Gili Yalo is one of the most intriguing new musicians in the music scene in Israel. From his base in Tel Aviv, Gili has launched a solo career in a new project that combines Ethiopian roots with Soul, Funk, Psychedelic and Jazz music. Gili, who has collaborated with a top producer Uri Kinrot (Boom Pam), incorporates sounds from traditional Ethiopian music into a contemporary music production. The result is an exceptional, rich, vivid melody accompanied by Gili's unique voice with lyrics in both English and Amharic. The music made by Gili embodies his own personal story, which inspires the rhythm and flow of the whole project. During Operation Moses, a mass migration of Ethiopian Jews fled from their native land on foot to refugee camps in Sudan. Together with his family, Gili walked through the desert towards the promised land and sang to his beloved ones. In the course of this exhausting and emotional journey it was the music which encouraged Gili and his family to keep on moving. Gili Yalo's music creates new meaning to traditional Ethiopian music. The expression of his story through an advanced music production represents his own personal triumph. Gili Yalo was interviewed by Alejandro Cohen. Links: [Dead Sea Recordings][1] // [Facebook][2] // [Spotify][3] Photo Credit: Michael Topyol [1]: https://www.dsrlabel.com/gili-yalo [2]: https://www.facebook.com/Gili.Yalo/ [3]: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3DKCqVm3fBealSYfYzVIJk
The Teder team stems from a collective of music lovers and promoters who have been curating Tel Aviv's nightlife for the past 20 years. The collective has produced dozens of major events and festivals, featuring cutting edge multidisciplinary content developed by both local and international artists. TEDER.FM was created in the summer of 2010 as a further platform for their creativity. TEDER.FM began as a pop up radio bar that houses a web radio station, bar & kitchen, and gallery. Due to its success, Teder continued to pop every summer in a different location for four months of festivities. It quickly became a cultural institution in Tel Aviv. The format, timing and surprising locations all contributed to TEDER.FM's impact locally and beyond. After years of traveling, including to Tokyo, St. Petersburg, and Krakow, TEDER finally settled at Romano House, a historic building in Tel Aviv. It became the ultimate playground for the collective, offering an alternative cultural center that runs all year long. The mission to curate and create the best content possible for a varied audience continues to expand, grow, and evolve at Teder. Udi Niv was interviewed by Alejandro Cohen Links: Teder.fm // Facebook // Instagram
Taking cues from Iran’s fiery and defiant female musical icons like Googoosh and Ramesh, Liraz's debut album 'Naz' reimagines their fighting spirit from the ‘70s. She sings in Farsi and the influences from those Persian forebears, where traditional Persian instruments were framed in a pop sensibility, are ever-present in an album dominated lyrically by the role of women in society and musically by the bounce of hip-hop and electronica with help from from Israeli producer Rejoicer. Raised in Tel Aviv in Israel, her parents are from Iran yet political circumstances have meant that she’s never been able to visit. The imposed distance has stoked up an immense curiosity about its culture which underscores everything she does as an artist. She has a successful career as an actor in both Israel and Hollywood acting with the likes of Philip Seymour-Hoffman (A Late Quartet) and Naomi Watts (Fair Game), and has spent the past decade whilst on film set location, picking up Iranian music; a self-taught schooling that’s laid the foundations for her records. Liraz was interviewed by Chris Kissel. Links: Dead Sea Recordings // Facebook // Instagram // Spotify You can listen to a playlist created by Liraz below: Sade Johnny Cash Altin Gun Googoosh Marjan Farsad Ibeyi Joni Mitchell Peter Gabriel Time of the Gypsies Dudu Tass
Fortuna Records is a reissue label and a DJ crew from Tel-Aviv, championing the obscure forgotten sounds of the Middle East with a string of top quality vinyl reissues accompanied by notoriously wild parties. With two Boiler Room sessions under their belt and fans such Gilles Peterson, Gaslamp Killer, Acid Arab, Optimo and John Talabot, Fortuna never cease to raise the bar with insane releases such as their recent Drums of Lebanon reissue by the mysterious Raja Zahr. Fortuna Records were nominated twice for the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards for Track of the Year, in 2015 for "Jamilah" by Ihsan Al Munzer and in 2016 for our first original 12" by Kalbata, "Al Shark". Their wild DJ sets are an all night belly-dance excursion into the psychedelic side of Middle Eastern Funk mixed with African tribalizm all the way into 4x4 techno workouts of a similar nature. 2020 sees Fortuna in top form, with a monthly NTS Radio show, a track record of gigs in London, Paris, LA, Germany, South Africa, Poland & Greece, while still releasing the Middle East's most obscure records, they show no signs of stopping! Zack Bar was interviewed by Alejandro Cohen. Links: Fortuna Records
Roy Regev is a media strategist, music producer, cultural entrepreneur and soundscaper based in L.A, where he also founded Sounding Board: an audio, media and production studio. In recent years, he worked with various non and for-profit organizations in the fields of arts and culture in Israel and the US, collaborating internationally with various partners, among them Asylum Arts, the Schusterman Foundation and the Jerusalem Season of Culture (JSOC), for which he created and developed PR, branding, publicity, online interaction and new media channels. In this capacity, he was Co-Artistic Director of Frontline, Jerusalem’s indie music festival. These days, Regev is collaborating musically with Musician/producer Lee Triffon in the framework of LRxTR, a new analog-heavy electronic project. Their EP, Meditate, will be released January 2020, alongside a unique cover versions project. In a weekly music column for the Israeli magazine Pnai Plus, Regev explored the inner realms of Israeli music. He also served as writer and editor for media outlets such as Maariv, Yedioth Aharonot, Haaretz and other lifestyle magazines. Roy Regev was interviewed by Alejandro Cohen. Links: LRxTR // cover versions