This snazzy 7-inch features two Israeli bands, Les Dynamites and Radio Trip, who mix the best of hipster-inflected bellydance music, surf, funk and psych with Greek, North African, Yemenite and Mizrahi styles of music. Worth donning a fez and smoking a hookah pipe for.
What a strikingly good album this is. Autumn Tears is a collective of musicians from Billerica, Massachusetts who make an ethereal sound that blends the best of bands who would have fit well on 4AD Records during their 1980s heyday and progressive rock, especially for those who are fans of the Russian symphonic group iamthemorning. Zeresh are beloved friends whose work has been reviewed on this blog in the past, and Tamar Singer’s vocals sound utterly sublime here. This crosses neofolk with a restrained but foreboding metal vibe. Dark, but magically so. Of special note, the mastering on this album…
Batov Records, based out of Tel-Aviv, Israel, is producing some funky and hard-hitting music, and this 7-inch by Şatellites simply rocks. The title song of this single is a cover from Arabesque rock legend Hakkı Bulut is a driving jam which is described as a tune “with the force of The Stooges crossed with The JBs.” The second track is an instrumental which is also engaging, but passes too quickly, as I would have loved to hear so much more from it.
I have a feeling that this Israeli psychedelic release is a hoax, and the label, ΠϢΑϪЄ (That Word), seem to admit the same. However, on the music’s merits, it’s a pretty interesting slab of Middle Eastern-influenced psychedelic rock. Eventually, the mystery of this album will be solved, but it’s nice to just enjoy the music and let it melt all over your brain for the time being.
As far as electronic music releases go, Rami Moscovich does a nice job straddling Eno-esque ambient with Berlin School vibes reminiscent of 70s-era Tangerine Dream. The jewel of the crown of this release is the track My Grandmother’s Apartment, where it sounds like Rami’s grandmother is reminiscing about old times in what sounds like Hebrew. Enjoyable.