Last night, we gave you some free Hanukkah tunes. Tonight, Hanukkah Harry is turning the tables a bit with some music that you can't get. Or at least I can't.
I'm a collector (not gonna lie; I'm also a bit of a spoiled brat). I want to own my music. Without getting into the whole larger "rights" thing, you know what I mean; I want to be able to pay my money and say, "This is mine" (or download it free and legal and same thing). Preferably, I want a physical product. More than one person has noted how, when I buy a vinyl LP, I'll touch it up and down and all over for a good 15 minutes before I pop the plastic. I'm just naturally a tactile person and it's my weird way of saying, "You're mine, now, all mine." So I don't get "streams". What the "F" is that? What good is a song I can't buy or own? What good is it to me and what good is it to you? I won't feature "streams" of Christmas music, here. All that does is encourage illegal activity, in my opinion. I get that, for the artist, there a publicity factor. But, you know, especially with video streams, if you paid all that money to record the song and make a video, what's the extra cost of making the song available for sale? Even if you don't sell ANY. I mean, how many are you selling with a "stream"? I do get that sometimes, with a cover or parody, yours aren't the only rights involved. I get that. But it still frustrates me to no end.
I won't feature Christmas streams. But I do feature Hanukkah streams (because there's so much less Hanukkah music to begin with). The following are songs I want to "own" but, for one reason or another, can't.
I'm a collector (not gonna lie; I'm also a bit of a spoiled brat). I want to own my music. Without getting into the whole larger "rights" thing, you know what I mean; I want to be able to pay my money and say, "This is mine" (or download it free and legal and same thing). Preferably, I want a physical product. More than one person has noted how, when I buy a vinyl LP, I'll touch it up and down and all over for a good 15 minutes before I pop the plastic. I'm just naturally a tactile person and it's my weird way of saying, "You're mine, now, all mine." So I don't get "streams". What the "F" is that? What good is a song I can't buy or own? What good is it to me and what good is it to you? I won't feature "streams" of Christmas music, here. All that does is encourage illegal activity, in my opinion. I get that, for the artist, there a publicity factor. But, you know, especially with video streams, if you paid all that money to record the song and make a video, what's the extra cost of making the song available for sale? Even if you don't sell ANY. I mean, how many are you selling with a "stream"? I do get that sometimes, with a cover or parody, yours aren't the only rights involved. I get that. But it still frustrates me to no end.
I won't feature Christmas streams. But I do feature Hanukkah streams (because there's so much less Hanukkah music to begin with). The following are songs I want to "own" but, for one reason or another, can't.
This might be the most frustrating. Given the concept and the talent involved, "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham" has the potential to be the first Hanukkah song to top the Christmas charts. It would be on every Christmas mixtapers Christmas mixtape. Think of it. Hanukkah could win Christmas! If only Aimee Mann, Ted Leo and Susanna Hoffs would go into the studio and cut the thing professionally. These poor live recordings have been floating around the bootleg sites for years (since 2014). Give us a studio version so that we can appreciate the words and the humor completely. Please. It's great fun. If you haven't seen this before, it's done to the tune of "Walk Like An Egyptian". I want to buy this. I want to own it. I can't.
Here's one that actually exists in hard copy CD form...and I can't get it. Ross M. Levy & The Levites have recorded an entire 12 track album of contemporary Jewish music. It rocks. Not all of it is Hanukkah themed, but enough of it is to make me want to buy it and own it. But I can't. You can only get "Turn It Up, Vol. 2" (Crap, there's a Vol. 1 out there somewhere) at the Main Line Reform Temple in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. The Temple doesn't sell it online, the artist doesn't sell it online. Heck, I don't even know if anyone sells it at all. But, if you want it, you've got to go there to get it. Ross M. Levy does have a lot of Jewish music you can buy, including a great Hanukkah single from 2009, "Shine", which you can purchase from Oy Songs and which you can listen to at ReverbNation. But I want this one. I want "Judah Maccabee" from "Turn It Up, Vol. 2". I want all of "Turn It Up, Vol. 2". And I can't get it. FWIW, you can stream it on Soundcloud.
This one's brand new, so it's less frustrating in that there's still hope. The band is Under The Kilt. They're a Metal/Hard Rock band from California (there's a different Under The Kilt in the UK; that one's a Celtic Folk group). Under The Kilt is a 3-piece, led by Mark Stewart and currently seeking a guitarist apparently. Most Metal Hanukkah music bores me; it just sounds so...thrown together, inauthentic, whatever. Most Hanukkah Metal just feels and sounds like it has less thought behind it than any novelty record. But "Hanukkah Festival of Lights" just feels genuine to me. Not that the lyrics are all that involved or anything, but I really dig the music. Under The Kilt also has a Christmas song, btw, "Christmas Days"...also unavailable. I want "Hanukkah Festival of Lights". I want to buy it, I want to own it. And I can't. Hear "Hanukkah Festival of Lights" and more at the group's ReverbNation site.
As long as I'm talking Hard Rock, I'll throw this one up. This isn't one that frustrates me. It's not all that great. But the idea of a Hanukkah parody to Nine Inch Nails "Head Like A Hole" is clever enough to merit a mention. And it's not available, so it fits the theme. These are (allegedly) Ca$h MoNey BanKerzz with "Ei8ht NiTes".
This might not be everybody's latke plate, but I love it. And I get that the performance is the thing, but I do wish I could buy it or download it. A pair of well known Israeli violinists took to the streets of Jerusalem and performed a "Chanuka Medley" featuring all of the familiar melodies of the holiday (no, not Adam Sandler's). There's even a Charlie Daniels lick in there. And you can dance to it. Once again, their's hope as "Chanuka Medley" by Nir Sarussi and Ariella Zeitlin-Hoffman is brand new. If there's a release overseas (hasn't been yet) and if the usual time lag holds, maybe we'll see this stateside in January or February. But right now...I want to buy it, I want to own it...but I can't.
You may have noticed the lack of "Dreidel" in their medley. The actual traditional Jewish Dreidel song is "Sevivon". Did you know that the "Dreidel" song we're all so familiar with was written in this country in 1927 (and it didn't really take off until the 50s)? Just a bit of trivia for your Hanukkah head.
Ariella Zeitlin, by the way, was born in Baltimore. She moved to Israel at the age of 17. And she does have a Hanukkah single that you or I can buy and own. From 2016, here's "Incandescence". It's available on iTunes.
Ariella Zeitlin, by the way, was born in Baltimore. She moved to Israel at the age of 17. And she does have a Hanukkah single that you or I can buy and own. From 2016, here's "Incandescence". It's available on iTunes.
Some people like to close their annual Christmas mixes with some version of "Silent Night". Perhaps you have your own mixtape song "tradition"--"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", "Christmas Time Is Here", "Go Tell It On The Mountain".... I like to include a version of Adam Sandler's "Chanukah Song" on my Hanukkah mixes. I don't do it every time, but there have been some good covers...Yidcore, Neil Diamond... Well, there's no "Chanukah Song" on "Stubby's Chanukah 7" because the one I want I can't get. The Gibbonses are a Country Pop/Americana husband and wife duo and I like pretty much everything they do. Their 2018 holiday single is "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" which, sorry, I can't really accept as a Christmas or holiday song, even if I appreciate and applaud the sentiment. I grew up to Jackie DeShannon singing that song...in the summer. But I still think The Gibbonses version of "The Hanukkah Song" is the best version out there. It streams on Soundcloud, there's a video at their Facebook site. But I want to buy it, I want to own it. And I can't.
But don't cry for me, Argentina. I've got more holiday music already, than anyone could listen to in a lifetime. See you tomorrow.
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