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

Elisha Banai & the 40 Thieves - Barcelona

This is my first blog post. Ever. It all started when I was still in the army and realized how much I missed writing in English- and saying to myself that this is one of the things I'll do when I go back to civilian life, mainly because I'll finally have the time and energy to do this. It's been a couple of months and only now have I finally gotten around to doing it. At first, I told myself that this will be a political-free blog. Who wants to read and write about issues that have been repeated again and again? Who really cares? However, when I checked Ynet after I came home from work to check out if a war had broken out or something like that I changed my mind. You can't talk about living in this country without ever bringing up current events and "the situation". So I might as well do it now. Of course, the leading story was about the Gaza flotilla. After reading a pretty believable and reasonable account of what happened I checked out what CNN had to say. And I was quite appalled. It was like Oferet Yetzuka a.k.a Operation Cast Lead all over again. The sentence that angered me the most was "At about 4:30 am, Israeli commandos dropped from a helicopter onto the deck of a Turkish ship, immediately opened fire on unarmed civilians," said a post on the group's Twitter page." There may have been errors on behalf of the IDF-I'm not exactly a military expert so I can't say what should have been done but this makes the story sound completely different. Not that surprising but it still manages to shock me. From the side, this looks bad. very bad, but I'm not even sure if most people know or are willing to believe that this "peace" ship was backed up by a terrorist group. I think that's enough grown-up talk for now. I just want to not think about this too much-preferably not watch the news (not even CNN, as curious as I am to how the world sees us). I just want to forget about all this and enjoy the summer. Preferably somewhere like Barcelona-but Tel Aviv isn't that bad of an option too. Which brings me to this wonderful song that I just know will become one of the songs that will remind me of the summer of 2010. I hope it will be a good (and calm) one.

The sun has already set
We laid down to catch the stars
I wrote another chord.

Simply almost like love
Sweet smoke inside the mouth
Because I can’t be bitter
Just 3 chords
Simply almost like love.

I want to fly to Barcelona
Not to Paris or Roma
Because you’re not there
When I love you
You’re not there
Now.

Yesterday I found an end
When the sky will already fall
I want to burn so badly
Hard almost like love.

On a night like this
When only the quiet speaks
This is what you want
Simply almost like love

I want to fly to Barcelona…
http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk#p/a/u/2/qKOmLP4yHb4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IHb8VeV46M&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKOmLP4yHb4&feature=related
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3896796,00.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/31/gaza.protest/index.html?hpt=T1
http://www.myspace.com/elishafortythieves