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.

8th Note Review

I will start with a disclaimer. Much has been said about my alleged bias towards Yossi Green. Some think I like everything he does, some suspected me of being YG himself, given the similarity between our names, and some (Joel) have even suggested me to get a room with him. Well, I want to make clear that no one is above criticism and even the geniuses make mistakes. In other words, in this review I will analyze YG like any other musician and singer, not as a necessary “evil” (this is a quote from a reader) i.e. ignoring whatever shortcomings this album might have. In this review I’m not reviewing YG’s career, I’m just reviewing his latest album, the 8Th Note.

Let’s start with the concept behind this album. The concept is similar to Gideon Levine’s Best of the Best, where Gideon sings half of the song while a guest star does the other half. Except for a few songs, that’s what YG did here, but his guest singers have a different style than Gideon’s. Gideon’s guests are usually the old-school singers like Dachs, Wald, Shwekey and the like. The 8th note reaches for the Mizrachi music fans that love Chaim Israel and Gad Elbaz, the Matisyahu fans and the public who loves groupies like Lev Tahor and AKAPella. So the 8th note has a wider appeal.I think “8th note” was a very creative name, even though one of the most famous record labels in Israel is called.. the HaTav Hashmini – the 8th note.

Lishinsky usually does techno arrangements and I haven’t heard him doing arrangements like this one, which is very simple and not very edgy. In Mendy Wald, Shloimie Gertner and Gabay’s opening songs, all composed by Green, the constant was the techno / edgy feel. Layehudim is not like that, as it relies heavily in the creative lyrics and not on many other interesting shticks. True, the Teimani Rabbi is there for a few seconds but in this song he can barely be heard. It’s a catchy song, but the arrangement didn’t add much to it. ****

Anovim is a perfect song. The song is breathtaking, MBD was born to sing it and Freiberg’s arrangement brings this song to a stellar level. Surprisingly, YG was up to the task singing-wise and he took this song really well. I haven’t heard him interpreting a song this well, even throwing in a very cool vocal shtick in 3:51. Five stars is not enough for this one. It’s above everything else. ******

Sefor has an “ethnic” feel, mostly because of the cool flute solo and the very creative idea of bringing in a Teimani reading of the Passuk into the song. This last shtick really makes sense as the Teimanin allegedly have the most accurate Havara (pronunciation) and I guess this is the closest to what the Passuk should really sound like (click here for my post on this subject). Lev Tahor are the guest singers but Eli Shwebel did 90% of job. Gadi, who’s really amazing in the lower harmonies and usually mimics the bass lines, can barely be heard and the other one (forgot his name) was probably not even there. *****

It almost seems like Beshivtecho was supposed to be featured in Gertner’s last album – it was evidently composed having him in mind. Gertner’s Chassidish groove fits in very well in this song, which is a three-part. Without the third part, YG’s niggun, this song would be flat and missing something – it’s really amazing how YG is able to bring this song to a new level with a simple yet cool niggun. I must note that like in his debut album, Gertner again played too safe in this song. He basically sang his part but did virtually no improvisation, opposed to YG who was clearly having a blast singing it. Gertner is really good, but he must let himself out of the box a little more. ****

Chaim Israel is next in the line up and I felt it wasn’t the right song for him. Although Chaim Israel has many great slow songs in his curriculum (Mimamakim, from his first album, is a good example), he seemed to be out of his comfort zone here. The song never gets momentum and although this song is not at all a flick, in my opinion YG didn’t play his cards well in this song. ***

There was a big effort to make Al Todin sound like an authentic Reggae song, and in this sense, it was a success. However, a distinction must be made between a Reggae song and a good Reggae song. Al Todin is not a great Reggae song – YG was weak in the vocals and the words were repetitive. At this point it’s clear that YG’s voice can sound good, like in Anovim, but it can also become a liability, as we see here. I will elaborate more about this towards the end of the review. Allegedly, Matisyahu was supposed to be the guest singer, but couldn’t come because he’s in contract with Sony. If Matis would indeed come, I’m sure he would build up the song and add his creative lyrics. But he didn’t, so the song is just what it is – one of the weakest from this album. **

Lama is one of the most interesting songs of the album, featuring Mo Kiss. He has a very pleasant voice and carries this song well alongside with YG. But I do feel Mo Kiss’ core competency is in background vocals and vocal arrangements, as seen in Pruz’s album. Mo’s sweet and pop-ish voice, plus his talent in harmonies make him the perfect man perfect for these roles. But I repeat, he did a very good job as a soloist here as well. Lyrics are original, the tune is very pop-ish and catchy. I liked the digression in 3:15 and this is one of my favorites. *****

In Kanei we see the unthinkable – Helfgot singing alongside with YG. Let’s start with the song. It’s not a Chazzanus piece, but Helfgot has shown many times he’s not limited to the realms of Chazzanus – in that sense, he’s the Andrea Bocceli of JM -, and he sings this song flawlessly. The tune is really nice and powerful, the lyrics are perfect and YG did the right choice to go with Rigler, the frontrunner arranger for string lines. Coming back to the Helfgot-YG duet, it doesn’t works too well. Helfgot has a very high pitch voice, and as a result, YG is forced to sing his weak high notes, taking away from the beauty of this song. A full choir, like the one I hear in the Jerusalem Great Synagogue or like the one featured in Fried’s Zaroh, would raise this song to a classic. ****

I have an old grudge with Yiddish songs that is not specifically related to the next song, Yossel. I think no more than 30% of JM listeners understand Yiddish (ok, maybe 40 or even 50%) and I’m not part of that group, so when I hear a song like Yossel I always get worried. But this song was easy to understand, is a song-anthology about Yossi’s outstanding carreer, and it’s more about the lyrics than the actual the tune, which is not amazing, but it’s a fun song. Thanks to my Yiddish speaking wife, who explained to me the more complicated words. ****

Hesech Hadas is a good song, but as I noted in my other 8th Note post, the “Avraham Fried sings about Mashiach” concept has become a cliché, so just like any other cliché song, this song is not up there. The lyrics are again novel, but I’m not fond of this song. All Fried’s fast songs from Bein Kach are superior to this one. ***

Naaseh starts off really great but the high part is too simple, so it sounds like the song is missing a third part, maybe a niggun like in Beshivtecho. Just imagine Beshivtecho without the niggun - it wouldn't be the same. That's what happened here. This song had the potential to be amazing, as the lyrics are very creative and the first part is interesting, but it unfortunately fell short. However, the Yiddish anecdote in the end is cool, reminds me of Shlomo Carlebach. But there's a mixing issue in the very end of the song - you can hear the sound of a busy phone line and Yossi asking "Hello?". Pretty comic. ***

Mi Adir is something else. It’s not typical and that alone is a compliment. This is a salsa song – reminds me of Macarena – that is very well thought from start to end. The intro and finish are so original (coming back to my Gabay review, how can this be compared to the unoriginal radio intro? This is originality, Gabay’s was a cliché) and the braking of the plate – what a great idea! In almost every JM album there’s a slow Mi Adir and I was afraid this would be just another song, but YG was able to bring new life to the lyrics with a very crazy tune. The second part is a bit weird, but I applaud YG for not being afraid of trying something new and crazy. I’m quite sure this will be a wedding hit – it’s great for dancing.

There are two versions of this albums’ theme song, 8th note, English and Hebrew, so it’s inevitable to compare the two. The English version is more focused in the pleasant harmonies done by AKAPella, with YG featured like the fourth member of it. Here again YG shows that if used smarty, his vocals can add a lot to a song. He sang the first part flawlessly and wow, so softly. And he came up with a great harmony in 2:48, that’s YG at his best. It’s a great song. ****

The Hebrew song is more powerful – Ohad is there and his voice is more expressive and powerful than all AKAPella guys together – and the lyrics seem to flow better, so I prefer this version to the English one. There’s another singer that is uncredited, but I’m quite positive it’s Gad Elbaz – really great singer. *****

-> This is an album unlike any other. It’s an album focused in originality, authenticity and fun, which also has a nice and cool concept behind it – the pursuit of the 8th note. Or, in YG’s own words, the “Journey to the 8th Note”. Everything in this album was thought over and over until it became what it is – a classic. Not all songs are perfect but hey we don’t live in a perfect world. A classic is a classic, and I’m really happy I bought this album. My library would be missing the cherry on top of the chocolate cake -the 8th Note.


Check also Chaim's great post and JB's review.

Spinner's You and I Review

You and I is Spinner's debut album. Firstly, the cover art is one of the nicest I've seen in the past years - it reminds me of Lev Tahor's Watch Over Me cover art, which as also nice. The production is first-class – with a list of great musicians that include Mike Boxer, Yaron Gershovski, Leib Yaakov Rigler (who arranges Lev Tahor's albums), the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and.... Steve Bill. I never heard of Steve Bill in JM and I look forward to hear his music. Let's go to the review:

Tzur is great opening song. I really like the low part and high part is not bad. The song has good energy and Spinner does a good job singing it. In the background there's a lot going on - a full horn section and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra - and I specially liked the horns responding to Spinner in 1:50. Although I really enjoyed Spinner improvisation in 3:40 I thought the ending of the song was too usual - it could've ended just after Spinner in 3:45. ****

Acheinu, originally featured in Six13's Encore, is smooth and well done. Mike Boxer did a terrific job in the vocal arrangements and he carries the song further and further with his well-tuned and "consistent" choir. Six13's arrangement concept was borrowed by the string section in 2:33. The ending is interesting - in 5:33 Spinner swings to a major key very skillfully and the choir closes the song softly. ****

The choir in Mi Sheshiken was not arranged by M. Boxer and this has a very negative impact in this song. Spinner is not an experienced soloist and he needs a good choir to assist and respond to him, and since the choir here was arranged by Spinner himself, this song doesn't flows well. Although I liked the cool jazz digression in 3:20, this is an average song. ***

The featured English song, You and I is way too long - almost 7:00. A song like this shouldn’t go over 5 minutes. Because the song is so long, it's a huge challenge to keep this song interesting – you would need a singer who’s great at improvising, but Spinner is not great at it yet - he's not a seasoned soloist. I don't understand why he chose this song to be the album's main song; in my opinion, this song fails to fly. *

Like the first song, L'maan is a good fast song and unlike Mi Sheshiken Spinner comes out well in the vocal arrangements. Avi Singolda has some time to show off his skills in the guitar and Spinner carries the song well. ****

Mike Boxer is back in Lefonai and you can notice him right away, as his choir does the (great) opening of this song. This song is unique, different than what we are used to hear in JM, but it's great and very original. ****

Peeha is my favorite song in this album. The arrangement is nice, the harmonies are very good and Spinner excelled in this song. This song has three parts, but I found the last one to be a bit forgettable - it wouldn't be easy to sing it in a Chupa, for instance. Still, everything falls into place in this song. I love the flat note sung by Spinner in 2:30 and the choir right after that - incredible! *****

The arrangement in Modeh is very different - it starts with the sound of the sea and then with a piece that reminds me of Disney's Under the Sea. There's a classic mistake in this song - the comma in this passage is after "Behemlo", not before it. However, Spinner composed this song considering that the comma is before "Behemlo", so he sings "Behemlo Rabo Emunosecho", which is very inaccurate. This is a very common mistake and it shows that the composer paid little attention to the actual words of this song. Besides this issue, it's a decent song. ***

Once again, we have a very unique arrangement in Shalom Aleichem. This is at best an average song, but both the arrangement and the choir keep this song moving. I liked when the choir sang "Shalala" in 1:47 - it reminds me of Yishai Lapidot's Pio Poscho, where the choir does the same shtick. **

The arrangement in Neshomo is contemporary and pleasant to hear. This song is similar to Ari Goldwag's compositions (similar style) and it's really nice. ****

Oseh is another of these middle-eastern songs that aren't really middle-eastern. You do have the typical instruments, the choir and some singing that resembles a middle-eastern song - but the composition itself is not really middle-eastern. With that said, this a fun song to hear - Spinner does a great shtick at 4:10 and right after that the choir guys do some arabic screaming for us. Fun. ****

I don't have much to say about Avraham Yagel. I think this song should have been arranged as a techno song, a la Ron Tichon. We can hear Yaron Gershovsky's great piano shticks, especially in 2:02, and the song is quite good. ***

-> Conclusion: We must keep in mind that this is Spinner's debut. He's not the best soloist yet but he has a good voice and a potential to become a top singer. With some more voice coaching and experience he will improve a lot - the same happened to Yehuda!, another talented musician who composes (and arranges) his own songs, after his debut in the mid 90's.

Steve Bill did a great job in the arrangements, bringing us a full array of different musical styles and instruments. But to me, the star in the musical background was Mike Boxer, of whom I became a fan after Six13's two albums. He added flavor to this project and his music is always original, creative and interesting - I hope he continues to participate in mainstream JM projects like this one. It’s a great album.


Other three fellow JM bloggers posted about this album - Aryeh, Chaim Rubin and JBlogmeister.