's what makes it so unique. "Candles" won't be sung in Hebrew school concerts, but should be on every radio station in the US that wants to take the idea of "holiday" music seriously. While the punk, folk, jazz loving teen-ager I used to be wouldn't have been overwhelmed with "Candles" the light-rock sound, I would have been blown away to hear this song on a radio station. Twenty years later, I would still be. As an adult music fan, I'm still not overwhelmed by the light-rock sound, but as a parent I'd put one of their albums on in a heart-beat and would expect my kids to love it.

I don't have the full "Candles in the Menorah" available, but here's a sample from CD Baby. For more info and different ways to pick up this song and other Safam albums, see their website.

Safam's "Candle in the Menorah" (sample)

Hanukkah Day 5: The Leevee's Latke Clan & How Do You Spell Channukkahh

While I love all of the classic Hanukkah songs, I'm always eager to hear something new. My favorite album of new Hanukkah songs is The Leevee's Hanukkah Rocks. It's actually two years old at this point but, since the Maccabean revolt actually happened over two thousands of years ago and Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song" hit Saturday Night Live in 1995, I still feel pretty timely. The Leevees are Adam Gardner, of the wonderful indie-acoustic band Guster and Dave Schneider of the all-hockey songs (not kidding) band The Zambonis. Gardner and Schneider put out an album of infectious, well crafted, pop songs that tackle such deep topics as the spelling of Hanukkah, visiting weird uncles, and the relative merits of appled sauce and sour cream. No deep theology here, but a sure sense of the Jewish experience in America at the turn of our millenium.

First up, The Leevee's Latke Clan which was featured on both the TV Show Grays Anatomy and my recent Hanukkah podcast. (Yes, I know Grays Anatomy is much cooler than my podcast but I try). Seriously, I see this one being a family singalong favorite. If your family is as warped as mine.

Latke Clan

Next up, The Leevee's ponder one of the deepest questions of the holiday season.

How Do You Spell Channukkahh

For more info on the Leevees or to pickup their album hit their website or their myspace page.

Hat tip to YouTube user armwritingdotcom for posting Latke Clan video.

Hanukkah Day 4: Mi Yemalel in three part harmony, with religious controversy and annoying little brothers

Chag Sameach everyone. I'm still a day behind, but am trying to catch up. For Hanukkah day 4, I've got two takes on the popular Hanukkah song Mi Yimalel (Who Can Retell) and some thoughts on the meaning of the song.

First, the music. I don't know much about this lovely version other than the singers are Oren and Chaya the video was uploaded yesterday by Oren and Oren from the Berkley Hillel. Great job folks.

Oren and Chaya's Mi Yemalel

Next up is an adorable home recording from YouTube user Emorutube showcasing a young lady's (Emorutube's daughter?) pajama-clad home performance. As a dad with two daughters, I loved this one. My house is filled with shows like this. Kudos to the young lady for grace and perseverance despite dad with camera, an annoying kid brother, and one or two forgotten words. Love it.

So, about the controversy. No doubt that Mi Yimalel is a very popular song with the empowering message "[b]ut now all Israel must as one arise, Redeem itself through deed and sacrifice". In short, in every age we've got troubles and in every age we need to respond to them ourselves. But not everyone loves that message. I read an interesting grumble on NeoHasid.Org recently that complained that "Mi Yimalel embodies the dangerous hubris that characterized the anti-religious branch of Zionism. The message of Mi Yimalel is that we find salvation only through our own strength and power. That is the downfall of the State and the tyrant equally." because "In Judaism, rabbinic and Biblical, it is God who is moshi'a savior, fodeh rescuer, and go'el redeemer." A commentator on the NeoHasid website noted that we shouldn't be surprised by the song's slant because "the song was written in the middle of the 20th Century, by Menashe Rabina, a Communist, a Zionist and a music critic, who was fiercely anti-Nazi." I've been able to confirm that as correct but haven't been able to find a good biography of Rabina yet that might expand on it.

I bring this up in the same spirit I mentioned a related grumble about Peter Yarrow's popular "Don't Let The Lights Go Out." As songs, and prayers, for that matter, become part of our collective cultural experience it's easy to forget that they were composed at a specific time and with a specific meaning. However you interpret and respond to that time and meaning is your own business, but you should be aware of what you're singing. Personally, I have no objection Rabina's sentiment. From both a secular self-preservation standpoint and a religious Tikun Olam perspective Jews are expected to act in the world and having a few songs around that celebrate that call to action is just fine. I also see the writer at NeoHasid's point that putting ourselves too firmly in the role of being our own savior may be arrogant, disrespectful, and self-defeating.

On a holiday that celebrates Judah Macabee's victory but quickly points out that it was a miracle, these are ideas worth thinking about.

A Jew At Christmas

Last night I posted to Facebook that I was going to take my family out for Chinese. A well meaning Christian ex-classmate piped up "Reminds me of that movie. Enjoy!" Yep. The movie of my life was filmed long ago and I'm just the sequel. And today (Christmas Day) I took the wigglers to see a movie. The stereotype lives on. What's a Jew to do?

In that spirit, here's a cut-and-paste video put together over the Good For the Jews song "(Its Good To Be) A Jew at Christmas. As a bonus, you can catch a NPR interview with the Rob Tannenbaum of GFTJ and a live performance of the song.

A Jew At Christmas

Hat tip to YouTube user lsdm1499 for posting the video.

Hanukkah Day 3: Battle of Driedel Kitsch - Gay Cowboys vs Ersatz Hassids

So I love showcasing diversity in Jewish music and today will be hard to beat. I've got a couple of completely kitschy takes on "I Have A little Driedel". Let me say first that I love good kitsch as much as anyone, but am often the first to thumb my nose at it. Why? Because most of it is done as a cheap shot at the source materiel and doesn't add anything funny of its own. Here's a great comparison.

First up, Captain Smartypants, a Seattle Men's Chorus Ensemble. Their "Brokeback Driedel" has been making the rounds lately. I really enjoy this version, not only because I have a minor obsession with Jewish cowboys, but because it's a great example of kitsch done right. They use their performance of the song to smirk at themselves, at the same time presenting and parodying the notion of gay cowboys (and Jewish gay cowboys at that). And, of course, they sing wonderfully.

Captain Smartypants sings "BrokeBack Dreidel"

Here's my counterpoint, Erran Baron Cohen's TERRIBLE version of Driedel from his album Songs in the Key of Hanukkah*. Musically, it's adequate if uninspired. The rock singer takes a deadpan serious take on the lyrics while dancing around in ersatz Hassid garb. Right. Are we really supposed to believe that this guy is that jazzed about playing Driedel? C'mon. If we're supposed to believe it, show us why? And why are we making fun of Hassid's here? Because they dress funny? Because they like driedels? Is that the best you can do? Seriously, this is hand-stitched flea market toilet seat cover with US flags on it level of bad kitsch. If you want to satirize Chassidus, go for it. But show some knowledge and style. (For a great example of it done right, see "I want to be a Rebbe"). Bleah.

Songs In The Key of Hanukkah - Dreidel

Bad kitsch. Bad. No biscuit.

*To be fair, I should say that Driedel is probably the worst song on Songs in the Key of Hanukkah. (I have no idea why they chose it as the first single / video). While it's not a brilliant album, it has a number of bright spots. For example, I love "My Hanukkah (Keep the Fire Alive)" and included it in my Hanukkah podcast. For a great example of how a contemporary pop band can take on a Hanukkah chestnut an without being kitschy check out the Hip Hop Hoodios version of Ocho Kandelikas. Ok. The bagle bra was kischy. But other than that.....

Hat tip to YouTube user yanky6130 for posting "I Want to be a Rebbe."

Hanukkah Day 2: Yes We Can

Woops. Meant to lead off my Hanukkah videos with this one. It's an add for the local Malibu Florida Chabad House, but is much more.

Chanukah: Yes, We Can!


Here are the lyics and the Chabad (Lubavitch Chassidic) House's explanation...

Lyrics:

"It was the bold encouragement offered by Moses to a nation yearning for freedom Yes, we can!

It was the phrase that kept our hopes alive during historys harshest times Yes we can Yes we can

It was spoken defiantly to those wishing to stamp out religious freedoms - Yes we can

When triumph seemed beyond reach; G-ds miracle was not. In hidden caves, attics and cellars His people courageously whispered: - Yes He can

THIS was the message that G-d sent the world when a small team of Maccabees vanquished an entire army - Yes we can - Yes we can

And was the comforting answer to the Jews in Communist Russia who wondered: Will the Menorah ever shine in my life

- Yes. We. Can.

On Chanukah we celebrate freedom we celebrate with pride we celebrate in public, in the open because we can! Whether you lit the menorah last year, or 20 years ago celebrate this Chanukah with family celebrate with Chabad

Start lighting YOUR menorah Sunday evening December 21st, 2008 and let the flame of freedom speak for herself: - Yes. We. Can. "

Hanukkah Day 1: Al Hanisim

Happy Hanukkah everyone.

I'm going to put up one or two Hanukkah songs a day for the week. I was a bit tied up this morning (meaning I was obsessively checking the download stats on my new Teruah podcast) and didn't get my day one video's up. But better late than never. Here's a bunch of folks at a Hanukkah party in Jerusalem a couple of years ago singing Al Hanisim. The video is pretty dark, but the singing is great fun. Wish I was there. The melody is easy to pick up and HebrewSongs has the lyrics, so add this one to you next Hanukkah party.



Hat tip to rebezra posting the videos.

ShirLaLa’s Chanukah - Outrageously Hip Kiddie Rock

I grew up on The Cure and R.E.M. I wear black turtle necks and Vans sneakers to work. I have a goatee (mostly because I secretly want to be Vincent Price). While I don’t kid myself that I’m actually hip anymore, I can tell you for a fact that the most un-hip thing you can possibly do is write “outrageously hip” on the record jacket of a children's album.

But that’s ok. Hipness aside, Shira Kline’s ShirLaLa Chanukah is the best kids album I’ve heard in a while. Easily the best I’ve reviewed since my previous obsession with Oy Baby. It bumps and jumps, swept along by Kline’s mischievous voice and upbeat guitar work and buoyed by Josh Nelson’s warm and cheerful production. (See my review of Nelson’s recent album “Lift”). The album, hip or not, captures the contemporary Jewish para-liturgical musical zeitgeist perfectly. Centered on poppy folk guitar with some rock and roll flourishes and pop vocal melodies, it mixes in Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi tunes to create a full Diaspora Jewish sound. (The cover advertised hip-hop, too. While the one hip-hopish number won’t give Y-Love a run for his money, it wasn’t embarrassing the way many such attempts are. Just some fun folk melodies sung over a stuttery electronica dance rhythms that turn into a mixed-up round at the end.)

The big test for any kids album, though, isn’t whether it works for a late-30-something ex-hipster. It’s whether it works for kids. So in the tradition of empirical science (I’m a research scientist by day) I did an experiment. I set up some favorable circumstances; me, my two little scholars (age 4 and 6), and their Grandfather stuck in my wife’s car while she and her mother went shopping in Target for an hour. Boredom central. Would this disk save the day? Or would we be popping it out in favor of current favorites High School Musical 2 or Hannah Montana 2?

The results….

We have a winner. And let me tell you, my girls are two tough little critics. They hear lots of music, both Jewish and secular. This was a hit from first bumps of Klein’s Chanukah redo of “La Bamba” all the way through the closing Chanukah prayers. My elder scholar was delighted that she knew the melodies to a number of the classics (“Oh Chanukah,” “Sevivon Sov Sov,” “This Little Light of Mine”) but picked up the new ones quickly. (There was lots of showing off in front of Grandpa to do.) My littlest scholar, despite not knowing as many of the lyrics or melodies loved it just as much, gravitating to the more bumpity call and response songs like the “Macabees March” and “I am Antiochous.” In the days since that first hearing the album has been in heavy rotation, much to the chagrin of my wife. She has been cast by the girls in the role of Anitiochus to whom they loudly sing “What do we say! We Say NAY! You'll not be the boss of ME!”

Here are a couple of samples from the album. Check 'em out.

Sivivon Sov Sov Sov


I am Antiochous



Another joy of this album is the liner. The lyrics for each song are listed in the original language (English, Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, and Yiddish) along with both English translations and transliterations. Perfect for when Al Hanisim defeats my limited ability to translate Hebrew and my way too smart 1st grader isn’t putting up with vague answers such as “It’s, umm, about Chanukah? And, umm, about one of the miracles?” The one thing that kids enjoyed that I just didn’t was the Chanukah comic in the liner. In addition to some unprofessional scanning and anti-aliasing problems, Mor Erlich’s drawings of Judah Macabee gave him poofy hair and a pale blue tunic / hair-band combo that look like Olivia Newton John on the set of Xanadu. Now, I don’t need my Macabees to be GI Joe buff, but c’mon….

For more information, and to order a copy, visit the ShiraLaLa website or CD Baby. This one is highly recommended.