J.Viewz - Israeli freestyle chill

Just ran across J.Viewz, the brainchild of Brooklyn based, Israeli born, electronic musician Jonathan Dagan. Good stuff. Love Noa Lembersky's vocals and how they blend with Nina Simone's. The J.Viewz gang has a few upcoming shows in NYC (and one in WA) check 'em out if you're in the area.

According to the bio on the J.Viewz MySpace page, ...

"The J.Viewz project was established by Jonathan Dagan mid 2002. Whilst working with the band Violet Vision (see below) on their 2nd album, Jonathan used his spare time to record a solo project. Taking many diverse musicians into the studio, The J.Viewz project started to metamorphosize into 'freestyle chill' blending elements of soft breakbeat, trip-hop, 2 step, jazz and more, all in a mellow groove."

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.

Zohar: World Fusion Beat Scientists

About two years ago I stumbled onto one of the bands that, for my ears, would define my musical interests for years to come. That band is the Argentinian-born, Paris based, Gotan Project. (In fact, you can say my current favorite area of music is a triangle defined by Gotan Project, the New York band Firewater, and the SF combo Davka.) Gotan Project isn't a Jewish project, but it's fine music. The combo made the observation that their beloved Argentinian Tango, with it's slow lush romanticism, would blend perfectly with the emerging electronica style called 'downtempo.' And they were powerfully right. The electronica context lets them deconstruct and reassemble Tango, widening it's compositional space while remaining true to it's defining musical motifs and ornamentations.

Ever since I was exposed to the Gotan Project, I've been convinced that someone should take on a similar project with Jewish music. I felt that the minor key edginess of Klezmer could be unwound and played out against a broader background and that the open desert keening of Misrachi (Middle Eastern / "Oriental") could be heightened by placing it into a contemporary context. Now, I'm clearly not the guy to try making the music, but Erran Baron Cohen might is. Cohen, and his combo, draw well-researched and precise influences from a range of Jewish, Arab, and Mediterranean sources. Their two albums, "one.three.seven" and "Do You Have Any Faith?" are pretty amazing explorations and are in currently in pretty heavy rotation. Check them out in this YouTube video posted by "thecrimesyndicate":

Zohar - Live


You can find out more about Zohar at their website, MySpace page, and this Spinner article by Steve Hochman.

Unlike, Gotan Project, which has pretty much defined and mastered a genre, I feel that Zohar has uncovered a rich area of exploration. There's so much more that can be done here.