[Music] Bandcamp – The Hidden World of Psychedelic Jewish Folk

From the article:

There’s an argument to be made that the origins of mind-expanding folk music date back centuries before the advent of recorded music. There’s an old understanding, popular in Orthodox circles, that the Torah is, itself, one long song—a song handed down from smoked-out Mount Sinai by Moses, where the assembled masses of humanity experienced collective synesthesia, and saw the sounds of the voice of G-d.

Connect the dots: Jews are the people of The Book, and our book is a scroll of sheet music first performed at an ancient psychedelic rock concert. Bob Dylan (whose Hebrew name is Shabtai Zissel) knows it; Chronicles, Vol. One, for example, takes its name from the Hebrew Scriptures.

But there isn’t much scholarship around this heritage. Jeanette Leech’s wonderful book Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk traces a vast cosmic tree of outré acoustic music from around the world, including many examples of the surprising crossover of entheogenic religious devotional music. But it barely features a mention of a Jewish contribution to the genre. Sure, you could point to “Solomon’s Song” from C.O.B.’s 1972 album Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart. But that’s one smudged dot on a massive map.

The final chapter of And You Shall Know Us By The Trail Of Our Vinyl, a book about Jewish LPs of yesteryear, dips a few toes into the water, pointing to some examples of frum folk rock—The Stanley Miller Band’s American Simcha or The Noam Singers’ The New Dimension in Hebrew Music. But that’s where the trail goes cold, and many of these documents never made it online. Forget about the ones they didn’t even mention: The Voices Four, Shimon & Ilana, Manguinot Bashira, the Beth Sholom Folk Rock Service’s Chants for Peace. Of these, you might find a clip or two online. Maybe.

And so it seems at least one corner of this day-glo forest remains shrouded in fog. But if you’ll allow, we’d like to guide you on a hidden path toward the world of psychedelic Jewish folk music.

Read the whole article here, and sample some works from Kinky Friedman, Victoria Hanna and Shmulik Kraus among others. A worthy read about a neglected scene.

[Music] Dolores Mondo Stash – The Moonwake Syndrome

I’ve reviewed releases with short track times before, but when a release, in total, clocks in at about two minutes and twenty seconds, it had better be a commendable release if I am to review it.

It was.

Dolores Mondo Stash, a band out of Romania, keep the spirit of No wave alive with these two minuscule, yet punchy, tracks.  Shades of DNA, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and a hint of both early Wire and The Fall make this into something rather enjoyable to check out.

[Music] Raphael Weinroth-Browne – Worlds Within

Ladies and gentlemen, I have to be admit to being a bit thrilled to mention this release.  Some time ago, I reviewed a band called Flying Hórses, a band Raphael Weinroth-Browne was a member of, and whose stunning work on the cello made the album so memorable for me.

On January 24, he will release a new album which balances post-rock, contemporary classical music and the most tasteful aspects of metal.  It would have never occurred to me to blend such aspects together, but Raphael weaves things together masterfully.

Welcome to 2020

This first post comes to you from the Beijing Capital Airport, and the next might come from Los Angeles. We plan on being far busier promoting new music, Chinese Internet be damned! We’ll find a way.

Expect more, also, from The Hip Priest Podcast as well.

Thanks to you, good artists, who trusted me with writing something about your work. I have much to catch up on, so I ask for your patience, but I’ll respond to all inquiries. Have a wonderful 2020!