So, it's day four of Hanukkah and you haven't lit candles yet? Well, grab yourself some latkes, spin a dreidel and get yourself in a Jewish mood by popping "Festival of Light" into your CD player. The diverse musical stylings by artists ranging from The Klezmatics to Marc Cohn are sure to light up some religious fervor and may even help you study for finals.
Although marketed as a Hanukkah album, with a big Menorah on the CD cover, "Festival of Light" is more a well-needed excuse for some good Jewish music. With only three songs relating to the holiday, "Rock of Ages - Ma'oz Tzur," sung by Marc Cohn (of "Walkin' in Memphis" fame), "Lighting Up the World," performed by Israeli guitar sensation David Broza and Peter Himmelman, and "I See You" by Alitsut, the collection is a beautiful example of the all-encompassing variety of Jewish music.
As bookends of the 12-track disc, "Rock of Ages" sets up a mellow mood while "Lighting Up the World" brings back a festive mood with rough, raw vocal power for the end of the album. With mostly instrumental music on the album, it takes a bit for the festival theme to set in. The clarinets on "1902" by The Mels and John Leventhal sound luminous and eerie; dreamy accordion and violins, undulating flutes and an old-world drum beat on "The Emigrant" by Flairck make things interesting; and things get funky for The Covenant's version of the Friday night blessings, "Kiddush Le-Shabbat," in which the plaintive wails of an old-style Ash-kenazic cantor are overdubbed by synthesized trip-hop and techno beats.
Whether or not you've heard the songs before, it's easy to hear the special touches the performers bring to this recording. Folk standout John McCutcheon lends a gentle hand to the Israeli folk song "Erev Shel Shoshanim"; Rebbe Soul enables listeners to divine the sacred meaning of the prayer "Avinu," even without any words; John Zorn's Masada Strings pluck their way through an arresting composition, called "Bikkurim"; Alitsut's "I See You" has a soulful R&B sensibility even while she sings about the history of the Jewish people, and The Klezmatics and Jane Siberry round out the album with untraditional versions of "Dybbuk Shers" and "Shir Amami."
Even if the record companies were trying to dupe you into buying an exclusive Hanukkah album, don't worry about it, just say thank you. This varied and diverse compilation does what the title says - it provides a festival, and lights you up with its musical splendor.
- Stephanie Jo Klein
The Rutles are the brainchild of Eric Idle, the former member of Monty Python whom we all know as Roger the Shrubber. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, they're a Beatles parody group.
The first Rutles album was released in 1978. At that time of subpar solo albums, disco and long gas lines, the Beatles were sorely needed. Eighteen years later, we've come full circle - with "Backbeat," that ABC miniseries and all those blasted Anthologies, the Beatles just won't die. But if there were any group of the rock era that deserved never to die, it would of course be them, and so the time is ripe for the Rutles to return.
"Archaeology" is less a parody album than a tribute. The melodies are all original, and most of the songs are stylistic rip-offs rather than parodies of one song in particular. There are of course exceptions - "Major Happy's Up and Coming Once Upon a Good Time Band" kicks off the disc, and segues neatly into "Rendezvous." The former contains the line "Whatever Major Happy did for them it'll do for you," while the latter features the interchange "But we're only trying to help you with your song! / But I don't want any help!" The disc's closer, "Back in '64," is perhaps the most ingenious, contrasting the Beatles' heyday and the present with an arrangement reminiscent of (what else?) "When I'm Sixty-Four."
Many other clever touches abound: "We've Arrived (and to Prove it We're Here)" combines a "Back in the U.S.S.R."-esque intro with the spontaneous laughter and studio chatter of all the early takes and outtakes of the various Beatles' Anthologies. "Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik" doesn't really sound much like the Beatles, but it's funny nonetheless. "Joe Public" pokes fun at George Harrison's Far East mysticism that occasionally crept into the Beatle songbook. And "Shangri-La" is the most interesting, containing musical references to "A Day in the Life" (the intro), "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite" (the choruses and carnival-like sound effects), "Hey Jude" (the long, drawn-out la-la-la coda), and "I Am the Walrus" (the "hoo-ha"s thrown in every so often). Besides, who can resist the retro-art CD booklet featuring a centerfold of a band with pig faces?
Unlike most parodies of rock music, "Archaeology" is nice because it doesn't make fun of its target in an insulting manner. The liner notes contain a special thanks to John, Paul, George and Ringo, and never is the listener led to believe that the Rutles have anything but the utmost admiration for what the Beatles accomplished.
Still, because of that, a lot of this music ends up sounding very, well, safe. Idle does a decent job, but a far better album of this type is Utopia's 1980 release "Deface the Music," which, unlike "Archaeology," covers the early Beatles as well as the late. It contains some songs that really are quite good regardless of who they're trying to sound like. Check it out as well.
- Mark Feldman
The Rutles prove that they have the best tops and bottoms in the business as John Lennon rolls in his grave.