JDub Records

Yesterday and today, Alicia of Girls in Trouble will be featured on YouTube’s Music Spotlight for her video of “Hunter”.  Haven’t seen it?  Check it out above!

Now here is a war i can really get behind, a Hummus War! No fatigues or semi automatic rifles, just mostly aprons, spatulas and chickpeas and no one gets killed, hopefully! 

Leaving all possible political angles and arguments about this issue aside, I am just going to deliver the facts. The Associated Press reported that a group of 300 Lebanese chefs recently broke the world record, previously held by Israel, for the largest plate of Hummus ever, weighing in at over two tons.

If you’re interested in the political debates or representations, check out what Jewlicious had to say. But for me, it’s all about the chickpeas, olive oil and hard boiled egg.

[Editor's note: a while back I asked Alicia of Girls in Trouble a series of odd questions about the new record, and the GIT vision at large, and the next few entries from Alicia are her responses to my queries.  Enjoy!]

Who got cut?  Which biblical ladies didn’t make onto the record?  Why?  What do you have to say about them?

I see this project as a trilogy; this is the just first part.  So these first ten songs are just the beginning - hopefully there will be twenty more, in the end.   Some are instrumentals so that means around seventeen or so more songs to write.  I’m actually already working on the second album, which so far includes a violin looping song about Lilith - someone I’ve been wanting to spend time with for a while - and an Appalachian-inspired ballad about Eyshes Chayil, the woman of valor.

I haven’t excluded any characters, but I have avoided writing about certain famous moments that are often discussed, like Miriam leading the song at the sea.  I try to bring darker parts of their lives into the light instead;  that’s why in Miriam’s song (”Snow”) she talks about getting struck with leprosy and exiled at the end of her life, instead of this triumphant moment people usually celebrate.   This is why I call the project “Girls in Trouble.”  I feel like it’s the trouble–the messiness and imperfection in these characters’ lives–that make them interesting and instructive and worth reading over and over.   When you’re happy, you don’t necessarily need to go digging for wisdom and reassurance - that impulse usually comes when things “fall apart,” as Pema Chodron (and Yeats) call it.

The trouble in these stories feels very familiar to me - on every level, from the political to the personal - even though the stories are so old. I think it’s a basic part of being human and if the Torah were full of sweet stories about perfect people, who would want to read that? How would it be helpful?

Ampeater, a blog specializing in FREE digital 7-inches, has released a 2-song 7″ from our friends in The Wailing Wall.  The 2 songs (”The Words We Choose” and a stripped-down version of “Hospital Blossoms”) are accompanied by one of the most thoughtful and sweet write-ups of a band that I have ever read.  I’ve included an excerpt below, but the entire thing, including the music, is available HERE.

“David Foster Wallace once spoke of an epiphanic “click” he heard while reading the very best fiction (he took the word from a Yeats poem which features a line about “the click of a well-made box”), something instinctually felt but impossible to explain, and something that is curiously absent from some of the most outwardly skillful writing (Updike, in his example). To steal another phrase from Wallace, The Wailing Wall “clicks like a fucking geiger counter.” They always make those tired old chords sound like something you’ve never heard before.”

Last night a bunch of us had the pleasure of heading to legendary NYC venue Joe’s Pub to catch a set by Girls in Trouble, followed by the mind-boggling antics of Eli Valley vs. The Sway Machinery in the Temple of Self Hatred.  Of course, no one among us had any idea exactly what that meant until the show began, but the clip above should give you some idea.  Quite the renowned cartoonist, Valley let the audience look upon his tumultuous (and at times, hilarious) personal history, which is irrevocably tied to the plight of Jewish American cartoonists and illustrators.  Several times during the set, The Sway Machinery lent their jarring and strange brand of funk and blues to Valley’s stories, injecting a rich and complex blend of sounds into his memories and illustrations.  Thanks to the FJC and The Forward for putting on such a killer show!  Want to see more?  Photos and videos courtesy of Dan Sieradski.

It’s official, the new Girls in Trouble album is out today!! There has already been some great press surrounding the record and shows. Girls in Trouble gives a voice to the unsung women in the bible who were sacrificed, pillaged and murdered through beautifully complex indie & folk music.

If you’ve missed the Girls in Trouble Lyrics Guide we have been posting, check it out HERE.

Buy the CD from the JDub Webstore for only $5.99, Amazon or any of those fine record retailers that you know and love!
Buy it digitally from iTunes or Amazon 

Stay up with Girls in Trouble - Myspace, Facebook, Twitter

Who Sent The Heat? is a story from the book of Maccabees documenting the struggle between Judith and Holofernes. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar dispatched Holofernes to take vengeance on the nations of the west that had withheld their assistance to his reign. Beheading ensued….

Lyrics after the jump!
Read More »

November 1st, hundreds of Activists rallied against the intended deportation of migrant workers from Israel along with their children, most of whom were born in the country. They also protested the statement by Minister of The Interior Eli Yishay (of Shas), who was quoted saying: “They will spread Hepatitis, Tuberculosis and Aids”. The rally, which took place at Tel Aviv venue The Block, featured several Knesset members, as well as social activists and artists Tomer Yosef, Kwami, Useless I.D, Kottage and me.

PopMatters just posted a great review of Soulico’s Exotic on the Speaker!  Full text below the cut.

“What happens when you put four Israelis into a room with keyboards, computers, turntables, and a few dozen crates of rare vinyl?  The question sounds like the precursor to a bizarrely tasteless joke, but the answer is far less cringe-inducing.  You get Exotic On the Speaker, a DJs compositional buffet that ranges across the appetizing soundscapes of club bangers, dancehall vibes, and soulful hip hop.  Add the tahini of a vast range of emcees from the United States and Middle East alike and you can turn that instrumental falafel into something much more packed with vibrant flavor.

Read More »

Soulico hits Chicago tonight (Empty Bottle, 9:30PM!  Free!) and it seems like the whole town is pretty excited!  Check out the love from Time Out Chicago and The Chicago Reader.   That second piece is below the cut.

“It’s not often that you run across an Israeli turntablist crew with a debut album boasting guest spots from Ghostface Killah, Rye Rye and Del the Funkee Homosapien. Yet here’s Soulico, the four man team headed by noteworthy dub and funky breaks producer Sabbo. Tonight, the group performs live alongside MC Zulu, peppered with DJ sets from each member. DJ Searchl1te represents for the Chicago scene. Empty Bottle. 9:30pm. FREE!” - Time Out Chicago

Read More »