http://www.jweekly.com en Copyright 2011 2011-10-17T19:38:22+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/63189/idan-raichel-india.arie-get-down-in-o-town http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/63189/idan-raichel-india.arie-get-down-in-o-town#When:19:38:22Z by leigh cuen | On Saturday Oct. 15 Idan Raichel and India Arie came to Oakland as part of the annual SF Jazz festival. They performed songs from their collaborative album “Open Door,” to be released in the spring of 2012. Arie twisted and swiveled around the stage in a flouncy dress. Idan fed off of her hippie-dippy energy, even abandoning his piano bench for an electric bass during one song. photo credit Ronald Davis They sang together in English, Hebrew, and songs with mixed lyrics from both languages. Raichel’s contributions proved him to be a talented lyricist in both languages. He said that he is greatly indebted to Google Translate. Raichel’s nimble-fingered piano melodies and breathy singing served as a catalyst for Arie's highly emotive vocals. The songs were smooth, optimistic, and revealed a new flavor for Raichel, a refreshingly funky overtone. This album was born out of the Arie’s travels to the Holy Land. In 2010 Arie went to Israel for a little soul searching after a disastrous turn in her career. She asked around who was the most radical songwriter in Israel. Raichel’s name came up again and again. When Raichel got a call that India Arie was in Tel Aviv and wanted to meet him, he thought that it was a crazy fan pulling a prank. He offered that they meet at a falafel stand close to his house because he was afraid to give his real address. But then Raichel saw Arie waiting for him at the falafel stand and the rest, as they say, is history.  Of course I was not deviant enough to smuggle recording devices into the concert. But lucky for you, others have been naughty at previous concerts. Here are some clips of the two performing together. God bless youtube.   blogs 2011-10-17T19:38:22+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/62649/matisyahu-releases-elijahs-song http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/62649/matisyahu-releases-elijahs-song#When:19:49:58Z by leigh cuen | Matisyahu just racked up major brownie points in my book by releasing "Elijah's Song" in memory of a young boy who he met that was suffering from cancer.  Matisyahu said: "I wrote and recorded this song with my friend Elijah just hours before he passed away last December. Proud to be able to share his voice and story while helping his family on their road to recovery. If you like it, you can make a donation and get two versions of the song-including one with him singing." The song is now available to download. All of the proceeds go to the Elijah Memorial Fund, administered by the Chabad of West Boca (Florida). The download includes two versions of “Elijah’s Song”, including a special version with Elijah and Matisyahu singing together the night before Elijah passed.  Possibly the first time I've ever heard a tear-jerking reggae song, and it's so worth the tissues. blogs 2011-08-22T19:49:58+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/62443/yemen-blues-grooves-in-s.f http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/62443/yemen-blues-grooves-in-s.f#When:18:17:06Z by leigh cuen | Monday August 1 Israeli singer Ravid Kahalani and his nine-member blues band, Yemen Blues, rocked the Independent in San Francisco. Kahalani sings in both his native Hebrew and his family's Yemeni dialect of Arabic, fusing jazz, Middle Eastern melodies, and funky blues into one modern brew.   Yemen Blues are no strangers to the Bay Area. They opened this year's Jewish Music Festival in early March with a performance in Berkeley. If, like me, you weren't lucky enough to catch Yemen Blues red-handed with blue tunes, you can check out the video of that Berkeley performance on youtube. Beteavon. Photos by Jan Lauren Greenfield.     blogs 2011-08-03T18:17:06+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61913/snls-andy-samberg-and-the-lonely-island-unleash-album http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61913/snls-andy-samberg-and-the-lonely-island-unleash-album#When:18:38:39Z by emily savage |   Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg met his The Lonely Island cohorts Justin Taccone and Akiva Schaeffer (all three Jewish) during the trio's junior high years in our beloved Berkeley. It's safe to say they've done quite well for themselves. They score album guest stars like Justin Timberlake and Michael Bolton. They can rap convincingly. And they are hysterical. Their second album — "Turtleneck &  Chain" — dropped May 10. The comedy troupe/rap group was interviewed in the May 26 issue of Rolling Stone and they talked plenty about their Bay Area roots. A few choice quotes: - "We grew up in the Bay Area, so it started with Too $hort. N.W.A.'s "Straight Out of Compton" and Eazy-E's "Eazy-Duz-It" were huge for us."- "There was a superdeep punk scene in Berkeley, but it wasn't necessarily our scene in high school. I'd definitely put on my headphones and listen to Pink Floyd when I was a sophomore."- "At summer camp, I used to sketches about life at camp. For me, SNL is like the summer camp of the country. You pool all of the most important headline-y and gossipy things from the week, and put them in a show."You can watch an amusing/awkward clip of another RS interview with Lonely Island here (warning: super naughty language, potty humor and real gross stuff for the faint of heart): see the boys   Psst: Follow us @JewtunesJweekly     blogs 2011-06-01T18:38:39+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61839/hasidic-vegan-reggae-superstar-tour http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61839/hasidic-vegan-reggae-superstar-tour#When:18:59:17Z by emily savage | photo/daniel sieradski/jta Matisyahu is revving up to embark on his summer tour. He'll play a slew of shows across the U.S. during these hot sticky months (elsewhere), finally hitting (cold, windy) San Francisco on Aug. 2 at the Regency Ballroom. Get your tickets now, they could go fast — he's everyone's favorite Chassidic-vegan reggae superstar. Added bonus: here's a photo of his son looking super cute. And if you do decide to go, you can look forward to this face/voice:   Psst: Follow us @JewTunesJweekly     blogs 2011-05-24T18:59:17+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61774/hot-jewish-music-releases http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61774/hot-jewish-music-releases#When:21:45:28Z by emily savage | Some big Jewy music news this week! Chasidic rapper, Y-love’s “See Me” EP hits stores today, as does the second Girls in Trouble record “Half You Half Me”  (Jdub). Check out Y-love’s new video (and get the E.P.) here.You can pick up your copy of Girls in Trouble's lush new record here (and trust me, you want to) here. As you may recall, we at Jew Tunes (read: me) are big fans of the project, helmed by the lovely violinist/singer Alicia Jo Rabins. And then, there’s the new video for fantastic Israeli-fronted L.A. band Fool’s Gold. Watch it here (and below). And read our story on band. The video is a preview for Fool's Gold's forthcoming album "Leave No Trace" (out in August).  Go forth, buy good music made by Jews! Psst: Follow us @JewTunesJweekly blogs 2011-05-17T21:45:28+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61630/g-n-r-drummers-appetite-for-reconstruction http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61630/g-n-r-drummers-appetite-for-reconstruction#When:19:09:50Z by emily savage | Guns N' Roses member Steven Adler: heavy drummer, addict, Jew. Adler's memoir "My Appetite for Destruction: Sex & Drugs & Guns' Roses" came out last year, and in it, among other images, the classic bar mitzvah shot. His life wasn't all Torah study however, during his time in G N' R, Adler was partying hard, and using drugs so excessively that he was kicked out of the notoriously rowdy band. His mother drove him to rehab, and after recovery he made amends with his family. He explained his transformation recently to the Canadian Jewish News: "Like every young person you do what your family wants you to do. My grandmother was very spiritual, and she thought doing Jewish things was important for my life. They weren’t important for me, but she was older and wiser.”He is hitting the road with a new band, Adler's Appetite, this summer, with a stop in S.F. at the Red Devil Lounge on July 1. blogs 2011-05-04T19:09:50+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61414/free-jewish-freak-folk-album http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61414/free-jewish-freak-folk-album#When:16:05:59Z by emily savage | Get your Shabbat started early with a totally free, freak-folk download from Jdub. It's described as a "psychedlic spin on the traditional Friday night service." The album, "Sabbapath," had inauspicious beginnings. It started with a dusty old record Rob Markoff found called "Sing Out it's Shabbos" which, based solely on the cover, reminded him of his synagogue in the 1970s. He expected lo-fi, feel-good '70s group sing-along, but instead heard sullen acoustic guitar once he dropped the needle. He was, however, enchanted by the rabbi's voice on the record and imagined what the album could have been. He decided to create a new album, inspired by his '70s synagogue experience, and recorded "Sabbapath" using singing, guitars, autoharp, flutes, and harmonium. The resulting album is "the Shabbat service Markoff had hoped to hear when he first discovered 'Sing Out Shabbos.'" Now you can download his experiment here. Wishing you a freaky weekend. Shabbat Shalom!     Psst: Follow us @JewTunesJweekly blogs 2011-04-08T16:05:59+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61046/the-maccabeats-urge-you-to-raise-your-glass http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/61046/the-maccabeats-urge-you-to-raise-your-glass#When:18:01:32Z by emily savage | Yes folk, it's that time of year again — Purim parody videos! This one comes courtesy of The Maccabeats, sung to the tune of Pink's "Raise Your Glass." It's cute, real cute. So cute, that there's a baby Esther in a pink tutu and a toddler Haman in that signature three-point hat and sporting a drawn-on mustache. So go, watch, kvell. blogs 2011-03-09T18:01:32+00:00 http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60765/new-sway-machinery-video http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60765/new-sway-machinery-video#When:17:35:05Z by emily savage | The always-excellent Jdub act Sway Machinery has a sparkly new video up this week. The song "Gawad Teriamou" is off the bands forthcoming album The House of Friendly Ghosts, Vol. 1 The video was made in Mali  while the Sway Machinery was recording the album with African musicians including Khaira Arby, Vieux Farka Toure, Djelimady Tounkara and Super 11. See above. Then get dancing. blogs 2011-02-09T17:35:05+00:00