The OSOG (On Shoulders of Giants) music collective has a catchy and original sound. Photo: courtesy
Israel’s 12 “Hippest” Emerging Bands
h/t t0 Viva Sarah Press Israeli21c
‘Diversity here makes Israeli music stand out … people should move here for the music.’
ISRAEL21c checked in with music critics to create this list of 12 emerging bands to keep an eye on in 2017.
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Lola Marsh
Lola Marsh photo courtesy of Anova Music.
Indie-pop band Lola Marsh has the music world delighting in its perfectly synced harmonies. The band formed in Tel Aviv in 2013 as a duo (Gil Landau/guitars, keyboards and Yael Shoshana Cohen/vocals), and today is comprised of five-members.
They’ve released just four tracks but they’ve got a huge international following waiting for a full-length album.
2. Jane Bordeaux
Tel Aviv’s acoustic folk-country trio, Jane Bordeaux, is kicking up the local music scene with some incredibly original Hebrew-language Americana folk music.
The trio — Doron Talmon, Amir Zeevi and Mati Gilad – were included on the 2017 Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 List, comprised of top young innovators who are transforming culture, business, technology, media, and other fields across Israel and beyond.
3. Hoodna Orchestra
Hoodna Orchestra photo via Facebook.
Hoodna Orchestra is an ensemble from Tel Aviv creating a fresh blend of free-flow Afrobeat, traditional Middle Eastern music, dance-floor Afro funk rhythms, and different styles of jazz.
Hoodna Orchestra is one of Israel’s most sought-after live shows.
4. OSOG
OSOG (On Shoulders of Giants) is an eight-member music collective with a catchy and original sound.
Their musical backgrounds are punk, metal, jazz and classical, which they’ve fine-tuned to a wholly unique sound. Simply said, OSOG is a carnival of music.
5. Quarter to Africa
Quarter to Africa. Photo courtesy
This multicultural roots ensemble will get you humming to their sounds even on a first listen. The band was born in 2014 in Jaffa with an idea that African and Arabic styles should be fused with composed and improvised jazz and funk.
6. The Paz Band
Vocalist and songwriter Gal De Paz, dubbed the “Israeli Janis Joplin,” leads Tel Aviv’s lively rock band, The Paz Band.
7. System Ali
System Ali is headed for a big year in 2017, believes Dekel. The hip-hop ensemble that sings in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and English includes MCs and musicians rapping about daily realities.
Their sound blends classical Arabic music, klezmer, Romanian tunes and rock. Their lyrics quote from Israeli and Egyptian poetry, as well as jargon from the four languages in which they sing.
8. Forest
Six-member Forest serves up a sound that blends psychedelic klezmer, melodic folk, spoken word and chill-out styles.
“Why travel to Goa when you can have a spiritual journey at a local club in Israel? Forest’s repetitive intensity, magnetic group dynamics and blend of world and Middle Eastern rhythms and acoustic pop stylings create a swirling house of worship that’s impossible to resist,” Brinn tells ISRAEL21c.
The group says it takes inspiration from shamanism, meditation, storytelling and prayer.
9. Alaska Snack Time
Alaska Snack Time is a Tel Aviv outfit creating electronic music based on live instruments.
10. Tigris
Tigris describes itself as an “Afrodelic Power Pop band.” The five musicians behind this project — Roy Harmon/keyboards; Ilan Smilan/guitar, Amir Sadot/bass, Oded Aloni /cajon and percussion, Ben Aylon/African drums and percussion — are creating some crazily catchy tunes.
11. Cut Out Club
Seven of Tel Aviv’s talented musicians and singers have formed one of the country’s busiest bands, the Cut Out Club.
12. Shye Ben Tzur
“Sufi devotional music with lyrics in Hebrew” is how Dekel describes Shye Ben Tzur’s qawwali music. “The music really sweeps the crowd.”
Ben Tzur is a known world musician for his unique combination of Sufi-style singing mixed with Hebrew poetry.
His newest album, “Junun,” is a collaboration with Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express group of Indian musicians. The making of the album was filmed and made into a documentary by the same name.
