review by: Avi Shaked

This is a tricky release to review for the international audience. The reason for this is the strong verbal foundation of the music, which is based around a Hebrew modern poem by Roman Baembaev; so, quite like the wonderful Hot Fur’s recent release through Musea, non-Hebrew speakers will definitely miss an important dimension of the work.

Considering this, I then realized how much I love the seventies albums of the politically driven Italian band Area without understanding a word of what they rave about. And while this is an exceptional example of the universality of music, even if it pertains to certain language and cause, it is not the only one.

So those who will not understand a single word here will not fully grasp the crude and amusing poetry that is found here; so what?! They are still most likely to feel its energy and vital kinkiness through the extroverted presentation of Baembaev himself, utilizing his rough voice with a typical Russian accent.

In a way, Baembaev’s execution might remind you of sailor songs, but these are delivered in adaptation that incorporates rock, jazz and folk. Danny Tsukerman, who is credited for the music, relies on jazzy chords, rugged blues and edgy rock rants in order to maintain the musical equivalence of the humorous lyrics. Some of its entertaining touch stems from this wild combination, while the rest results from a playful outburst of the instruments, especially from the blazing clarinet and saxophone of Yoni Silver and his instrumental dialogues with Tsukerman’s guitars.

This is a hilarious yet clever release, which addresses humanity ambivalently with both disgust and winks of acceptance. (9/10 for Hebrew speakers, 7/10 for others)