Afro-beat redemption
Some Israeli bands can jam when they want to – especially those steeped in the growing “party music” scene – but most aren’t known for their meandering, free-form improvisations.
Aharit Hayamim, on the other hand, could very well be the closest thing Israel has to a proper hippie jam band . When Aharit Hayamim hits the stage, they throw everything at you: Afro rhythms, folk-rock motifs, reggae grooves, Rebbe Nachman teachings and swirling psychedelic textures. More of a redemption-themed collective than a rock act, Aharit Hayamim has been on the scene for about five years now, playing impromptu shows in open-air markets, wooded hilltops and traditional concert venues, while hosting its own eponymous festival in Gush Etzion every fall.
The band’s name comes from the Biblical term for the dawn of the messianic age, which, according to traditional Jewish teachings, comes only after some serious birth pains. Of course, the music has the power to heal – and not only for Jews in the homeland. Aharit Hayamim has recently partnered up with the Dar Fur Stars, a vocals and percussion ensemble consisting of 12 Sudanese who arrived in Israel in recent months, following arduous journeys across Egypt, smuggled to the Philadelphi Route by Egyptian Bedouin.
While the current genocide in Darfur threatens to wipe out an entire population, Aharit Hayamim is doing its part to preserve the Fur culture’s language and chants. The two acts joined forces earlier this year for a series of open jam sessions, rehearsals and fundraiser concerts in Tel Aviv.
While response from the general public has been modest, some donations from American Jewish communities have been made to the cause, resulting in the purchase of some djembe hand drums for the Dar Fur Stars. Now leaders from the bands are getting organized for an international concert tour and a recording session, hopefully to take place in the coming weeks.
“It’s not just music that sounds good to the ears,” says Aharit Hayamim manager Moshe Cornfeld. “It helps do something.”
When Berry comes to town…
Seeing 50-year-old Israeli rocker Berry Sakharof in concert is always a treat, even though it usually means squeezing into tight spaces that are packed elbow-to-elbow with teenagers.
One of the godfathers of the Israeli musical export scene, Sakharof started his professional career in Holland with Minimal Compact, an industrial post-glam new wave act he founded with garage punk Rami Fortis. Since the mid-90s, Sakharof has involved himself in a number of musical directions, scoring soundtracks, reuniting here and there with Fortis, and exploring the verses of 11th-century Andalusian Rabbi Solomon ibn Gvirol and the ideas of 20th-century French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas. But most of Sakharof’s projects have more or less surrounded his canon of six classic studio albums, some of which were co-arranged by the rhythm-forging sample master Rea Mochiach.
Sakharof creates soundscapes that are ambitious and challenging to the listener but at the same time energetic and infectious. Sakharof gets respect for his rhythms, his Middle Eastern picking and his overall headiness, but he’s primarily a purveyor of guitar rock that’s just plain good – his songs have something to offer everyone from sing-along melody lovers to snobby hipsters.
This past Thursday, Sakharof and band returned for yet another blistering two-hour show at Jerusalem’s Yellow Submarine club. Like all Israeli entertainers, Sakharof works hard to make a living, which means that fans have the opportunity to catch him live a few times a year without having to bust out the binoculars. The relaxed showman made some jokes about how Jerusalemites are prone to disrespect towards his home of Tel Aviv, gave away a few guitar picks, and even broke into his patented Turkish cha-cha step more than once.
The Submarine staff had some problems with the sound system (Mochiach threw a tantrum from behind his drum kit at one point), but for the most part, the band was tight and properly vicious, from recent edgy jams like “New Wind” to revamped catalogue favorites like “Sampson” (a Dr. Dre-like synth whine replaced the studio version’s whistling high parts) and “I Don’t Love Her” (somehow transported to Kingston). The 1994 anthem “How Yossi” became a springboard for free-form wall-of-noise jams that evoked Crazy Horse. By the time the band hit the last encore for the night, the sparse Fortis-Sakharof hit “No End to Childhood,” the sweaty room was bouncing agelessly.
Spreading Israel through song
A fellow Harry left a comment on a music post I wrote about Rockfour and the trend of some Israeli artists writing and performing in Hebrew.
He said:
Why push Israeli artists that sing in English? I’d rather give props to the musicians who still sing in Hebrew. This trend is bad for Israeli Culture. There’s something terrible about hearing Aviv Geffen and Ivri Lider singing in English. It does not have the same power as hearing them sing in Hebrew. I’m worried that in the future, more and more Israeli Musicians will sing in English because they see everyone else doing it and their dream is to be big in England and America. Things didn’t quite work out that way for Monica Sex. I am afraid for the day when every Heyehudim song will be in English. In the future, the only thing left in Hebrew will be those Mizrahi singers like Eyal Golan. I mean this in the nicest possible way. I really am scared for the future of Israeli Rock.
You can find my initial response here but I wanted to elaborate a bit as to why I see nothing wrong with Israeli music in English. First of all, the amount of music being created in English is so small, so minute and on such a small scale that your average joe (Israel Israeli) probably has absolutely no idea that a scene even exists. The effect that it has on the cultural landscape is pretty much non-existent. Sure, Aviv Gefen put out a couple of English albums with prog-god Steven Wilson (Blackfield) and Ivri Leder is currently working on an English album, but both artists have not even remotely abandoned their Hebrew music. Leder actually just released a new Hebrew single on his website just a couple of days ago (to download, click on the scrolling Hebrew text at the very top of the page).
I think there is a dire need for American youth to connect with Israel on some level. I firmly believe one of the strongest ways that youth can connect with Israel is through commonalities. And I believe music is powerful enough to be that commonality. An American teenager who loves pop punk isn’t going to connect with an Israeli pop-punk band such as Sheygetz who performs their music is in Hebrew, though if he/she happened to hear Useless ID, whose music is in English, he/she might connect with the music and in turn, connect with Israel. Israeli music in English exists in all genres – metal, hip hop, rock, pop and dance. It is certainly a cliché, but music connects people and does indeed break down borders and opens minds. As mentioned in a previous post, Oleh! Records (a music company I co-founded), mission is to do just that. Conveniently enough, you can read more about Oleh! Records at ISRAEL21c.com
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