A Beard Regrows on Matisyahu

Story here.

Permanent or just a period of male laziness?

^

Is The New Springsteen Single An Anthem for G'machim?

G'mach is an abbreviation for "gemilut chasadim" which is Hebrew for providing good deeds assistance to the less-than-fortunate and is used to described the community free loan system in traditional Jewish society.

Bruce Springsteen's new single is entitled "We Can Take Care of Own Own":



And that reference at the beginning to the "throne", is that a play off of Matisyahu's One Day?

see everybody that's existing got a mind of their own
we're all kings and queens with a throne of our own
tryn' raise a family in another big home
we gotta learn to stick together
hate to be here alone

hook (akon):
cuz the world is a place that will eat you alive in one day
said the world is a place that you cant survive without faith

^

Matisyahu Goes Acustic

From here

Matisyahu's "Miracle" for Chanukah

.




Happy Chanukah from me, too.

P.S. Anyone have the lyrics?
^

Matisyahu Up, and Up Close

At one point, he climber up into the sound/light tower:

The Rest of My Matisyahu VidClips

For what they're worth (I think I was too close to the stage):

At the Matisyahu Concert in Jerusalem

Yes, that's me and the boys, Nedavya and Aviyah at the Matisyahu Concert in Sultan's Pool, Jerusalem



His entrance:



And off we go:



More:

Matisyahu Does Double-Entendre

In this quotation:

"It's not really any longer about me being the Hasidic reggae guy," he says an interview. "I'm informed by Hassidism and Judaism and reggae music, but it's not that black and white, and it's not that simple."

If you don't get it, leave a comment.

Reflections on Matisyahu

The Burden of Light: Matisyahu at a Crossroads

...Once your media profile is well established, it’s hard to modify. And that problem, faced by anyone who sustains a meaningful career, is greatly magnified when you have helped to construct the box into which critics eagerly put you...It’s a long way from New York City to Boise, a distance that has as much to do with ideology as geography. For all of its diversity, vast stretches of the United States remain strongholds of a white, Christian worldview that struggles to make sense of other cultural heritages even when it is open to doing so. That Matisyahu has achieved sufficient market penetration to merit features in those hinterlands as well as in the major cities and college towns where his name first circulated testifies to his talent and dedication. But the increased exposure has also contributed to an awkward lag in the reception of his work...Whether he wants to talk about other matters or not, his interviewers relentlessly force him back to the subject of his religious convictions.

And Matisyahu, as someone who cares deeply about his faith, takes the responsibility too seriously to play the rock star who brushes off difficult topics. It’s clearly a good thing that his music is helping to educate previously oblivious Americans about what it means to practice his kind of Judaism. At the same time, though, one gets the nagging sense that he will soon weary of pieces that wrap discussions of his music inside discussions of his religion.

...The release of Matisyahu’s new album Light, now due in late August, was put off at the behest of his record label. Significantly, it’s a major label, Epic, even though the trend in the music industry has been for many long-established artists to migrate to independent labels. That confirms the commercial potential that his work is deemed to have. But the decision to expand and revise the record’s contents suggests that there may be trouble ahead. Such delays are often a warning sign, suggesting that the artist has failed to produce the sort of music that label representatives expected, that they have deviated from the form that made them a desirable commodity.

So far, Matisyahu hasn’t conveyed any displeasure at the label’s decision. Yet if we read between the lines of the interviews he has been giving on his current concert tour, originally intended to accompany the album’s release, it’s not hard to see that he has been struggling with the burden of expectations. Although he continues to confirm his religious devotion in interviews, he has parted ways with the Lubavitchers in favor of an approach more open to kabbalistic Judaism. And although the album contains plenty of reminders of his music’s reggae roots, it also takes bold steps in the direction of rock and electronica...

"One Day"

sometimes I lay
under the moon
and thank God I'm breathing
then I pray
don't take me soon
cause i'm here for a reason
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we dont wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day x6

it's not about
win or lose
because we all lose
when they feed on the souls of the innocent
blood drenched pavement
keep on moving though the waters stay raging
in this maze you can lose your way (your way)
it might drive you crazy but dont let it faze you no way (no way)
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so my negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we dont wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day x6

one day this all will change
treat people the same
stop with the violence
down the the pain
one day we'll all be free
and proud to be
under the same sun
singing songs of freedom like
one day x2

all my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day x6

oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Source


That "day"?

Amos, Chapter 9:

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations, upon whom My name is called, saith the LORD that doeth this.

13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14 And I will turn the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

Matisyahu's New Album Almost Here

Thanks to Ohad S.:




Lyrics:

One Day

sometimes I lay
under the moon
and thank hod I'm breathing
and pray
don't take me soon
cause i'm here for a reason
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so my negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
that our children will play
one day x6
it's not about
win or loose
because we all lose
when they feed on the souls of the innocent
blood drenched pain
keep on moving though the water's staging
in this maze you can lose your way (your way)
it might drive you crazy but dont let it faze you no way (no way)
sometimes in my tears I drown
but I never let it get me down
so my negativity surrounds
I know some day it'll all turn around
because
all my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we dont wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
that our children will play
one day x6
one day this all will change
treat people the same
stop with the violence
down the the pain
one day we'll all be free
and proud to be
under the same
singing songs of freedom
one day x2
all my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we don't wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play
one day x6
ooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Matisyahu in the New York Times

This



is claimed to be "the only large, mirrored, rotating dreidel in show business — a Jewish answer to a disco ball" in this Matisyahu story:

Matisyahu, who was born Matthew Miller, sings explicitly devotional songs about God, Moshiach (the Messiah) and Orthodox Jewish identity. By setting them to reggae, rock and hip-hop beats, and after working his way up the jam-band circuit, he also reaches listeners with their minds on more secular pursuits, like dancing and drugs...Matisyahu has built a career on analogies between Rastafarian roots reggae and Hasidic songs. Both are concerned with faith and survival struggles and have lyrics phrased in Biblical allusions; both draw on modal scales and melismatic vocal lines that can sound Middle Eastern.

...the roots of his music are Afro-Caribbean and African-American. He uses Jamaican reggae and dancehall toasting, sometimes delivered with a Jamaican accent; he also uses hip-hop cadences and showed off his vocal beatboxing...Matisyahu joined Crystal Method, the thumping, rock-tinged electronica duo that opened the show, to sing and rap on a song from their next album, due in March...his band — which was augmented, for a few songs, by an Israeli oud player — carries simple vamps through multiple transformations, from meditations to shredding guitar solos. It’s music for believers, with a groove for everyone else.

Matisyahu is Back

Matisyahu will be off on a fall tour and a new disc is coming out.




Matisyahu's trek kicks off October 18 at The Rave Eagles Club in Milwaukee and will hit clubs and theatres across the U.S. and Canada before winding down December 18 at Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vt. Stops include Murat Egyptian Room in Indianapolis (October 22), Orpheum Theatre in Boston (October 29), Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, D.C. (November 3), Variety Playhouse in Atlanta (November 8), Palladium Ballroom in Dallas (November 13), Grove of Anaheim in California (November 20), Ogden Theatre in Denver (November 29), Cannery Ballroom in Nashville (December 7), Bogart's in Cincinnati (December 11) and Metropolis in Montreal (December 17).

Shattered, a four-track preview of Matisyahu's Light which is due out early next year, can be heard here at this blogger. And the track Smashed Lies should be able to be listened to here or go back to the report here and click on down at the story's end. More info here.

His site has a short intro clip.

Matisyahu and a Commercial

We all walk in different shoes. (*)




(*)

And as for shoes, you saw this?

Matisyahu Is A Karliner

Matisyahu, it's reported via here, is now a Karliner.



Source

Karlin?

Go here for a start.

Matisyahu #2

Bob Marley still casts a spell, topping Billboard’s year-end ranking of top reggae albums...his sons, Stephen and Damian Marley, have captured the No. 2 and No. 3 positions on the chart...The brothers also took third and fourth place on Billboard’s year-end list of top reggae artists, headed for the second consecutive year by Matisyahu, a New Yorker who attracts fans with his mix of hip-hop and reggae and lyrics about his Hasidic Jewish background.

Source.

Matisyahu , Idan Raichel & Friends

On November 21 there was "a musical mashup in front of 1,200 fans at Irving Plaza last night never before seen - the Idan Raichel Project with special guests, Matisyahu and Y-Love".




And check this out.

(Kippah tip: JTA-The Telegrapher)

Kosher?

Outtakes:I heard about a recent show you performed on a Friday night in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the sun didn´t set. Within your religion, that´s not common.

Matisyahu: It was the first time in my career that I performed on a Friday night because the Sabbath didn´t hit. That was an amazing show. The sun didn´t go down until 2 a.m., so it was cool. There was no rush.

But:-

This is my journey. My initial ties were through the Lubovitch sect... I went to a Hasidic school for two years in Brooklyn. At this point, I don´t necessarily identify with it any more. I´m really religious, but the more I´m learning about other types of Jews, I don´t want to exclude myself. I felt boxed in.

And he's appearing during the three weeks and even the nine days:

Matisyahu opens for 311 on Tuesday, July 17, at Sound Advice Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansbury´s Way, West Palm Beach.