Balkan Beat Box - Dancing With the Moon

Balkan Beat Box are probably one of the most internationally successful Israeli groups right now along with Asaf Avidan & the Mojos and the Apples. It seems like Balkan are first and foremost interested in making good music and making people happy. I really love this song and so far it's my favorite from their new album. The video was shot at the newly renovated Jaffa Port, definitely worth a visit and an entirely different world from the quite touristy (but also worth a visit) Tel Aviv Port. It's also very romantic-especially in the middle of the week.

Don’t know where we’re going
But I know I saw in your eyes
My life growing
To unite with u
And the time is towing us to age
And tossing years
But we’re still glowing
Like we never knew
We took a decision
To have no definition
And our ammunition
Is to keep our love true

We chose to share a vision
More than we envisioned
While this song is playing
I want to dance with u

So put on that record that we used to listen to
When we found the truth
A golden soft memory in blue
To repaint it, in me and in u

I’m dancing in your garden
To ease up all that’s harden
Plant a seed this morning
To see a flower bloom

Words need not be spoken
Sleeping souls have woken
And this song is not more than
A blooming afternoon

For there is no other
For me u are the mother
A perfect sound of ever
In a perfect tune

As night slowly approaching
The sun is set for love
And when I see you smiling
I’m dancing with the moon

http://www.myspace.com/balkanbeatbox

Amir Dadon - Waves

A perfect song to close the summer even though it'll still go on through September and maybe even some of October-but with holidays as a distraction, people will probably have more to talk (and think) about than the sweltering heat.

Waves, waves of sand
A moon looking at the desert
The trail leads from today
The path will lead to tomorrow

You’re washed in the sand
Beautiful like the desert’s oasis
Maybe I’ll get a chance to see you again
Between paths of earth

So I am going, so I am going

So the sand will drift
So everything shall burn
I am going

Waves, waves of sand
Your eyes will meet mine
Like the sea touching the shore
Your lips will touch mine

So I am going, so I am going

So the sand will drift
So everything shall burn
I am going

http://www.myspace.com/amirdadon1

Eyal Golan - I Just Miss You

When most Israelis think of Mizrahi music the first name that pops into their head is Eyal Golan. Or Zohar Argov-it depends on the generation. I'm pretty sure that Eyal Golan is one of the first Mizrahi singers to really cross the line into the mainstream, and in the end, his music became mainstream. I'm not a huge fan of Mizrahi music, it depends on my mood and the occasion, but I really like this song and I think that it suits Golan's voice. And then there's the whole gossip around it. Eyal Golan recently broke up with his wife of quite a few years and an Israeli beauty queen, Ilanit Levi to whom he dedicated the cheesy yet sweet song "My Beauty Queen". Even though he didn't write the lyrics it makes a lot of sense to sing a song like this considering his personal situation. It'll probably not end up on my Mizrahi music wedding playlist, but it's quite an emotional song that I still haven't gotten tired of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHxHdr58-9w
http://www.myspace.com/thegolanclub

For the past few months I’ve been going through hard days
In search of excitement that will only ease the pain
And apparently there are people who are weak like me
Fools, emptied from all happiness in the heart.

How did I get to this

I am no longer afraid or hesitant
I want to make up
Come back I’m no longer angry, I just miss you

And I don’t want to be caught
As small, and tiring
Over you
Convergent for a moment
And just, just miss you.

Yes I’ve had expectations living how I’d like to live
Not to leave any more questions if you’ll come back again
And apparently there are illusions, which give refuge and rises
When depths come in the end, I realize how they fooled me.

I don’t have strength in me to change

I am no longer afraid or hesitant…

Until you’ll suddenly come back to me
I want you in front of me today
I’ll look at you and hug you with warmth
Now I know

I only miss your eyes
What am I, poor without you
I’ve tied my life with yours
Now I’m starving

And I just, just miss you

Erez Lev Ari - At the End of the Day

I'm in a bit of a dilemma these past few days. On one side, I constantly hear of awful things happening that are sort of huge warning signs of worse things to come. I'm talking about the grads falling in Eilat and yesterday's ambush with the Lebanese Army in the north. Not to mention waking up in the morning to read that Iran has officially acquired s-300 missiles. On the other side, what does it help to worry? I know it doesn't help at all but going about my careless summer as usual while everything here is still normal (for now) just feels weird. Erez Lev Ari is an artist whom I've heard a lot on the radio, but I don't know exactly who he is. Just that he's very close to god and that he manages to write songs that many Israelis can relate to sort of playing the act of the spiritual narrator. Anyway the chorus to this song pretty much sums it all up and it's good to remember that there's a new day at the end of the night.

If I were to forgive I’d be happy
If I were to run away I’d be “settled”
If I were breakable I’d be able to
If I were captivated I’d be dangerous
If I were shouting I’d stay
If I were quiet I’d fall asleep
If I were…

At the end of the day, it’s only me
And it’s only you and the kids and god,
And all the rest is nonsense
What was is what was so turn off the lights
And let’s go to sleep there's a new day at the end of the night

If I were to forgive I’d be happy
If I were to run away I’d be “settled”
If I were breakable I’d be able to
If I were captivated I’d be dangerous
If I were to know I’d talk
If I were me I’d be someone else
(Mother what will be with me…)

At the end of the day…

http://www.myspace.com/erezlevari

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