TREE - Travel Light

Whoa. TREE just released the first clip from their second album and it's not at all how I expected it to be- which is a great compliment. I love how animators Glendon & Isabella have a signature style but make sure to adapt themselves to whoever they're working with (see Haya Miller and Radiotrip's colorful clip for comparison). TREE have certainly climbed up musically and also lyrically, but I think I'll always have a special place in my heart for their debut album which remains fresh and energetic after four years.

Travel light no weight to my baggage
Just arrived then I'll be moving on
On my way

Driving slow no reasons to hurry
Time moves on you catch just what you can
And think of what you didn't

Fading in the sunlight
Washed out to the sea
Always in the middle
Pouring down like raindrops
I can hardly see
Always seems to be that way with me

Changing fast we're not getting younger
That's the youngest we will ever be
You said to me

And that our lives are tied with a burden
That we're hoping
Someday we'll be free
But know, it makes no difference

Fading in the sunlight...

David Beinart - I Returned to the Beginning

What a sweet and uplifting song, like a warm bowl of homemade chicken soup. David Beinart is the chef and owner of the South Tel Aviv restaurant and cultural home Ala Rampa (where this video was shot) who always wanted to be a singer. He notes the irony that a song about giving up on his dreams is the one he chose for his first single as "it is another expression of the combination of contradictions in the melody and text: complexity and simplicity, despair and optimism" (press release). I could watch a whole movie about Beinart and wish him the best of luck in his culinary and musical careers!

I don't have anything to fear anymore
Of what will be tomorrow
I'm already old and ready to retire
There are many insights, on how time is precious
When the rope is on the neck
Hanging all hopes

I went far, far away
I got closer and closer
I looked deep, deep inside
And I returned to the beginning

I was on a rainy day
I swam naked in the sea
And in the hot summer sun I searched for shade for comfort
I made myself a family
So joy will not be missed
And so not to miss anything
I stopped being a singer

Malox, Echo & Tito, Uri Brauner Kinrot - Gaza Trip

I didn't have the chance to post a song this past week partly due to a busy after-the-holidays schedule and partly because with everything that's been going on it's been difficult to sort out and express my feelings. I mainly had to get used to a new but familiar companion who constantly followed me on my daily transit and errands (because life has to go on and all that) that goes by the name of Fear. On some days, I was able to ignore it but on others, especially after a gruesome attack, it was more difficult to continue as if everything was normal. If I wasn't scrolling through news alerts on the phone, I was glancing at people in the street and passengers on the bus with me wondering if we'll all be in some shared tragedy on the news. I also found myself being overly nice to the Arab workers at H&M and McDonalds because they're probably just as worried as I am. The guys over at Promised Podcast did a great job of explaining how this week felt in Israel and also analyzed how the political parties are reacting to the terror.
The new season of Indie City Jerusalem is in full swing with new videos being uploaded each week, serving as a wonderful break from the news and violence. Some videos are better than others, but all of them show the beauty and complexity of life in Jerusalem. This video featuring Malox, Echo & Tito, and Uri Brauner Kinrot, was filmed just a few weeks before the violence heightened in Jerusalem. Besides being an amazing song, it brings to mind two of my favorite Indie City videos from last season: Echo & Tito in the Machne Yehuda market and Yemen Blues in the Old City. The latter is especially touching and also heartbreaking as in the video it's the younger generation who are the first to make a step forward and dance to the music yet these days they are at the center of the violence with most of the attacks being made by young Arabs under the age of 18. As I'm writing this, I'm being notified of another knife attack in Hebron, in addition to two attempted attacks earlier in the day in Kiryat Arba and Jerusalem. And it's just noon.

Ze Lo Hashuv - A Star Called Sun

A heavy morning after a bloody weekend, which started with the brutal murder of Eitam and Na'ama Henkin while driving with their children in the West Bank and ended with two shootings in Jerusalem's Old City, leaving 2 dead and 3 wounded. While we've become used to terror attacks, there's been a shift in the air with a dreaded uncertainty of how things will continue from here.

When I first read the lyrics for this song, I felt that it could have been written here and now. The only hint to a translation are the words "white snow and grey ice". I was struck by how piercing the lyrics are and with the video I couldn't help but think of the Henkins' last ride, which left a very chilling feeling. But the car in the video can also be referring to the one Victor Tsoi was driving when he tragically died at 28 in 1990. Tsoi wrote the lyrics to this song, as part of his hugely popular Soviet rock band Kino, famous for its Western post-rock sound and messages of freedom . As this clip by Ze Lo Hashuv ("It's not important" in Hebrew) shows, Tsoi's words are still very relevant today and with their pure honesty continue to touch the hearts of many listeners.

White snow and grey ice, on cracked rocky terrain
Covered with a patchwork quilt, a city with a loop in the road.

And above the city clouds are floating, hiding the divine light.
And above the city yellow smoke, a city two thousand years old
Which lived under the light of a star called the Sun.

And there's a war over two thousand years, a war without an excuse and reason
The war is, for the young, a medicine against wrinkles

Red, red is the blood, after an hour, it's again earth.
After two hours there are grass and flowers, after three, it's alive again
Receiving heat from the light of a star called the Sun.

Yes it is known that this is how it always was, that fate wants the one,
Who obeys other laws and those who die young.

I don't remember the words yes and no, don't remember the ranks and names
Just reach to the stars, and don't think that it's a dream,
And then fall, burned from the light of a star called the Sun

*The translation here aims to be a direct translation from the Hebrew version. An English translation from the Russian original can be found here, with the original song.

Nikuy Rosh - Rabat Summit (The Neighborhood Song)

Like so many other Israelis, I was also quite shaken by Moti Kirschenbaum's sudden death on Friday. He seemed to be in the midst of so many plans and there were no evident signs of slowing down- his highly acclaimed current affairs new show London & Kirschenbaum with Yaron London, the occasional guest spot on the satire "The State of the Nation", maybe a new travel documentary. He's gone much too soon. We were born almost exactly 50 years apart, but he's one of the few figures in Israeli culture who I really identify with and admire. Much has already been said about his remarkable personality but he really did stand out with his mix of keen intelligence, never-ending sense of curiosity and above all his rich sense of humor, which reflected in everything he did. I'm not sure if he would have liked all these praises-he probably would shake his head and sum it all up in a word or two, as he often did on his show.

I think that because we're such a young country it's always very sad when someone who was there from the very beginning and in many ways shaped our cultural DNA passes away.
Kirschenbaum was among the founders of Israeli television, serving as the editor-in-chief of the news program "Mabat" and the producer of the satirical show "Nikuy Rosh", which can be translated as "head cleaning" airing from 1974-1976.
"Nikuy Rosh" deserves a special place in Israeli culture as it not only paved the way for future Israeli satires but also in many ways reflected the state the country was in right after the Yom Kippur War.
Kirschenbaum captured the absurdities of Israeli reality in a critical yet affectionate way. As for this skit, which is based on the very popular "Neighborhood Song", performed by The Tarnegolim, and accounts the Rabat summit in 1974,  I don't know what's more depressing- the fact that most of it is still very relevant or the fact that most Israeli producers would be hesitant to air something like this today. I especially like how coordinated the group of actors is and I'm pretty sure that Kirschenbaum played a big part in that.

Probably how I'll remember him the most-here's Kirschenbaum dancing along to Terry Poison-make sure to watch till the end!

Guys, guys, wait a minute
Asad, Faisal, Arafat
Are playing in the conference over in Rabat, Morroco
They kicked Hussey out, the shouting didn't help
Let's catch them and beat them up
Go, call the guys over here
There's only the Dominican Republic
Go, call the guys over here
We'll exert American influence
Go and call our friends
Go and call our Jews
Go, call the guys over here
They should come already
How they got beaten up in October
Walla, it was an Akbar war
The Egyptians got their teeth knocked out
And also the Syrians suffered a serious blow
Look and see how they're ruining a chance
They didn't even mention Peace
Look and see how they're ruining a chance
They didn't recognize the Palestinians
What a painful insistence
They don't want to sit next to me
Look and see how they're ruining a chance
They should come already
There's no Palestino
So there's no aggreemo
The end to the end of Peace
Elik elik boom boom boom boom
One two three Henry's coming
Four five six Henry's coming
Seven eight nine Henry's coming
Yalla, Henry, what are we doing?
Say Peace
Dream
Say Palestinians
Dancing eyes
Say chance
Fuy
Look, how they chose the PLO and they're sending him to the UN
They're forcing me to sit and discuss with murderers
That's because you didn't make sure to encourage anyone else
You withheld any organization so stop complaining
We don't want peace we want to go crazy
Listen to what my dad said last night
We don't want peace we want to go crazy
That all the Arabs are the same
Come on guys, learn from the mistakes
That we already made, don't do the same nonsense
We don't want to hear about reason and logic
Leave persuasion and let's play with armor
We don't want peace we want to go crazy
Go to the UN to file a complaint
We don't want peace we want to go crazy
We'll blow up the neighborhood!

MONGAR - Doklyn

It's not the greatest feeling to be welcomed back in the country by a harsh heatwave, pushing and shoving on the bus during a traffic jam and an overall feeling of post-holiday blues. But hey, it's the weekend again! This excellent track by MONGAR is just what I needed to start the new year with a fresh peace of mind.

ZOHARA - New Village

Falafel usually takes minutes to order and just a few more minutes to eat but in those precious minutes it's just you and your falafel-no extra hand for checking your phone and no point in polite small talk. This colorful video captures the Israeli falafel experience with Zohara's "New Village" in the background, giving everything a cool and bright touch.

She didn't call the Meds again
She's stuck with the disease
The world it stops and then begins
We're down here on our knees
We add the minutes passing by
To know what we are worth
We chase our dreams we're running fast
Against the turning of the earth
The songs are playing in our heads
But they can't reach our hearts
The government's a piece of shit
You've given up on art
I asked the clouds sailing up above
To stop smothering the light
I called you for the last time again
I wonder if you might...

*I'll be kicking off the new Hebrew year abroad so see you sometime after the 15th and Shana Tova!