Like the title says, Chicago/New York’s Stereo Sinai is about to release two full discs of music – “Biblegum Pop” and “The Revelation Will Not Be Televised” – 25 songs in all! The albums will be available in time for Chanukah but if you pre-order on reverbnation, you’ll be able to get the tunes at a discount! And who among us doesn’t like a deal? And who among us doesn’t like supporting the arts? What? You are unfamiliar with Stereo Sinai? Their Bio on reverbnation has it just right: “Stereo Sinai is the Good Book like you’ve never heard it before.” Here’s the rest of their bio:

Dubbed “biblegum pop,” the band’s signature sound is the heretical combination of ancient, holy tongues with blasphemous backbeats and synthesized pop melodies. If Gwen Stefani and Will.i.am had been on the mountain with Moses, they would have come down sounding a lot like Stereo Sinai…The duo, made up of singer/songwriter Miriam Brosseau and producer Alan Jay Sufrin, was declared a “Favorite Band of 2009″ on About.com. Artist development group Misery Loves Co. called them the “best new band in Chicago.” In fall of 2009, Stereo Sinai appeared on the Chicago indie music show “Errors Not Eliminated” and spoke on a Chicago Music Commission panel on musicians and social media… Stereo Sinai has been featured in a wide variety of recording projects since its inception in 2008. They contributed a track to the innovative “G-dcast” project, and, alongside artists such as David Broza and musicians from the Klezmatics, recorded a track to benefit cancer research with the New York-based “Pioneers for a Cure” initiative. Stereo Sinai represented Chicago at the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam in 2008 and has been profiled by PresenTense magazine, Shemspeed.com, the Chicago Jewish News, and others. Stereo Sinai has contributed several holiday tracks to MyJewishLearning.com, and is featured on “Eats Paste,” a children’s compilation from ToyBlock Music. The duo recently moved to New York and is currently in the studio recording new biblegum pop for their upcoming release, “The Revelation Will Not Be Televised,” to be released in late fall of 2011.

But that’s all just a bunch of noise. The proof is in the pudding, so you can listen to them below. I spent all day listening to them over and over again. Morally, I feel I have no choice but to buy these albums now. It’s like I was hypnotized by Brosseau’s ethereal voice and the combination of familiar traditional lyrics and contemporary, pop inflected musical arrangements. It’s really, really compelling! Can you tell I’m not a music reviewer? But I sure do know what I like.

Anyhow, enjoy! Oh and it’s lead singer Miriam Brosseau’s birthday today, so… you know, happy birthday!

What I do know is that the response has been almost… mournful. I mean that literally. My twitter stream is full of expressions of sadness and regret, the acronym “RIP” has been used more than once. The Jewish Press has written umpteen articles, mostly repeating what was written in the initial JDub press release. Beyond that the details have been fuzzy. Well, fuzzy and I can’t tell you because I’ve been sworn to secrecy. That having been said, the salient facts are that the Board of Directors decided to wind down the organization because they felt the business model wasn’t sustainable.

At this point there are a few people trying to analyze what went wrong with JDub. Meetings are being planned, courses of action are being determined and yet few people, besides the JDub Board members and some insiders, know exactly what went wrong. I mean, based on the numbers JDub released in their announcement, they were doing some spectacular work:

• 150,000 event participants in 472 cities
• 35 album releases
• 3 Gold Records
• 3,500 attendees at The Unity Sessions, the largest Israeli/Palestinian concert in the history of the United States
• 52 songs placed in major films, TV shows, or ads
• 800+ mainstream press stories including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, MTV, CNN, NPR, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Billboard, and Pitchfork
• 26 foundation and Federation funders
• 630 individual donors
• 2.7 million unique visitors to Jewcy.com since JDub’s adoption

That’s really tremendous! Add to that their list of past and present funders and one has to wonder what the hell happened! “The decision to close was entirely financial, as the challenges facing our business model are too great to overcome,” the organization said. “JDub earned half of its annual budget from mission-related revenue, including album sales, concert tickets, and consulting fees, and the other half from foundations and individual donors.” Also offered was a final snapshot of JDub’s accomplishments: 150,000 event participants in 472 cities, 35 album releases, 3 Gold Records, 3,500 attendees at The Unity Sessions, the largest Israeli/Palestinian concert in the history of the United States, 52 songs placed in major films, TV shows, or ads, 800+ mainstream press stories including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, MTV, CNN, NPR, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Billboard, and Pitchfork, 26 foundation and Federation funders, 630 individual donors and 2.7 million unique visitors to Jewcy.com since JDub’s adoption.

And yet? Here we are. Now that a day has passed since the announcement, some more critical commentary is coming out. In an article titled “Broken Business Models in “Non-Profit” Start-ups; Case Study: JDub,” Jacob Ner-David concludes that “Bottom line: if a venture is delivering bang for a buck (or a shekel), it will be sustainable. It’s up to us entrepreneurs to figure out how.” Also on EJP, Ruthie Warshenbrot asks some very salient questions: “Was arts & culture programming actually a good entry-point to Jewish life, especially for young adults?” “If arts & culture wasn’t the way to go – and there are many ways to read JDub’s numbers, and its closing … what is the way to reach Jews in their 20’s and 30’s after all?” “Will this make the Jewish community question its commitment to “innovation” and “social entrepreneurship” …?” Warshenbrot notes that JDub got community buy-in and support from practically every single Jewish Foundation and Federation out there. They had been featured in every single edition of Slingshot to date. Will JDub’s funders be pissed off? Will they feel they got sold a bill of goods? Matthew Ackerman in Commentary urges us to Shed No Tears for the Death of JDUB:

As the initial promoter of Matisyahu and with a record that included attracting 150,000 young people to events in 472 cities, JDUB seemed to stand as the most successful organization, at least among those with a creative bent. Typical also was JDUB’s claim it could “forge vibrant connections to Judaism” for a population with anything but. Of course, dodged entirely was the question of what was specifically “Jewish” about attending a rock concert, even if the performer wore payes. Also left unaddressed was the long-term sustainability of such a loosely defined Jewish identity.

Of course, JDub has accomplished a lot more than just promote Matisyahu. But Ackerman writes for Commentary. They’re old. What do they know. Certainly here at Jewlicious we’ve made great use of JDub artists, from Matisyahu, to SoCalled, to Soulico, arts and culture JDub style has always been a cornerstone of our Jewlicious Festivals. The difference is that the fun, cultural expressions of Judaism we present are done in the context of a complete and immersive experience that includes a plurality of substantial Jewish experiences. Sure we party, but we also offer various speakers, learning and skill sessions, contact with writers, artists and a multi-denominational crew of Rabbis and activists. Why are we not flush with cash? Well, after 7 years and countless successful programs (including this blog) many still see us as a sophisticated Orthodox Kiruv movement. Just as an aside, I’d like to add a hearty “fuck you!” to those ignoramuses that still think that because we include Orthodox Jews, we’re all about Kiruv. Next time you come to a Jewlicious Festival, join the Reform Minyan for services and stick your Orthodox kiruv where the sun don’t shine.

But I digress. Yesterday I spoke to 2 Birthright Israel groups, 80 young American Jews in all. I asked them for their thoughts on the closing of JDub and the unknown future of Jewcy. They were exactly the target demographic that JDub was supposed to be forging vibrant Jewish connections with. Of the 80, only 3 had ever heard of JDub and 6 had heard of Jewcy. I guarantee you that if 60 or even 40 or even 30 had answered in the affirmative when asked if they knew what JDub/Jewcy was, we would not be having this conversation. Just for the sake of balance only 11 had heard of Jewlicious (but we do have only a tiny fraction of their budget). The point is that maybe JDub failed because it, well, essentially failed. People just weren’t buying what they were selling in sufficient numbers. It’s that simple. Or maybe Heeb’s new web site killed them. What do I know.

Having said all that, I’d like to wish all the JDub community the best of luck in all their future endeavors. Despite everything, JDub did a great job expanding the conversation about the evolution of Jewish Identity in North America. Aron Bisman is an extremely talented and passionate guy and I know that this will not be the last we hear from him. You can’t contain that kind of passion!

Lately at the office (Leadel sits in Ra’anana, Israel) there have been discussions about who Debbie was, what did she sing, and what were her most popular tunes. Amazingly enough as popular as she and her music was in North America, Israelis are only now beginning to be touched by her spirit, warmth, and musical blessings.

This case made us think even more. What makes Jewish music? Who is affected by what? Who knows which artists and who listens to what? What does it mean for a piece of music to be considered Jewish? If it has Hebrew in it? If it’s based on a Jewish blessing?

All these questions got us in the mood for another Leadel Contest. For now, our office is pretty occupied with planning our upcoming conference on Jewish Education on February 10th, but stay tuned to our posts here on Jewlicious or check out our website regularly for updates and details.

In the mean time, here’s an oldie by good from Leadel’s music corner with Shai Haddad (SHI360). Cheers.

Hungry for more videos about Jewish identity? Go expand your cranium and culture knowledge at Leadel.NET – that Jewish Media Hub of online Jewish goodness.

But seriously, when I want to know the latest in teen religious Jewish boy band news, the first place I go to is Heeb magazine. And they never disappoint! After the bump check out these uh… cuties, called the Moshiach Times Band. JDub dubs them the “Jewnas” brothers and raves about their “skinny jean/Tzitzit combo” while Tablet Magazine says that they are “the religious Jews’ answer to the Jonas Brothers.” Me? I don’t even know who the Jonas Brothers are and I’m definitely not going to make any cracks about scoring sem girl booty in the temple bathroom (I leave that to Heeb). All I can say is that I am heartbroken that the David Kelsey approved musical line up at the Jewlicious Festival is all booked up and that we won’t be able to invite the Moshiach Times Band to play before they hit puberty and their sweet, angelic voices begin to crack. Oh well.

The talkbacks were mostly encouraging – though there was some pretty spirited discussion related to what is and isn’t “religious” etc. reminiscent of previous discussions on the topic. OK fine but, did you notice that I was credited with two photos that appeared in the article, including the bad ass pose shown here (Unisex Matte Faux Leather Hoody courtesy of American Apparel Jerusalem, of course)? So far I’ve had photos published in Heeb, YNet, Haaretz, the JTA etc. Can I now consider myself “an interdisciplinary artist and documentarian investigating post-normative forms of Jewish cultural expression?” Please? Can I?

Rinat Gutman is going to be on some Channel 2 morning show tomorrow. I don’t ever watch Israeli TV so I can’t tell you more, but it’s a big deal apparently. You can also see her perform at the Jewlicious Festival in Long Beach, California on Feb. 19th. Buy your tickets today!

UPDATE:
Here’s the video from Rinat’s Channel 2 appearance. It’s in Hebrew but as soon as I figure out how to snarf it, I’ll upload it with subtitles. As it is I can’t even embed it even though the code is provided. Oh well. Here’s a photo from the studio interview instead:

Firstly, Stacey Solomon came in third in the X-Factor UK 2009 finals. What shall I say? I felt a little sad that she didn’t win, but I wish her good luck in making her way. My gut tells me she’ll be in over a longer haul than her fellow contestants. And we’ll always welcome her at a European festival. (Have I spilt a secret now?)

Secondly, as I was watching Stacey’s duet with Michael Bublé, I mentioned to CK that Muffti looks a bit like the Canadian singer. We both agreed on that Muffti’s cuter, yet his singing qualities were not rated as favourably by CK. (I’ve never heard Muffti sing, so…) Anyhow, I pointed out to CK that Michael Bublé could well be singing his way into the pants of most ladies, which was a talent. I won’t paraphrase the next few lines of the chat but treat you to the real deal, raw emotions, and genuine drama (please excuse any typos and the lack of capitalisation):

CK: heh
wimmins
froylein: yeah?
CK: its not the greatest thing on earth to get them to have sex with you
froylein: but to have them drool over you by the millions – that’s something
CK: there’s only so many women you can fuck [ed.'s note: CK meant to say, "engage in loving and respectful consensual sexual intercourse with".]
froylein: serge gainsbourg would never have got laid if not for his singing

CK: even serge gainsbourg could have gotten laid
froylein: with that punim?
CK: yes
the french women are weird that way
froylein: heh
CK: germans too so dont get uppitty

Luckily for CK, I missed that last line and only just saw it in the chat history. I’ll save the comparison of lovers of different nationalities for another post, so you’ll have something to look forward to.

Back on topic, thirdly, Jewlicious’ favourite Yuriy Gurzhy is featured in the current edition of Jüdische Allgemeine (click here for the .pdf-version of that page). The article is an abridged chat between him and Shantel about how they met and what constitutes as respectively whether there even was such a thing as “Jewish music”. The most interesting aspect in this excerpt, I think, was that both these veterans of indie dance music with an often Jewish twist have been under the impression that lately people have invented or re-discovered their Jewishness as it suddenly appeared to be a fashionable thing to be Jewish. I’ve been wondering whether seeing a disproportionate number of Jews in pop culture not only had to do with fashion but also more acceptance of artistic professions among Jewish families.

And while I keep wondering, here’s some indie dance music with a Jewish (or is it a European?) twist for you:
Gay, Gypsy and Jew by Yuriy’s band Rotfront, performed in Budapest last night.

The Gods Of Fire‘s Chanukah album, Hanukkah Gone Metal is not some cheesy exploitation thing. It is a sincere homage to both Chanukah (however the hell it’s spelled in English) and classic 70′s Heavy Metal.

Seth Diamond of Gods Of Fire, wrote of this album in a recent piece in Jewcy:

The initial ideas flowed quickly. It would be eight songs, one for each night. We would keep our versions of “Oh Hanukkah” and “Havenu Shalom Aleichem,” and write six songs of our own. Each song would represent a significant part of the holiday. Then the hard part started. How do you stay true to your Metal roots while writing about gelt or frying up latkes? Also what should the record sound like? I wasn’t comfortable staying exclusively in the realm of traditional Metal. I knew we needed to do something special. We were making a holiday record for *our* people and *our* culture. And then I started humming some melodies I remembered from Shul. I picked up the guitar and cranked up the distortion. The sounds of the synagogue were PERFECT for Heavy Metal. Then I made some calls. I can get a clarinet player, and a trumpet player too! Not only could I have a Klezmer feel on a few songs, but I can have the sounds as well! Suddenly the vision and the sound came together quickly. We were truly going to make a JEWISH METAL album. One foot in each culture, co-existing peacefully. Admittedly some of the songs are very American and conventional, but I hope the more Judaic songs could serve as a bridge to help someone else connect with their history, and learn more about Hanukkah or Klezmer. I don’t know if Gods of Fire will make another religious album, but the sounds and the melodies of our faith are here to stay.

Some might take umbrage with this project, but as Diamond mentioned, this is not a Jewish Stryper. This is the real thing. You can purchase the CD on Amazon OR you can send an email to heavymetal@jewlicious.com. On the 6th night of Hanukah we’ll select 3 lucky random winners to receive a free CD! This is in keeping with our traditional super easy contest policy. But don’t be a cheap bastard! Buy the CD – or we’ll uh… bite off the head of a chicken and stick it in a latke!

OK, boring geek stuff aside, I recently got a request from Dave to add his Matisyahu blog. A blog about Matisyahu? I mean I like him and his music, but an entire blog dedicated to him? I did my due diligence and went to his site where I saw a post about an ad Matisyahu recently did for Kenneth Cole. Never saw that before. And Matis looked sharp rockin’ what looks like a black tux! Even with his very Hassidic close cropped ‘doo.

Not only that, but the blog was not all about Matisyahu. There was all kinds of content relating to cool indie Jewish bands as well. While checking out the blog I found the Web site of a UK band called Ghetto Plotz. Described as “The Prodigy with Violins,” this band verily kicked ass and I spent the afternoon preparing for the Sabbath while getting my ass whupped by their awesome beats. So here for your listening pleasure is a live set by Ghetto Plotz. Seriously, listen to it. It’s awesome shtetl techno. Those Ashkenazim are SO exotic huh? Dave’s Matisyahu Web site can be found here, or on our blogroll.

Shemspeed is giving you all the chance to remix from our files. First up is Y-Love next will be Pharaoh’s Daughter and they will keep coming. Here is how it works!

We give you the instrumentals and accapellas and you use whatever program you would like to make your own remixes from these files. We recommend Ableton (download a free trail here). You have the chance to remix four different singles off the “This is Babylon” album.

Once you finish the remix submit it to Shemspeed (djhandler@shemspeed.com) and have a chance to win a Shemspeed fun pack (includes CDs, Stickers, Posters, Fliers and an official Shemspeed T Shirt).
have fun!

DOWNLOAD ALL FILES AT www.ylovemusic.com/remix to listen to the songs in full go to myspace.com/ylove.