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Sample Track 1:
"Introduction" from Hiphopkhasene
Sample Track 2:
"Dobriden" from Hiphopkhasene
Sample Track 3:
"Freylekhs ..." from Hiphopkhasene
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Hiphopkhasene
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CD Review

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Not a lot of wedding soundtracks bear repeated listening. This is an exception. In blending traditional Jewish wedding music, historic-sounding audio samples, and hiphop beats, it treads an ambitious - and fine - line between campy and brilliant. Me, I lean toward the latter interpretation. DJ Socalled (who has also released a hiphop Seder CD) and fiddler Sophie Solomon (founding member of English klezmer-fusion band Oi-Va-Voi) have created a very listenable album that used the new to celebrate the old. To be sure, the questioning of the musical tradition carries with it other questions. In "(Alt. Shul) Kale Bazetsn" Socalled raps "Folks are sentimental and they'll always need their rituals / Plus as a concept it's dated, ketubah outmoded and faded / ... But yo, your arents woulda been so proud, so scream your damn vows out loud." High-profile musical guests David Krakauer, Frank London, and Michael Alpert add fiddles, horns, and vocals to several tracks. In structure, the 15-track CD varies between fairly straight musical numbers such as "Dobriden," "Zay Gezunt," and "Electro Taxim" and beat-heavy mixes including "Freylekhs Far De Kale" and "7 Blessings." Then there's the downright goofy side, like "Freylekhs Fun Der Khupe: Pelt Me With Rice," with its playful, bouncy horns, cartoony vocal samples and the indescribable "Hiphopkele." Hiphopkhasene is a vow-sealer unlike anything you've heard before.

 07/01/03 >> go there
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