this is some text. where will it appear, i wonder? toy boat toy boat toy boat- ploni ben almoni

It’s day 7 of the Omer and I’m trying to figure out if I like Y-Love and Yuri Lane’s new album, Sefira.

Some refrain from listening to music altogether during this 49-day march from redemption to law, but I definitely don’t. And neither to Y-Love now Yuri Lane follow this stricture either, judging by their release of an Omer album.

Sefira features rapping by Y-Love (Ortho-rapper Yitz Jordan) and amazing beat boxing by “the human beat box” Yuri Lane.

The album is all over the place topically with driving beats and great rhymes from always dependable Y-Love.

I can’t tell if I actually like it. It’s very sparse, but layered at the same time. I think I’m more impressed by it than I actually like it. The words are great and the beats are just mind-blowing. I almost don’t believe that this is all a cappella.

Sefira on MySpace.

Buy the album from Shemspeed.

Y-Love describes the album:

During the 7-week period following Passover, the Jewish Nation spends its time counting the days and weeks of the Omer period, culminating in the receiving of the Torah. During these weeks we are forbidden to use our normal musical instruments as a sign of decreased joy, forcing us to improvise. This is a paradox — being commanded to serve the Creator with joy always, but having His service be to decrease joy. Our music is that paradox. As we improvise with our music, so too, we sometimes must improvise with our simcha. Count it.

Sorry I don’t have a player or video from the album to embed, but I couldn’t find any.

The above (lengthy) mix tape features all manner of eclectic Passover soundbytes all mashed up for maximal awesomeness.

As Jew on This puts it:

It’s been put together by the Idelsohn Society, who I’ve only recently, and delightedly, discovered. They are named after the Jewish musician Abraham Zevi Idelsohn (writer of the timeless classic Hava Nagila!) Their mission, as they say on their website “ is to incite a new conversation about the present by listening anew to the past… This is music that forces listeners to ask themselves who am I, what have I inherited, and what am I going to do about it?

Word. And you can download the whole mix tape for free at their site. So go do that. Chag sameach.

The Macaroons are what would happen if Weezer was making Jewish kids’ music. They’re kind of awesome.

Without a doubt, my favorite song on their new Passover EP is “Seder Plate.” “Seder plate, seder plate/different from the other plates/you’ve got a lot more going on design-wise.” Genius!

Anyway, here’s the video for their Matzah Ball song.

@kotskerchasida: The difference between syncretism and using music from another community for one’s own devotion: Kirtan rabbi. BS meter -no alarms.

Kirtan Rabbi, the alter ego of Rabbi Andrew Hahn, seeks to excite Jewish words and ideas by presenting them in the framework of Kirtan, an Indian devotional style, which relies on ecstatic call and response. I’ll begin with this video, letting Hahn and his biggest fans speak for themselves and then I’ll review his new album “Achat Sha’alti.”

OK. So the folks in the video are a little woo-woo for me and I can’t see myself every actually going to a Kirtan Rabbi event. But, and this is a big but, “Kirtan Rabbi Live!” and “Achat Sha’alti” certainly bring something sublimely unique to my Shabbos Playlist. The basic question of this blog is whether the music I’m talking about will make it into my Shabbos Playlist. And this album certainly will.

The album consists of three medleys separated out into eight tracks, bookended by an intro track of Kaddish and a closing track of Ozi Ve-zimrat Yah.

KR’s approach to Kaddish is unique. As he says in the intro to the Kaddish track on the live CD, he sees Kaddish as what we would say if we could see what the dead, in the presence of God were seeing. Again, we’re moving a little too far into woo-woo territory for me, but it is invigorating an refreshing to hear the words of Kaddish sung happily, rather than chanted dourly. Even if you don’t buy what KR says about see what the dead see–which I don’t–you still have to admit that the words of Kaddish are happy. They praise God over and over. So the joyful tone makes sense.

The first medley, the title medley, “One Thing I Seek,”  is great, not just because it sounds great, but because he’s playing with a relatively unfamiliar text. Though the third medley is Lecha Dodi, this one and the next are working with texts that Jewish songwriters don’t generally rely on. “One Think I Seek” plays with the text of Psalm 27:4, 13. The beginning of Pslam 27 is quite familiar (“The Lord is my light and my help. Whom shall I fear? etc”) and this Psalm is read throughout the month of Elul, but this section is not one we tend to dwell on.

In the first track of the medley, KR simply recites verse 4 once through. The second track focuses in on the title verse,

“Achat sha-alti mei-eit Adonai: Shivti b-veit Adonai kol y-mei chayyai.”

“One thing I ask of Adonai, on that do I seek: To live in the house of Adonai all the fays of my life.”

Throughout the track, this line is repeated back and forth in the Hebrew with longing.

The third part focuses in on a different line, emphasizing the phrase “The Land of the Living.” This line transitions nicely into the second medley, “Resurrection.”

“Resurrection” uses line from the sidur to explore spiritual resurrection. And the third medley is Lecha Dodi. Every Jewish musician seems to be required to have their own version of Lecha Dodi and Kirtan Rabbi is no different. The three tracks of this version focus on, in this order the verse “Shamor ve-Zachor,” the verse “Lo Teivoshi” and the chorus of  Lecha Dodi.

The closing track is by far my favorite. Everything comes together perfectly in this track. Using a melody by Shefa Gold (woo-woo here we come), this track’s Indian harmonium, repeating string sounds (what is that? I can’t figure out what’s making this noise, but it’s great!) and Hahn’s voice and the chorus of repeaters come together to make some that is just perfectly beautiful.

It’s certainly a different experience than listening to the older live Kirtan Rabbi album, but I love it just as much.

And here’s the video “You are Never Alone” that he mentions in the trailer:

Israel is notable for, among other things, NOT being in Europe. Nonetheless, they enter the Eurovision song contest every year And this year is no different. I give you Harel Skaat singing something that is bland and really crappy.

And below, a video of them. It’s good.

Chabadnik-rapper DeScribe’s new EP “Harmony” is out today. I’m just beginning to digest it, but check out the video above for the catchy title track.

Later this week, I’ll have a real review of the EP as well as an interview with DeScribe, which will be available here and at Jewschool.

You can get the CD at Shemspeed.