Garden City Movement - Lir

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"I look around me. The kids are good-looking all right, as sexy as ever. Lustful and provocative. But there is a war up north tonight. Young soldiers are struggling in the bush at this very moment, stifling the fear in their hearts, smelling death close by. And the distance between what the soldiers are enduring in Lebanon and what the clubbers of Tel Aviv are doing in the black-walled cellar is incomprehensible. They are nearly the same age, same background, same education. But they are worlds apart. Planets apart. They are playing out Israel's schizophrenia.

All of Israel's wars had this sort of tension. In 1948, while citizens were being shot on the road to Jerusalem, others were flirting in Tel Aviv cafes. In 1969, while soldiers were taking fire in Suez Canal outposts, other Israelis were having a ball in Tel Aviv's discotheques. This duality was part of Israel's health and strength. It was as if there was a covenant between us: today I will stand on guard while you party; tomorrow I'll party while you stand on guard. This way we don't turn our nation into a barracks where life is not really worth living. This way we continue to live while we defend our right to life." (Shavit, 336).

I thought about this passage from Ari Shavit's highly acclaimed book My Promised Land quite a lot during last weekend's inDnegev festival, which took place in a sandy area by Kibbutz Gvulot, about 10 km from Gaza Strip. My friends and I laughed when we took a wrong turn on the way from Tel Aviv and accidentally reached Erez Crossing but we were silent as we passed by Yad Mordechai, Re'im and Ein Habesor, places that we were well acquainted with from news reports during the operation/war though they felt vaguely distant, as if from many years ago. Only when you really think about it the situation seems surreal-a festival with over 7,000 participants so close to Gaza and with absolutely no protected areas but for some reason it felt so natural-at its 8th year I can't imagine an October without the festival, or the festival taking place in any other location. Even more surreal was the fact that the festival served as a pastoral escape from the mounting tensions in Jerusalem. My favorite moment was Friday afternoon when I found a shaded area a bit distant from the stages but close enough to still hear what was going on. I used my bag as a pillow and fell asleep on the sand-on my left a young couple was quietly talking while on my right a few guys were sleeping heavily. I felt some weird connection with a guy who was sleeping right next to me-it was somehow very intimate and innocent at the same time, as if there was a collective appreciation of the calm with live performances as the best possible soundtrack.

Garden City Movement have been enjoying outstanding success-Stereogum described this song as "sound[ing] like waking up from a comfortable slumber only to find yourself still inside a dream state" while COS writes that Lir "keeps things cool, a breezy whirlwind of woozy vocal samples and tantalizing percussion". I can only add that it sounds like beauty.

Quiet Men Festival - Nonequal

It's inDnegev time! Walla.co.il created a special inDnegev 2014 playlist and this song by Quiet Men Festival caught my attention with its soft and sophisticated dream pop layers. I'm so happy I discovered them.

Yossi Banai-Kapparot Chicken

What a fitting song to accompany the season's first rainfall, not to mention the festive holiday atmosphere which sets everything in a different light. Many say that autumn isn't really a season over here but I don't think so-it's brief but also quite magical with its unexpected days and suprisingly chilly nights. This is the last song that the great Yossi Banai recorded before he passed away in 2006 and it's one of my favorites. He was so soft and charming till the very end.

In autumn always in autumn in quiet and stillness
My memories embark on the back of a small cloud
And they float above the ground
To savor in all the landscapes of time

And as always in autumn I sadly part
From a summer whose end we now see
And among thirsty leaves I stand like a teenager
Curiously waiting for the winter to arrive

I remember a Kapparot chicken
A little bird on a roof
Angels walking on walls
White tablecloth on every holiday

In autumn always in autumn voices come back to me
Which in time have passed and are gone
And they carry with them holiday songs and prayers
And they carry with them a world that has dissapeared

But deep in my heart my soul always returns
To the market stalls and sugar candy
Distant romances residues of tradition
And fire chestnutes in the taste of cold winter...

I remember a Kapparot chicken...

In autumn always in autumn my father quietly returns
From the welcoming land of silence
And he looks at me and his soul is silent
And again he makes his way to the end of time

The heart is a blue cloud and a gusty wind blows in it
From every thirsty leaf ghosts call me
I see brothers and a loving family
And a small childhood city which is a bag of sighs

I remember a Kapparot chicken

Huevos-Young Spirit

Yeah! A perfect song for the new year. I love this clip by Huevos, it reminds me a bit of Roy Kafri's footage of his awesome niece. I hope both girls never change. Shana Tova!

She has rhythm
There's interest
The man of spirit
Flies with them
In a world of lies
And impersonation
Every artist
Requires sponsorship

Come young spirit
Come wide eyed spirit
Fill this place
Come young spirit
Come wide eyed spirit
Redeem this place

She has a message
She has a statement
I am here so that
There will be a choice
Because in a world of money
And compromise
To bring the spirit
Is not simple

Come young spirit
Come wide eyed spirit
Fill this place
Come young spirit
Come wide eyed spirit
Redeem this place

Nechi Nech - i-Dishe Rasta Man

I always thought it would be an interesting idea to photograph a "Humans of New York" style portfolio of different cities in Israel. My first thought was Ramat Gan, with its mix of immigrants from different corners of the world and the country who have quickly established their roots. Something about the place feels more permanent and authentic than Tel Aviv which for many is just a stop (however enjoyable) along the way. But then I saw this clip and realized that this is the true Israel that's often overlooked. The clip was filmed in the "Tkuma" neighborhood of Petach Tikva but there are so many similar neighborhoods throughout the country, usually on the peripheries of cities, usually serving as home to waves of immigrants. This clip doesn't have the inspirational quotes of HONY but it does give a glimpse of life in "the neighborhood" and the expressions on everyone's faces are so powerful and revealing.
Besides, it's a great song which is getting justified radio air play. It was written by Nechi Nech and Ehud Banai, and it's inspired by one of Banai's earliest songs of the same name. Nechi Nech is a true rising star-he's been around for a while but I first came across his name with the radio hit "Coffee and Cigarettes", one of the more powerful and honest songs I've heard in quite a while. Check out his recent album over on bandcamp.

I'm i-Dishe-Rasta Man and I have no fear
Everybody sing along with me
I'm i-Dishe-Rasta Man and I have no fear
Everybody sing along with me

i-Dishe-Rasta Man fights every day to breathe
Gives Thanks to God when he rises and when he goes to bed
Supports the family, takes care of his friends
Who make sure to raise the volume of the speakers
i-Dishe Rasta Man a true Israeli
Doesn't deal with bullshit, and speaks only the truth
So who, raise one hand up with me
Ichi Ban is number one so yalla!

I'm i-Dishe-Rasta Man...

I have no fear to dare to fulfill my dreams
To swim against the tide and to break conventions
I say my truth, without pressing on the brakes
Straightforward, without lies or interests
Sends respect to the brothers who believed and influenced
Comes from the neighborhood so he never forgets who he is
Runs the talk between the buildings
Knows that there is one up there managing everything
Gives everyone equal treatment it's important to always remember
Regardless of religion, race, gender, ethnicity or skin color
Sees all his life everyone fighting against themselves
So he always believes in free love

Yossi Suede-Mayim Achronim

Yossi Suede, leader of the Jerusalem folk (and cult) group "Cham Umechamem Boom" (active from 1999-2011) is back with a debut solo album and it's interesting to see how the years have influenced his music. According to this article Mayim Achronim (which I just discovered its meaning today) was born "from leaving Jerusalem and [Suede's] feelings that he no longer has a place in it. In the song there are many motives from Judaism and the Hassidic world, which are connected with the difficult reality and grayness of the city". There is definitely a sober feeling to this song, like waking up from a wild party, but there's also something very optimistic about it, maybe it's the whole mentality of "smile, everything's for the best" which tends to clash with the cynicism shared by so many people here. Just to put thing in perspective, this is the side of Jerusalem (and Israel) that's much more familiar to me (in Hebrew, but so, so funny).

Mayim Achronim I am looking for diamonds in the streets of Jerusalem
Last sunlight when you touch the summit you will say here it comes
You long my dear, come back again
Mayim Achronim I met beggars in the palaces of Jerusalem
A crooked eye I paid for a blessing they told me here it comes
You long my dear, come back again
Even if you are wearing stone
Who conquered whom who killed whom who expelled whom Jerusalem
White skin if you hear a war warn here it comes
Solar on a puddle shows the rainbow of the covenant of Genesis trickling over Jerusalem
You long my dear, come back again
Even if you are wearing stone
Decorated with a wall
Mayim Achronim I met priests in the ruins of Jerusalem
A moment of unity between dream and reality I yelled-it's coming
The lost came I was pushed to the sides in my battle over Temple Mount
You long my dear
Come disperse again to my eyes, to our eyes
You kicked out your youngest son
And you were sold to foreigners
I remembered your piety
Do not forget too
Those who remember that you are
Gentle
Sensitive
Poetic
And containing

Jane Bordeaux- Einav

Not sure if it's because of the name of this band, or this song (Einav means grape) but this feels like a refreshing glass of wine-classy but also playful. Perfect for this cozy time of the year (well, it's not really Autumn yet but soon...)

For each one there is that one who makes her restless
For each one there is that one who takes away all her energy
Let's say that mine is named Einav
Let's say that her hair has a golden hue
Let's say that it's not a slander
If I were to say that she's even kind of a bitch

Einav Einav go back to the Moshav now
I'm not jealous yes that's not the case
This city is too small for the both of us
Einav Einav go back to the Moshav now
I'm not jealous yes that's not the case
This city is too small for the both of us

Let's say that Einav is talented and also very pretty
Let's say that the bitch is tan even in Winter
She's like a bruise on the toe from the foot of a chair
Like gravel in the sole that never comes out
We need to throw to the sea
All the "Einavs" in this world
And then for sure everyone's mood will improve

Einav Einav go back to the Moshav now...