This year’s big Hanukkah release: “Songs in the Key of Hanukkah” - an eclectic anthology compiled by Erran Baron Cohen and featuring songs performed by Cohen, Idan Raichel, Jules Brookes, Yasmin Levy and Orthodox African-American rapper, Y-Love.
Cohen has been fairly visible promoting his disc. He was recently interviewed by Scott Simon [...]
Archive for the ‘Rock and Roll’ Category
Dreidel I’m Gon’ Play…
Posted in Hanukkah, Jewish Music, Judaism, Music, Religion, Rock and Roll on December 23, 2008 | No Comments »
The End of an Empire is Messy at Best
Posted in Music, Politics, Rock and Roll on August 18, 2008 | No Comments »
Run, don’t walk to grab Randy Newman new collection of tunes “Harps and Angels” - a snarky bunch of songs about the state of the post-9/11 union. If RN was crotchety as a young man, boy, just check out the middle-aged version. These are nasty songs designed to keep you sane.
One [...]
Gonna Be a Long Walk Home…
Posted in Music, Politics, Rock and Roll on March 19, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Caught the Bruce Springsteen concert in Milwaukee Monday night. Now granted, as a fairly rabid fan who’s lost count of how many Bruce concerts I’ve attended, I will admit that I lack a certain objectivity on this particular subject, but even so this was one of the really, really good [...]
Yes We Can!
Posted in Current Events, Elections 2008, Politics, Rock and Roll on February 4, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Here’s my hands-down pick for best music video of 2008. If you live in Super-Tuesday land, don’t forget to vote!
We Can Work It Out
Posted in Israel, Rock and Roll on January 29, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Did you know that The Beatles were scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv in 1965, but Israeli government leaders nixed the tour for fear the Fab Four would “corrupt” Zionist youth?
Well, me neither. But get this: Israel is now trying to atone for their, shall we say, “ill-advised” decision. According to news reports, Israeli Ambassador [...]
One Rabbi’s Christmas Confession
Posted in Interfaith, Music, Religion, Rock and Roll on December 20, 2007 | 10 Comments »
OK, I admit it: I love to listen to Christmas songs this time of year.
I’ll leave it to you to determine if that makes me a bad Jew or a worse rabbi, but what can I say? I’ve got a major weakness for the ol’ seasonal standards.
Now I’m not talking about Christmas carols or overtly [...]
My Israeli Music Pix
Posted in Israel, Jewish Music, Rock and Roll, Spirituality on August 21, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Some of the Israeli tunes I’ve been listening to since I’ve returned…
When I was in Tel Aviv, I made a beeline for Tower Records and picked up the first two Israeli releases by The Idan Raichel Project. Raichel is a musical phenom who has been extremely popular in Israel for some [...]
Everybody Jump!
Posted in Israel, Jewish Music, Palestine, Peace, Rock and Roll on June 12, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Woo hoo!!! I had the very good fortune to catch the Balkan Beat Box concert last night at the Empty Bottle in Chicago. I don’t get out to the clubs an awful lot, but boy am I glad I caught this particular gig - they did not disappoint!
For the uninitiated, here is a description of [...]
It Was 40 Years Ago, Today…
Posted in Israel, News, Palestine, Politics, Rock and Roll, Zionism on June 3, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Anyone notice the the media is currently overflowing with reminiscences, analyses, etc. about two very different milestones that are marking their forty year anniversary this month? I’m referring, of course, to the Six Day War (June 5, 1967) and the release of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (June 1, 1967). Indeed, it’s [...]
