Latest_news
The Macaroons Do Hanukkah Brunch in NYC!
Celebrate Hanukkah with the Macaroons
Sunday, December 13th
@ City Winery (155 Varick St)
Doors 11 am / Show Noon
$5 Kids / $10 Adults / $25 Families
Brunch Menu Available
http://citywinery.com
THE SWAY MACHINERY: Pilgrimage
Hey everyone!
I am in a state of great excitement preparing right now for The Sway Machinery’s first trip to Africa!
We have been invited to perform at the legendary Festival of the Desert in Mali, the festival that launched the career of Tinariwen and has featured all of the greats of Malian music (Ali Farka Toure, Selif Keita) as well as international luminaries like Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and Manu Chao!
We are hitting the big time: playing for an audience of 10,000 in the middle of the SAHARA DESERT…I kid you not.
The Sway Machinery will also be the first band representing any aspect of Jewish culture at this massive Malian festival. As you may know, Mali is an Islamic nation, where Judaism was formally banned in an Inquisition in the year 1492 (the same year as the more famous Spanish Inquisition and Expulsion of the Jews), so the prospect of traveling to Africa as a representative of the Jewish community is extremely daunting, exciting and deeply humbling!
While in Mali we will also be followed by a small film crew documenting our experience, PLUS we will be recording our next album in Mali after the festival
It’s all too much to describe in one blog entry, so I will attempt to post weekly updates about the progress of our preparation here on the JDub blog page. Also, I’d like to put it out there that we are still grossly under budget for this project. Feel like getting involved? You can make an immediate impact on the success of this unprecedented meeting of cultures by making a tax-deductible donation. Click for the donation page of our fiscal sponsor, Joodayoh, Inc:
Above is a video clip from the Festival. Feast your eyes! Khaira Arby, who is featured in this clip, will be one of the guest artists performing with us on the new Sway Machinery album that we will be recording!
The JDub Store Is Still Having a Sale
We know you love our sales videos! Today Crazy Elliot it back with another reminder that we are having a HUGE holiday sale. So grab your menorah and get a couple of shirts and records while they’re cheap!
Baruch Busted For Blow
Gawker reports that English rabbi Baruch Chalomish is on trial for allegedly selling drugs, having been charged with running a “commercial cocaine-supply operation” alongside his partner, Nasir Abbas. The original story in the London Times says the Rabbi “set up in business as a drug dealer and lavished his supplies of cocaine on young prostitutes at parties”, behavior that isn’t exactly a Kiddush HaShem.
Judging from the photo of him at left, you’d never guess he was such a team player. Sure, Chalomish and Abbas were selling coke and soliciting hookers, but what really matters is that they were doing it together. Who says there’s no hope for Jewish/Arab relations?!
JDub Records Is Hiring
JDub is looking for a Senior Marketing Director to expand the reach and scope of our programs and fee-for-service projects. Supervising a team of 2-3 individuals, the SMD will join the Executive Staff of the organization, managing a substantial budget to engage hundreds of thousands of young Jews each year. The ideal candidate will enjoy working within a fluid, flexible and creative environment, using his/her entrepreneurial instincts, sense of humor and social intelligence to advance JDub’s mission. A successful candidate will have the opportunity to work as part of a lively team in an idealistic, people-centered, non-corporate environment in which you will see your work have a real and tangible impact every day. Sound like you? Apply before December 11th!
To Apply: Send resume and cover letter to Aaron Bisman; aaron@jdubrecords.org with “RESUME, (date)” in the subject line
Full job description after the jump.
Girls in Trouble on Feminism
Alicia from Girls in Trouble is currently featured on Undomestic Goddess discussing her relationship to feminism. You can read it HERE. Full text after the jump!
“Part of the reason I started writing “Girls in Trouble,” these songs about women in the Bible, is because their characters are so complex and awesome. Some characters are deeply loyal, and others don’t hesitate to betray those closest to them. Some are meek, and some are totally out there. They all experience these crazy things in their lives, just like we do. I love that the Bible is actually so bloody and messy when you really read the stories…it’s really great literature, and although the society in it is obviously patriarchal, the women are intense, complex, and often quite bad-ass. I wanted to bring their stories to life and make sure that people hear them - not in a religious way but as great stories that can inspire us to fulfill our kick-ass potential!”
The Punching Rabbi Is Selling CDs
This guy has two favorite activities: punching things and offering incredibly low prices on music and merchandise. That’s why he’s reminding you that the JDub Records store is having a huge sale!
Antibalas announces residency in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn afro-beat kingpins, hardest working band in the industry and not to mention members of JDub’s The Sway Machinery, Antibalas are back! Er, sort of. Antibalas is temporarily bringing the party back to Brooklyn for a weekly residency at the Knitting Factory. The concerts—to be held December 3rd, 10th, 17th, New Year’s Eve, and extending into January, 2010—promise to hearken back to Antibalas’ legendary Africalia! dance parties at Tribeca’s now-defunct No Moore club, and further cement the band’s’ irrepressible reputation as an unstoppable live music juggernaut.
Introducing The Macaroons: The First JDub Kids Band
JDub is overjoyed to announce its first Kids band, The Macaroons!
What’s inside a mezuzah? What should you do if you drop your matzoh ball on the ground? Who’s the man we love to boo? The Macaroons address these important questions on their delicious debut album, Let’s Go Coconuts. It’s not out until Spring 2010 but from now through Dec 18th, you can get it exclusively at the JDub Webstore!
The Macaroons love big harmonies, irresistible melodies and a guitar-based sound that recalls eeverything from the Kinks to Queen to the Shins. A spin-off of the critically acclaimed band, The LeeVees, the Macaroons bring the catchy pop-rock with tunes like “Hurry Up And Light The Candle” and “Mezuzah.” Super-fun music for the young ones that parents will love too.
Listen:
Hurry Up And Light The Candle
Anti-Semitic Stickers in Greenpoint
A friend brought it to my attention that NewYorkShitty has been keeping track of the growing number of anti-Semitic stickers popping up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Looks like a company called TightRope is responsible for the sticker; though, it’s hard to say whether or not they are the ones stickering Brooklyn. Apparently, the hate isn’t limited to Jews–people have also spotted (and subsequently ripped down) homophobic stickers in the same area.
So what’s a Brooklyn Jew to do? Here is NewYorkShitty’s advice:
“I have been advised that moving forward I am to bring these stickers (when I find them) to the police department’s attention, be it by calling them or forwarding images (with location) to an officer who will henceforth be my “point person”. This same gentleman guaranteed there will be an investigation. In addition, D.I. Fulton told me that ripping these stickers down is perfectly legal. So there have you. All I asked in return was that D.I. Fulton have these stickers removed stat. He assured me this will happen.
Otherwise, if you, dear readers, find such stickers/hate speech on your block the NYPD has your ear. Call ‘em.”
