Latest_news
Help Daptone!
We have more than a little admiration for Gabe Roth and all he and Neal Sugarman have built at Daptone. If we could work at any label other than JDub, Daptone is the one we’d be begging to intern at. These are the guys behind Sharon Jones, The Budos Band, and (along with Mark Ronson) Amy Winehouse, as well as one of my favorite albums of all times, The Daktaris. (Geeky personal fact: When I sat down next to Gabe randomly at a seminar this summer, I got excited like my sister-in-law would have had it been Brad Pitt.) Reviving soul music for the 21st Century is hard work, and even though in recent years its been paying off, these guys don’t ever seem to have it easy.
Last night, their studio was broken into. With no insurance, they are not in a good place to get their gear back, but you can help them by keeping an eye out for red-hot deals on studio equipment and musical gear on ebay, craigslist, and the like. Gabe’s full letter after the jump.
M.I.A. to become Jewish philanthropist?
Lots of write ups about a very pregnant M.I.A. performing alongside Kanye, T.I., Jay-Z, and Little Wayne at the Grammys. Few mention that the baby’s father (and M.I.A.’s fiance), Ben Brewer, is actually Benjamin Bronfman, son of Edgar Bronfman, Jr., CEO of Warner Music Group. What hasn’t been addressed directly is that this makes M.I.A. quite influential in the world of Jewish philanthropy. IF she wants to be, that is. Edgar Jr isn’t active in the Samuel Bronfman Foundation (unlike his father and brother, Adam), but who’s to say that his kids (and their spouses) won’t be one day? And isn’t that what the Jewish Community needs? An Oscar nominated, English born, alternative (yet superstar) Sri-Lankan Tamil artist dispersing millions of dollars a year to “inspire a renaissance of Jewish life?”
Israeli-Palestinian Jam In JLM
I’ve known the group G-Town for sometime now, but we never got to actually meet. They are 3 MC’s from the Shoa’ffat refugee camp north of Jerusalem. A couple of weeks ago, when they were in town, they called and asked to meet. We sat down, talked, freestyled and generally got to know each other. When the opportunity presented itself, about 2 weeks ago, we met in a studio downtown, with the kind help of Aaron Shneyer (of HeartbeatJerusalem and some fine musicians, along with Rebel Sun (of Coolooloosh) and Anomaly M.C from the U.K. We jammed for a few good hours, and there might be a joint track in the pipeline. Meanwhile, here are some photos from that incredible evening.
Sail On, Silver Jew
The Wailing Wall - Smith & Jones Forever
Hello everybody, this is Jesse from the band The Wailing Wall. I’ll soon be joining the JDub roster, and I couldn’t be any more excited about it! That also means I’ll be blogging here regularly about all the things my little band is up to. This week, though, I’d like to use this space to talk about about someone whose work has had a tremendous influence on me.
Almost exactly one year before I first performed under the name “The Wailing Wall” I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in an afternoon-long poetry workshop led by David Berman, best known as the lead singer and songwriter extraordinaire for the band Silver Jews, and author of Actual Air. My memories of the afternoon are actually pretty hazy – I’m pretty sure I spent the better part of those three and a half hours just debating in my head whether or not it would be lame if I asked him to sign a record. And honestly, Berman seemed like kind of a jerk. Each student had chosen the poem that they were proudest of, the one they had hoped would most impress their hero, only to find Berman dismissing any poetic aspirations they might have with an emotionless grunt and a limp wave of the hand.
Sexy Talmud?
Sexy Talmud. That’s a good combination, I think. Ofri Cnaani has been working on her video installation, The Sota Project for years (including as part of The Six Points Fellowship), and soon we’ll have the chance to experience it in a huge production this spring. Ofri studied and researched the ancient story from the Talmud about a women suspected of adultery who is put on trial. It’s a pretty gory ritual, and a part of the text that often causes discomfort in liberal/feminist/self-aware circles. In the Sota ritual, a suspected wife is evaluated by the High Priest in the temple; she is forced to stand naked before God and the priest and drink “bitter” water. If she was guilty, her stomach would rupture – and if innocent, she would become pregnant. Pretty intense, but not so far from some of the stories we’ve read recently in the news about the punishment for adulterous women. Ofri takes a short Sota text that describes a specific instance of betrayal and sisterhood, and reworks it into a modern narrative, “weaving the yarns of classic Jewish verse into a tapestry of intricate patterns.” Those are her words, and have a look at the trailer above.
Sway Machinery on Channel 13 (WNET/PBS)
Check out this excellent 8 minute piece on Jeremiah Lockwood and The Sway Machinery, which aired on New York City’s PBS affiliate WNET in mid-January. The band’s album, Hidden Melodies Revealed, comes out April 7th, but you can pre-order it now for $7.99 in the JDub webstore. Jeremiah will be doing signings below Union Square all next week.
Pick the Temple
A few weeks ago on the Daily Show, correspondent Wyatt Cenac investigated which D.C. church the Obamas would choose to attend, leading to the conclusion - in true Daily Show fashion - that a synagogue would be the right fit for the first family.
Heebie Jeebies
This might be old news to some of you, especially if you’re in Boston right this minute, but I had no idea Steven Beeber (of “The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s: A Secret History of Jewish Punk” fame) was teaching The Jewish Origins of Punk Rock at Tufts University this semester. Looks like I’ve got school on the brain this week. Check the course description after the jump.
Chicken Cheeks
Michael Ian Black, the comedian, author, actor, pundit and frequent collaborator of JDub recording artist Michael Showalter is releasing a children’s book called Chicken Cheeks and it’s all about animal butts!! Check out Mr. Black reading some excerpts from the book and his promo appearance on the Micahel Showalter Showalter.
How I Played With Legos Too…
Christoph Niemann's Lego art for The New York Times blog - brilliant!
