"A raag is a set of rules, it is a framework inside which the artist makes a musical journey. What fascinates me when listening to a great 'hindustani music' artist are her choices at every phrase. The journey she chooses to spontaneously make and take herself and us down a path never explored before. 
In the second raag of this mix, Kishori Amonkar sings the raag Bhoop, a pentatonic scale - sa re ga pa da sa (do re mi so la do). With these five notes she creates a profound experience. 
Like every classical music form, this too is an acquired taste. But I grew up inside this music, breathing it. I hope it resonates with you and takes you on a journey."

Catch MD Pallavi on tour with Andi Otto:
12.3.24 - FRANKFURT, MOUSONTURM
13.3.24 - STUTTGART, RAKETE (W/ CHÖKO ABA)
14.3.24 - SCHLOSS MILTACH
15.3.24 - FÜRTH, BADSTRASSE
16.3.24 - MÜNCHEN, IMPORT/EXPORT
17.3.24 - ZÜRICH, EXIL (W/ AFAR)
18.3.24 - BERN, ALTE SCHREINEREI
19.3.24 - BERN, HKB (MASTERCLASS)
20.3.24 - BASEL, GANNET
22.3.24 - TURIN, CAFÉ MULLER
23.3.24 - TURIN, CAFÉ MULLER (MASTERCLASS)
24.3.24 - PESCARA, OPEN AIR CONCERT
25.3.24 - PESCARA, MICROSTUDIO
28.3.24 - BERLIN, SÄÄLCHEN (W/ AFAR)
29.3.24 - JENA, TRAFO
31.3.24 - HAMBURG, NACHTASYL (W/ COLE PULICE)

Coming up next month: Son Objet

Pingipung Podcast 163: MD Pallavi - Khayal: a thought stretched in time

Die Kriegsreporterin

Die Kriegsreporterin (Single)

Blitzkrieg Bop (Ho Hey, Oi Vey)

POP JUICE!

Cecilia

Sabotage

 Ori Kaplan is a boundary-pushing producer, musician and wind instrumentalist whose sonic fingerprints stretch across continents and genres. Kaplan is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed band Balkan Beat Box, known for fusing Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and electronic influences into a global sound. He was also an original member of the legendary punk-gypsy outfit Gogol Bordello, touring worldwide with them.

Now Kaplan debuts his first solo-single „33 Degrees East“ on Greedy For Best Music. The geographic coordinates of the single´s title relate to both 33 RPM, the speed with which records spin, but also an „East“ that´s on an imaginary 33 degree longitude, a spot somewhere between East Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe.
„Yoizale“ kicks the single off with a slow hypnotic groove and Ori Kaplan´s trademark wind versatility. It´s sunset-in-the-desert vibes with a groove that pulls you in slowly but surely.

„Sahara Express“ features harmonies that feel ancient but with a future twist, a sort of desert cyber-folk. Imagine a mysterious traveler boarding a night train that weaves through North Africa under a star-lit sky. Each stop is a shift in rhythm, a new cultural flavor. Somewhere between dream and memory, the express rolls on — ancient and unstoppable.

In short, „33 Degrees East“ is a single that travels through ancient lands by modern means, mystical, percussive, a little hypnotic and very emotional!


Ori Kaplan "Sahara Express"

Man Recordings is pleased to present the debut single of the Berlin-based choir Canto Diáspora.  The choir, consisting of forty female singers from Latin American, is led by singer Carolina Riaño, who has brought the folkore classic “Aguaçerito Llové” (literally: “Little Rain Shower”) into a new format.

“Aguacerito Llové” sounds lyrical and poetic - like something that could be written in a novel by García Márquez or whispered in a verse by Pablo Neruda. It is magical realism in musical form.

In Carolina Riaño's arrangement, “Aguacerito Llové” becomes a song about collectivity, reflecting the powerful energy that arises when Canto Diaspora sings live together.

“Yo no canto por cantar ni por tener buena voz, canto porque no estoy sola y así se siente mejor.” (“I don't sing for the sake of singing or to have a good voice, I sing because I'm not alone and so it feels better”).

It is also about the transformative, sometimes melancholy experience of living away from home and settling into a new culture:

“Yo no sé si fue el destino el que me trajo hasta aquí , habitando mis dos mundos, resguardando la raíz.”
(“I don't know if it was fate that brought me here, inhabiting my two worlds, protecting the root”).

The song is an integral part of popular culture in Latin America and has been sung by generations of artists. “Aguacerito Llové” is associated with Afro-Latin American musical traditions, especially in countries such as Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean. These regions have a rich history of African influence through the transatlantic slave trade, and their music reflects the resilience, spirituality and emotional depth of these communities.

In Canto Diaspora's version, “Aguaçerito Llové” becomes an empowering sound and cultural bridge builder.

Early DJ support from Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6) and Tash LC amongst others.

Aguacerito Llové

Man 148 Canto Diáspora "Aguacerito Llové"

Ninety to eighty years from now the mostly discriminated and persecuted Jews from Eastern Europe emigrated in masses to the Promised Land, the United States of America. As it happens, a few of them became criminals and gangsters, and some of those gangsters became mighty and rich. One of them, Bugsy Sigel, even founded Las Vegas. Rather then talking about the Italian “Cosa Nostra” it was a common joke in referring to this Jewish Mafia as the “Kosher Nostra”. A fews years ago Israeli artist-painter Oz Almog used “Kosher Nostra” as the name of his exhibition in the Jewish Museum of Vienna, where one could see the Jewish-american criminals portraiteds as hero-icons. …This is is the name of the compilation, that was by the, who painted at an exhibition in the Jewish museum. (and It inspired the German music-producer Shantel from Frankfurt`s music-hub EssayRecordings, and together, Oz Almor and Shantel released this May 2011 the compilation-CD “Kosher nostra”, with the selection of a number of hits, Jewish-American Gangsters in the first half of the 20th century might have listened to. 
Back then, especially at the turn of the century, the more or less religious immigrants from the old world had to adapt to the progressive and modern culture of the new world; a situation, described in one of the Yiddish songs on this CD, “What can you mach, sis is Amejrike” by the composer Sholem Seconda, masterfully sung by Aaron Lebedeff in his legendary-cantorial style. The old-fashioned humor of a long-gone century complains about the young ladies, who dare to have babies, before even getting engaged, instead - as it was the custom before – first getting married and giving birth within a year. Here “in Amejrike”, as a matter of fact a Jew gets rid of his beard and sidelocks. In the end he looks like a Goi (as a non-jew is called in Yiddish), but - as the refrain explains it - “What can you mach, sis is Amejrike”
Composer-producer-saxophononist Ori Kaplan from BalkanBeatBox and singer-performer Joe Fleisch turn this ballad into an ecstatic, electric dancefloor-remake. A trashy, low-budget, fast done video-clip shows them in a studio-recording-room in Tel-Aviv. Joe Fleisch, camouflaged as an orthodox-religious Jew with black hat and sidelocks combines Chassidic and dirty-dance with the sexy, young upcoming actress Lital Tayar. Ori Kaplan, with sun-glasses and a proletarian peaked cap on his head accompanies the whole act at the keyboard and Eyal Talmudi as Clarinetist, one of the shakers and initiators of OyDivision, Israel´s unchallenged best Klezmer-band, does actually not look with his sun-glasses, Hawai-shirt, long hair and shaved temples like a Klezmer-musician but obviously moves and behaves like one. Interrupted by flash-seconds of the statue of liberty, the silhouette of Manhattan, the American eagle, rows of dancing orthodox Jews, the stars in the American flag, who like also could be Jewish stars, the whole video altogether should be considered as an electronic-rhythmo Klezmer-punk-kind of history lesson, celebrating and smiling back to a long gone past. “What can you mach, sis is Amejrike” revisited 80 years later by the generation of the grandchildren is a single-release announcing more covers to come, first towards autumn with an EP out of the series “Kosher Nostra revisited. The music Jewish-American gangsters would have listened too today, it there still would have been Jewish-American gansters”. 

Nicht das Heilige Land der Bibel, sondern das Land der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten war für die, unter Diskrimierung und Verfolgung leidenden Juden Osteuropas das Gelobte Land. In Massen wanderten sie vor etwa Neunzig bis Achtzig Jahren aus, in die Vereinigen Staaten von Amerika. Wie es sich so fügt, rutschten nicht wenige in die Kriminalität ab, einige wurden gar zu richtig reichen, mächtigen Gangstern. Einer davon, Bugsy Sigel, war der Gründer von Las Vegas. In Anlehnung an die italienische "Cosa Nostra" sprach man auch von der "Kosher Nostra". 
In der gleichnamigen Ausstellung im jüdischen Museum von Wien portraitierte 2005 der israelische Maler Oz Almog die kriminellen Helden von einst, eine Inspiration u.a. für den Musikproduzenten Shantel vom Frankfurter Label EssayRecordings. Zusammen mit Oz Almog gab Shantel nun diesen Mai eine "Kosher Nostra"-Compilation heraus, mit jener, vor allem auch jüdisch beeinflußten Musik aus der ersten Hälfte des vergangenen Jahrhunderts, welche die jüdisch-amerikanischen Gangster damals vermutlich am liebsten hörten.

Um die Jahrhundertwende war es für die religiös-traditionellen jüdischen Einwanderer aus der Alten Welt oft nicht einfach sich an die moderne und fortschrittliche Kultur in der Neuen Welt anzupassen. Eine Situation, dargestellt auf einen der jiddischen Lieder auf der CD: "What can you mach, sis is Amejrike" komponiert von Sholem Seconda und gesungen vom legendären Aaron Lebedeff. Der altmodische Humor einer längst vergessenen Zeit klagt über die jungen Frauen, die es wagen, schwanger zu werden, bevor sie verlobt sind, statt - wie es zuvor Sitte war - zuerst zu heiraten und dann innerhalb eines Jahres ein Kind zu bekommen. Hier "in Amejrike", schnitten sich Jude ihre Bärte und Schläfenlocken ab, sähen also am Ende aus wie die Goiim (Nicht-Juden auf Jiddisch). Aber - so raisoniert der Refrain - "What can you mach, sis is Amejrike" (Was soll man machen? Dies ist Amerika).

DJ-Shotnez Ori Kaplan, Saxophonist, Komponist und einer der Produzenten von BalkanBeatBox und der Sänger und Performer Joe Fleisch haben aus dieser alten Ballade nunmehr ein funky Dancefloor-Remake gemacht. In einem trashigen, schnell abgedrehten Low-Budget-Video in einem Tel-Aviver Aufnahmestudio sehen wir Joe Fleisch, nach Art der religiös-orthodoxen Juden mit schwarzem Hut und Schläfenlocken, wie er mit der recht freizügig-sexy, lediglich mit Body bekleideten Nachwuchsschauspielerin Lital Tayar eine Mischung aus Chassidischen Tanz und Dirty-Dance hinlegt. Ori Kaplan, mit Sonnenbrille und einer Schiebermütze auf dem Kopf, begleitet das Ganze am Keyboard, zusammen mit dem Klarinettisten Eyal Talmudi von OyDivision, der momentan wohl besten Klezmer-Band Israels, der zwar mit Sonnenbrille, Hawai-Hemd, langen Haaren und rasierten Schläfen keineswegs wie ein Klezmer-Musiker aussieht, sich jedoch ganz offensichtlich bewegt und gebärt wie ein solcher. Unterbrochen von sekundenschnellen, Flash-artigen Einblendungen der Freiheitsstatue, der Silhouette von Manhattan, dem amerikanischen Adler, wild tanzenden orthodoxen Juden und den Bannersternen der amerikanischen Flagge (die auch als Davidsterne daherkommen könnten), ist das gesamte Video alles in allem eine electronic Klezmer-Punk-Geschichtssstunde, in der eine längst vergangene Zeit im Rückblick gefeiert und belächelt wird. “What can you mach, sis is Amejrike”, nach 80 Jahren von der Generation der Enkel entdeckt und revisited, eine Single-Veröffentlichung, der noch weitere Cover folgen werden – demnächst zum Frühherbst hin mit der EP "Kosher Nostra revisited. The music Jewish-American gangsters would have listened to today. If there still would have been Jewish-American gangsters.” 

Amerike Daniel Haaksman Remix Sept 2011

Amerike

Black But Sweet (Daniel Haaksman Remix)

Mizerilu

Greedy For Best Music is an international record label run by Jewish Monkeys visionary Jossi Reich.  Our label´s sound is music steeped in tradition and diasporic culture, music with a story to tell, music with a strong cultural identity that goes beyond the omnipresent Anglo-American sound. In other words, Greedy for Best Music’s mission is to bring you extraordinary releases from extraordinary artists, while revealing their alternate realities, progressive in spirit, yet entertaining in form.

Ori Kaplan "Sahara Express"

Greedy for Best Music

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