Screechiness and Jewish Music

Jewish Music, like any other musical genre, has its own particularities.

One good example is the traditional horn-filled arrangement, a shtick that somehow made its way into Jewish Music decades ago and was perpetuated by Yisroel Lamm and Moshe Laufer's signature arrangements, which made up to 70% of all arrangements in JM until some 7 years ago. Horn lines are not popular anymore in the goyish (or to the more sensitive readers, gentile) music industry - guitars, acoustic guitars, synths and techno took over a long time ago. But for some reason, the JM public thinks that horn-filled arrangements have more "Yiddishe Ta'am" than the contemporary and "innapropriate" arrangements we hear in the goyish world.

That explains why some even try to ban singers - Lipa, Rap in Yiddish(I love their first song), Oif Simchas and so on - that make music that don't seem to fit the usual "pure" JM. These people think that the definition of Jewish Music is music that fits in their usual standards, and songs that have a "different" Ta'am must be stopped at all costs. The irony is that good music IS music that sounds different, original and fresh; the usual sound we got so used to hear until a few years ago was primitive. Music isn't perpetual, music evolves with time and whoever negates this will join the ban club eventually. Why? Because we are already witnessing an irreversible shift in Jewish Music towards better and more modern arrangements (and compositions), and today there are many great arrangers out there who know how to put together a decent arrangement. Personally, I like Ilya Lishinsky and Leib Yaakov Rigler, but there are many out there today.

Before you start wondering about the link between this and the post title, let me get to my point.

Another pillar of JM is the love for screechiness. Yes, the love for screechiness. For some reason, just like the crowds are (or were) into horn-lines they are into screechiness. I don't know how this started but that's the only explanation why people liked Shloime Dachs and Yisroel Williger in the 90's, two singers who are not really good but have enjoyed great success until very recently.

That's why people are so into Boys Choirs, from Tzil Vezemer and Miami Boys Choir until the "iconic" Yeshiva Boys Choir, the most screechy group I've ever heard. Please don't take this as a criticism, I'm just giving you factual info here - however way you slice it, the Jewish Boys choirs are screechy. And even if you don't agree with this last point, you will surely agree YBC is. That's black on white. But don't get me wrong, I own all MBC albums and YBC's two albums - I was also into it, like many of you are today. But I evolved. I probably heard YBC's albums 5 times before getting tired of the child vocals.

Let me clarify my point a bit - not all boys choirs must be screechy. In fact, I attended a secular wedding last week were I had the honor to hear a magnificent secular boys choir that was smooth and just very well balanced (they sang Karduner's Shir Hamaalot). I didn't have a camera with me but I managed to get a snap with my phone, although the quality of the sound and image is poor (I will try to post the video soon). All Jewish Boys Choirs I know are seemingly intentionally screechy - I guess the people in the industry unconsciously know that screechiness sells. But how can you expect a kid to sing like a seasoned singer like Lipa or Helfgot? Song interpretation requires brains, experience and common-sense and it's unfair to put so much attention in child soloists that can scream a note out of their lung. Benny Amar's great debut album was hardly hit by the exaggerated use of child soloists and I think in today's day and age that's just unacceptable.

I can bring more examples. Yaakov Shwekey is extremely screechy and people adore him. When Shomati came out, people couldn't stop saying "Did you see how high he goes in Rachem???" or "Wow, he goes even higher than Avraham Fried. Wooow!". Well, a distinction must be made between kvetching a note and reaching a note properly. As my voice coach used to say, it's more enjoyable to hear a good low note than a screechy high note. It's possible that your mind is so used to hearing screechiness that you think I just landed from Mars, but musically speaking screechiness is horrible. Not bad, horrible. (Disclaimer: there are many things I like about Shwekey, I'm just pointing out his Aquiles Heel).

I'm quite certain that just like the horns are definitely behind us, screechiness is following the same path. Yossi Green's The 8th Note is a roadmap (or in Chaim's words, a bible) for JM in the coming years and one thing that album doesn't have is screechiness - the pillar of the album is smooth vocals and no kids are to be found there. And of course, there are virtually no horn arrangements. Well done YG.

Yitzy Spinner is one of the most promising talents out there and he also didn't have kids singing nor screeching vocals. Just the opposite, pure smoothness. So is Lev Tahor - just smoothness.

AKAPella, which came out with a decent album with superb vocals, is another good example of how non-screechy vocals can bring an album to new heights. Ok, the songs were not original but AKAPella's vocals are spotless.

Dovid Gabay is a non-screechy Shwekey and he is great; it's a pleasure to hear him. He did use kids in Zaroh but it fitted well in the song's theme, that is, he used common-sense. The problem starts when grown-ups use child soloists without any commom-sense.

Lipa is also not screechy and I happen to like his voice just because of that.

Another sign that screechiness is on the way out is the rebirth of Chazzanut that we've seen in the past decade. Let me explain: all Chazzanus concerts are packed lately and so many youngsters, this blogger among them, are starting to get into the genre - think of Hasc, where Helfgot is today the major player with Avraham Fried (they were there in the past 3 years). Whoever likes Chazzanut hates screechiness, because Chazzanut is the anathema of it. The Chazzanim sing the notes the way they are supposed to come out of a singer's mouth - without ANY screechiness. Listen to Yaakov Motzen once and you will throw away your YBC's cds.

Finally JM is walking out of the woods, and the days of the horn arrangements and screechy boys choirs are counted.
My ears are cheering.

Gabay's Omar Dovid Review

I bought my copy of Omar Dovid two weeks ago in Gal Paz and I finally got the time to review it. Chaim and JBlogmeister also posted reviews, which I read after writing my review. So I know I'm late this time, but here we go:

Hagomel is a mess, but somehow it works and comes up together as a cool and exquisite song, composed by "Da Man" Yossi Green. Sometime ago Shlomo Simcha showed me YG's song database in his pocket PC and each song was categorized as rock, ballad etc.. but a few were labeled "Yetzirah", which means "novel". Hagomel is surely that kind of song. The musical sequencing is a bit obstructive, but it's a valid "shtick" and it makes this song stand out. *****

Boruch Levine is very good at slow songs but somewhat weak in fast songs, so I was surprised to see Gabay placing V'koreiv as the first fast song in this album. It took me a while to "absorb" this song, since I first felt the lyrics don't really fit in the song, especially in the second part of this song. It's not a bad song, but if you are getting a song from Levine get a slow one. ***

I first heard from Elimelech Blumstein in Shloime Dachs last album, where he composed a breathtaking Shema Yisrael. Dachs is in a sharp downward slope, so no one bothered to hear it (besides me I guess). Well, Blumstein wrote another great song, but this time to Gabay, who is very hot now. Birchos Avicha is very original and it gives us a chance to hear Gabay's great vocals and energy. In 5:10 Gabay throws in a Shwekey-style shtick and the child soloist is good, specially in the harmony (see 5:25). *****

Yimloch to me is a pointless faux-Sephardi song - too simple, too typical - and the choir has a Chassidish sound (reminds me very much Gideon Levine's choir) that doesn't fits in this song. *

The Chassidish choir fits perfectly in the next song, Omar Dovid. The vocal arrangement is great and syncs really well with Gabay, who did an outstanding job. This song is not for any singer and Gabay delivered it. His harmony in 3:35 is very, very tasteful. *****

Don is a complicated song. Actually, very complicated. The concept of this song is the repetition of the word Don, which is mentioned countless times throughout the song. The problem is that Efraim Mendelson came up with a hit song named "Don" back in the day with the exact same idea and sound. It's too much of a coincidence to me. *

I heard Avi Kula's album, which was released sometime ago with Shloime Dachs and Ari Goldwag as guest singers. I like his music and although the lyrics of Rachem are not original the tune is nice and it's this album's Yeshivish song (of course, as we all know every album needs a "Sephardi" and a yeshivish song..). It's a good song for Moshe Roth's choir, but it will never become a hit. ***

Zaroh is composed by Waldner, who is usually better at slow songs. But this song is really good, actually one of my favorites from this album. Everything is well done, starting with the great arrangement from Rigler (my favorite arranger) and the boys choir really fit in the first part. The high part is very catchy and Gabay is just great at energetic songs. And I’m happy the Chassidish choir stayed away from this one.

The Letter, as the name notes (duh!), is a letter turned in a song. It’s not easy to compose a song like that, so kudos to Waldner. ****

In the very beginning of Tanna there’s a radio shtick, which is a blatant copy from Yeedle’s Boruch Habointro. Aside from that, Blumstein finally brings us a great fast song. Gabay really excels in this one, especially in 3:08 and on (3:22 and 3:37), where he modulates to a higher key three times. Never heard that before. And the song ending is just amazing – I don’t understand why this song is featured so late in the album, it should be swapped with Don. It would’ve been a perfect song, if not for the infamous radio shtick. ****

Naguila is another good surprise and it’s sooo much better than Yimloch – why not swap it? Although the Chassidish choir sound again doesn’t fits in this Mizrachi song, the vocal arrangements are cool and the song has four parts – all of them good. I really wonder who arranged this song (it’s not credited), since there are two cool things. First, the arrangement in 0:58 and 1:40 is really similar to Ricky Martin’s hit song La Copa de La Vida. Secondly, there’s a jazz digression in 3:25 – yeah, a jazz digression in a Middle-eastern song! Nice! ****

Conclusion: It’s a fun album. The production is way better than Gabay’s first album and the songs are original (the tune and the lyrics). Blumstein comes out as a great slow song composer and Gabay once again proves why he’s one of the hottest singers in JM today. Great songs, great energy and great production. It's one of the best albums in the last months, that’s for sure.

Pruzbul Review

Here it is Pruzbul’s review, sorry for taking such a long time to write it. To avoid bias, I haven’t read anyone else’s review.

The production is by Yitzi Bald, who also played a large role in Dovid Gabay's album not long ago. Like in Gabay’s album, where he composed a song called LeGabay, Bald repeats the shtick with Pruzbul, in a reference to Pruzanski. Ok…
I don’t like Bald’s choice of lyrics. In Taseh, Shteig and Pruzbul the lyrics are very simple and somewhat vague. The same happened in Gabay’s LeGabay (“When he does work of the day he is quick”)– vague lyrics. While I welcome his quest for new lyrics, I think either the composers should find lyrics that actually say something (like Yossi Green does) or they should compose the lyrics themselves. “Do Mitzva, get Olam Haba” is not good enough. Anyways..:

In Taseh, the choir is Mo Kiss times 20 (Yossi Green style) but I prefer the "fuller" sound of real choirs. Mo Kiss does a good job responding to Pruzanski but I thought he overdid it a bit. When the song started to get cool with Mo Kiss' choir shtick in 3:25, a guy speaking Yiddish comes in. I don't like it. But it seems to be a trend - Shloime Gertner did the same in the first song of his album Nisim. I felt the arrangement is not smooth throughout the song; the intro sounds like my own arrangements I make in GarageBand, which is not much of a compliment. However, Pruz does a outstanding job, especially when he sings the low part in a higher octave - breathtaking! ***

What didn't work for Bald (the arranger) in Taseh, worked in the next song Shteig. The arrangement builds up and the song keeps getting momentum. The best part is on 2:40, in Mo Kiss' choir. Good song, great arrangement and superb singing by Pruz. Not bad! ****

In You're Watching Me, we can finally hear Pruz alone, alongside with the piano. The arrangement is simple, but very fitting for this song. Pruzanski carries the song very well, and throws in a beautiful falsetto in 2:06 and great harmonies towards the end of the song, starting in 6:23. The song is good, but not a blockbuster. ****

The album theme song is Pruzbul. I must admit I was expecting lyrics a la Yossi Green, that is, something like the whole Pruzbul nusach or a special pshat about the importance of Pruzbul from an obscure Hakdama. That's not the case here - the lyrics are "Help to fix the world. Hillel did it with Pruzbul". Aside from this lyrics issue, the music is energetic and catchy. Pruzanski does a great job improvising at 3:15. ****

It's easy to realize that Chavivin is not composed by Bald. It's a typical Yitzy Waldner song, with a pop feel. Throughout the song Mo Kiss did a great job with the soft background harmonies. At the end of the song, you can hear the cutest baby laugh ever. Very nice song. ****

Brocha is not in the same level as the previous songs, but it's decent. ***

Ashira is not from one Yossi Green's best compositions, but thumbs up for Pruzanski for making this average song sound good. Perhaps is time for Yossi Green to produce Pruzanski's next album - in his first album Pruz did a fantastic job singing Green's "Da" and he did it again here. Come on Yossi! ****

Hu is a creative song composed by Bald. I don't have much else to write about it. ***

Since Shwekey just came out with his Yizkereim (which, by the way, was taken from Coby), I didn't get too excited about this one. But when Pruz sings the English lyrics the song gets more interesting. ***

V'lo is a three-part that doesn't really flies. The song is weird, the arrangement is confusing and the ending is very poor. Even Pruzanski couldn't make this sound at least decent. *

→ Overall, this album’s production wasn’t as good as the first one – Ashrecho, a state-of-the-art album produced by Yochi Briskman and directed by Eli Laufer. Pruzbul is more economical, but it’s not a flick. Pruzanski is one of the best soloists out there and has the skill to make almost any song sound great, with great intensity, harmonies and improvisation skills. MoKiss is a great choir arranger - this is the first time I heard his work. I think everyone in this album tried very hard to produce good music with the resources they had at hand. Bald's songs are simple for the most part, but catchy and well sung. Worth my money.