Daniel Solomon and Daniela Spector - My Sweetheart

Daniel Solomon is probably one of Israel's most appreciated (and melancholic) singer/songwriters today. And it's quite justified. When reading the lyrics of this song I can really believe that they belong to Daniel. It never ceases to amaze me that certain feelings I have, or thoughts in my head, can be found in so many other people and that I'm not as special as I thought. It's also quite comforting. I guess that's the idea behind the video. Sort of. Daniel's kind of speaking the words and not really singing so Daniela Spector's chorus really completes the song and makes everything flow.

I’ve wasted many years being sad
Closed and unsure, like a lion in a cage
Always yearning to go out into the freedom
And the lock is open, but not in my head
Many women passed here, and those that stopped
Were closed up like me, or they simply saw
That my heart is gone, it’s probably with you
And in their faces I searched but only your gaze
That touch and smell, that piece of peace
That wasn’t really inside you, but you wanted it
And God knows, in your name I yell
And nobody hears when the entire house is empty

My crazy sweetheart
Calling my name maybe he’s coming
My far one, I’ll be yours
My sweetheart when will you find me

I’ve wasted many years being alone
I was taken and thrown, falling from side to side
I’ll always miss what is not mine
Were you really mine, or was it just in my head
Many women passed here, and those that stopped
Were broken like me, or they simply saw
That something is missing in me, it’s probably with you
And in their bodies I searched but only the warmth of your body
That touch and smell, that piece of innocence
That wasn’t really in you, but you liked to dream
And god knows, with me it hasn’t passed
What’s gone is gone what’s left is left

I’ve wasted many years, being sad
Closed and unsure, like a lion in a cage
I’ll always miss what is not mine
Were you really mine, or was it just in my head
Many women passed here, and those that stopped
Were broken like me, or they simply saw
That something is missing in me, it’s probably with you
And in their bodies I searched but only the warmth of your body
That touch and smell, that piece of innocence
That wasn’t really in you, but you liked to dream
And god knows, with me it hasn’t passed
What’s gone is gone what’s left is left

http://www.myspace.com/danielsalomonmusic
http://www.myspace.com/danielaspector

Sivan Shavit - Friday Dinner

I usually prefer to post songs with videos, but here it seems like there's no need. I usually try to post songs fitting to the season, or my general mood, but this one's different. This is such a beautiful and sad song that I don't care that it's not "summerish" and that it doesn't really fit the sweltering heat. I really like Sivan Shavit's songs- they're all quiet but filled with emotion. Songs that left a big impression on me are "Kiss Me" and "Flying Ticket". They both manage to perfectly capture the situation in the song. In Kiss Me I can really feel like I'm with her on that so familiar car drive from Haifa to Tel Aviv by the sea and in Flying Ticket I'm stuck with her in airport world. This song is no different and I easily get the feeling of an empty house on Friday night, a night reserved for family dinners. I don't know if her home is completely empty, but it's without her mother for whom Sivan wrote this song and who passed away four years ago. It seems like Sivan is a fresh breath of air among the mainstream singers here, maybe because she's not trying to publicize her songs, or herself too much. She's just being who she is and knows that there are enough people who appreciate her and will come to concerts and even buy her CD. Or maybe she doesn't even care about that. There's something very Tel Avivian about her and I can't even define what makes a person Tel Avivian. But she does remind me of Tel Aviv on Friday late afternoon after all of the out-of-towners have returned to their homes to get ready for dinner.

I took down the paintings from the wall
I gave away the white couch
The little wooden elephants are still standing in a line
Your garden gently grows wild
I am pruning the roses
Soon the last picking of strawberries and figs

I can only see you with closed eyes
You rise and the tears fall
Maybe you just traveled abroad and soon will be back
The suitcase filled with presents for everyone and Friday dinner

In the meantime, I write in the room that was once yours
And the heaviness that comes every summer
After it comes autumn
And another year will start without you
There won’t be a ring of a telephone
Not a letter or a postcard
Not a quick visit
Not a kiss
A dry one

http://www.myspace.com/sivanshavit

Yoni Bloch - Not Easy, Not Simple

Yoni Bloch. It seems like there's so much to write about him. I feel like I've really grown up with his music. His first CD came out when I was just starting high school. I liked his songs and he seemed to me like a sensitive, honest singer/songwriter. And quite talented too. I liked his music but not enough to want to see him in concert. But enough to want to meet him in person and have him as a friend. Okay, I might have had a bit of a crush on him and wondered what it would be like to have him as a boyfriend. Considering I was 15 that's not too surprising! His second CD came out right before I started the army. I think it's the last album that reminds me of my high school life and not my army life. Yoni matured, along with his songs, and I still managed to enjoy his songs but not enough to want to see him in concert. His third CD came out when I was deep in the army. I didn't bother to hear the whole CD-it seemed to me that the heavy rotation of his singles on the radio was enough. I must say that his songs are annoyingly catchy and I even remember having his song "the Jealousy" with the line "You're more beautiful when you're unfaithful to me" stuck in my head a whole week. From what I've heard from his songs, he sounded a bit depressed, like after a bad break-up. Now he has a new CD out soon and this song is the first single. The video is one of the cutest and most original I've seen in a while. It's nice to hear that he sounds happier, sort of. There's still an air of melancholy to him but it goes well with this bright pop song.

I do not want to sound soft
But whenever your hand wanders up my thigh
I feel the passion trying desperately
To flow life into the rest of my exhausted body

All the night pam pam pam
I may seem like an animal, but I’m only a person

I don’t know how about you. Ach.
For me it hurts. Hurts so much. You
Know, loving you.

It’s not easy, it’s not simple
It’s not simple, It’s not easy

There’s no need to pressure it’s very clear to me
I fought, I didn’t give up, I developed a heart and lung
Endurance. Without a word, like a bleeding lion.
Only when you left did I let myself fall asleep

Suddenly at the door tuk-tuk-tuk
Tell me: How screwed up do you think I am?

Here exactly the line is drawn.
I already have contributed in the kitchen. You
Know, loving you

It’s not easy, it’s not simple.
It’s not simple, It’s not easy

And how much I want
I don’t know what to do to stop this

In my dream I see
A little boat in the rising sea
And in the boat sits a man
And his fishing rod is sent to the sea
And in the rod a sudden movement
I just want to sleep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40NeDueRGjc&feature=related
http://www.myspace.com/yonibloch

Avraham Tal - Strengthened forever

At first I really didn't like Avraham Tal's music. I really liked his former band Shotey Hanevua (the fools of prophecy) and I still regret not seeing them live before they split up. Avraham's sound as a solo artist is quite different. I remember hearing his first CD a couple of years ago and although there were a few radio hits I couldn't find one song which I really liked and wanted to hear. Then his second CD came out-I'm not quite sure if his style changed or if I did, but suddenly everything was much, well, better. This song has been played on heavy rotation on the radio these last few weeks and I still like it, maybe because I listen to less radio these days. It's so optimistic you don't even need to see the video to hear that he's smiling.

The words are calming
And the emotion is still clogged
Every word is in its place
And the heart stays sealed
And the days are so beautiful
The nights of this winter
Remind me of magical days
Two minutes are enough
Give me your hand and we’ll walk from here
Also in the body, also in the heart
You will let me touch the pain
And the days are so beautiful
And the nights of this winter
Remind me of magical days
Don’t worry I’m here…
I see that in life
The wheels spin everyone
The wars, the inversions
In the end, we come out strengthened forever
The times are not easy
Disappearing between the shadows
Waking up in panic
And escaping oblivion
And the days are so beautiful
And the nights of this winter
Remind me of magical days

Don’t worry I’m here…
I see that in life
The wheels spin everyone
The wars, the inversions
In the end we come out strengthened forever

http://www.myspace.com/avrahamtal
http://www.myspace.com/shoteianevua

Hadag Nahash - I Believe

It's a bit sad that these are the things that are on the minds of so many people living here: the uncertain future of our country, the even more uncertain possibility of peace, the much too high gap between the higher and lower classes, the awful state of the education and the list goes on and on. A bit heavy, no? It isn't a surprise that so many people turn to light drugs and alcohol "to get high so they won't crash". Hadag Nahash have become the biggest mainstream act in Israel. Maybe because so many people identify with their ideas and those who don't just like to dance to the great music. Because when it comes down to it, that's what we want to do most, dance to great music and sing out loud to the chorus of this song that everybody seems to believe in.

I believe that currently
Our part in not reaching peace
Is significant and just as big as that
Of all the neighboring countries
And I also believe that we’re running in circles
And there’s no chance that another war will help
And all the talks on fighting terror
Their purpose is just to impress the civilized world
I believe that it’s a must to invest in education
That the priorities have to be the other way around
That the salaries of the upper class are scandalous
That we have to shake and move the Kiryah
I believe that there’s no equality here
That the racism inside of us will lead to a disaster
That if we won’t wake up we won’t begin to understand
It’s a doubt if we’ll celebrate another 60

And nobody gives a shit
And I can’t carry this weight
Everywhere I go

I believe that it should be forbidden
For companies that lost piles of the public’s money
To buy air time on all of the channels
Until they start seeing profits
I believe that we must devotedly
Constantly support cultural activities
And if there’s a problem to regulate the budget
Give me the money, I’ll steer the wheel
So full of insightful values
He collects himself and begins to do
Establishes associations participate in demonstrations
Recruits the resources guides the activities
Goes on interviews, gets photographed, explains and checks out
How it needs to be done and what should be done differently
How much the solution is right around the corner
And how easy it will be if we just try to change the picture

And nobody gives a shit
And I can’t
Carry this weight
Everywhere I go
I just can’t…

And I decay wither and fall
Get away from everybody, don’t drink and don’t eat
See only the shitty things everywhere I look
And get high so I won’t crash

But nobody gives a shit…

http://www.hadagnahash.com/
http://www.myspace.com/hadagnachash

Alma Zohar - I got excited towards your arrival

This is a beautiful simple love song. It reminds me of Saturday afternoons when you try to enjoy that last breath of weekend bliss before the hectic week starting on Sunday. It's about that feeling of butterflies in your stomach or rushed heartbeats when you know you're soon meeting someone you love and not being embarrassed by it.

I got excited towards your arrival
A shiver went through me
One clear thought
Unconscious
Soon...

Like dogs know by the smell
Like dogs running toward a guest
I got excited towards your arrival

I threw out two arms in the air
For when you’d arrive
I wanted you to arrive without explaining
Without announcing before
Without a reason

Like how the sun rises without a breath
Like plants rising to light from the earth
I got excited towards your arrival.

I left footsteps marked in the sand
With a bare foot
I arrived like the dogs arrive
For a caress
Without apologizing

Like butterflies blinded by the moonlight
Like the whisper of the flaming match
I got excited towards your arrival

http://www.myspace.com/almmazohar

J.Viewz - This City Means No Love

I can't believe it's been only a week since May 31st. It feels more like a month. I still check out the Jerusalem Post frequently and then skim over to BBC or CNN to see how they're portraying the same story. It's quite addictive because the comments are quite interesting to read, especially on international sites. From thoughtful to stupid, from fact-filled to meaningless slogans, I've never seen a debate so polarized. It seems that there's no in-between. Over here it's not like everybody has the same thoughts. There are left-wingers and right-wingers, and there are people who oppose the IDF's actions. However everybody, and I mean everybody, seems to agree that the media is misleading the world and it feels like everybody hates us. Of course, that's not entirely true and the pro-Israel demonstrations and Facebook groups are proof. But it still seems that the majority is against us and that those who usually have a neutral opinion are against us. Saturday evening was supposed to be an amazing night for music lovers, especially alternative music lovers. The Klaxons were to warm up a Placebo concert followed by a party by the Gorillaz Sound System. On Friday afternoon I found out that the Klaxons and G.S.S canceled their performances. What's most pathetic is that they didn't even mention why. I think one of them even mentioned "technical problems" which is pretty lame. They could have at least expressed their opinions like Elvis Costello. Or maybe they don't have an opinion and are run by cowardly money-worried managers. Instead of them, we got the successful Israeli group J.Viewz who are based in New York and just happened to be on an Israeli tour, and the super-successful Israeli singer Portis who joked that he happened to be jogging in the park. Placebo gave a great performance, they simply gave us much-needed love and comforted us that not everybody hates us. Brian's best line was when he began the concert by stating "We're Placebo and we had the courage to come here. And I fucking hate flying." immediately winning the crowd over. It seemed like the current events were on everyone's minds, especially during songs like Breathe Underwater and Trigger Happy with lyrics like "So we're living in a culture made with death and fear/Doesn't seem the human race will make it through the year." It all reached a climax when he sang the last few lines "Put your hands in the air, and wave them like you give a fuck." At this point, we were completely won over. I was kind of hoping that I'd be able to forget about everything for a few hours and just enjoy a good concert, but this was so much better. The next morning we were all disappointed to discover that the Pixies, the real money-bringers to the two-day festival, canceled their gig saying that "it was beyond their control". This makes one wonder if they were being threatened and exactly how much pressure was put on them not to perform here. I was so happy to find out that the Editors who were supposed to warm up the Pixies are coming anyway and will be giving a full concert. Personally, I love them so much more than the Pixies and am thrilled that I'll get to see them live. Oh, and J.Viewz are an amazing band.
http://www.myspace.com/jviewz