So lovely. Amalia Small's new album Something New is out now, and it's such a great listen. A ray of sunshine to save for a cloudy day.
1,000 days.
♥
I was so sad to hear of Astar Shamir's death today after battling cancer. She wrote so many classics, and one of them that stands out is 'Mid-September', which she wrote in 1982, following the Lebanon War and the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Gali Atari first performed it four years later, as the title track of her classic album, capturing the heavy mood at the time.
So beautiful. Kutiman and Dekel's new album Hope is out next week!
FLAWLESS! Good luck Noam!!
English translation from Genius.com
This stunning cover of Chava Alberstein's classic was released a few months ago as part of Beit Avi Chai's Song of Hope series. The song starts at 5:00, but I highly recommend listening to Shye Ben Tzur (there are English subtitles in the video). He says that he felt that something inside him wrote the song, and I can really feel in his performance the connection to Rachel Shapira's beautiful lyrics, which have brought comfort to so many people.
Shye's much-anticipated new album with Jonny Greenwood and The Rajasthan Express will be out next week and in the meantime you can see the video for Shemesh, a gift that couldn't have come at a better time. ♥
Passover is the holiday of freedom, and to mark the holiday, the Kan 88 radio station aired three special programs, each one curated by a former hostage, giving them complete freedom to play whatever they wanted. Each show gave so much insight into their inner world. I loved Amit Soussana's picks with deep cuts that don't usually make it to the radio, and I was deeply moved by Yarden Bibas's selections. Yarden shared that the songs he chose have helped him in the past year, expressing emotions that he hasn't been able to describe in words. It was especially emotional to hear him say he would play Zakk Wylde's "I Thank You Child" on family car trips, and Ariel knew it was 'their song'. He played the song at the funeral of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, and lyrics from the song are inscribed on their tombstone: "It was you who made living all worthwhile, oh lovin' you it's the best". We will never forget them.
While Amit and Yarden stuck to specific genres, I loved how Guy Gilboa Dalal took us on a genre-spanning musical journey. He shared how Avenge Sevenfold's Buried Alive gave him strength during his captivity, and I can't help but shiver when I hear the lyrics "Hold on to faith as I dig another grave", knowing the hell he has been through and survived. Later in the show, he dedicated Avenge Sevenfold's Gunslinger, to his older brother, who had introduced him to the band when he was a kid. They had gone to the Nova Festival together with friends, and Guy knew before he was taken hostage that his brother was injured. "I didn't know what happened to my brother, I didn't know if my brother was alive, but I had faith. The song is about war, about the hardship, the loneliness, and the strong desire to return home to the person you love. When I got home, I discovered that my brother had the meaning of the song tattooed on his leg, as a symbol of our bond". In February 2025, when Tal Shoham and Or Wenkert were released from captivity, Guy had asked them to send songs to his family members, each song with its own special meaning and significance. He sent Gunslinger to his brother, Liad Meir's Sunglasses to his sister, Damien Jr Gong Marley's Medication to his dad, and Ilanit's A Song for an Ordinary Day to his mom. I was familiar with the classic song, but never really stopped to listen to the lyrics, beautifully written by Rachel Shapira. This moving performance is from last year and was dedicated to the families of the hostages. With all we've been through, I am comforted by the fact that our hostages have returned home, and it is always possible to find and to share the small joys of an ordinary day.
