This is the first of a three part review of the 8th Note album. Part One will be overall thoughts and discussion on the album. Part Two will be songs 1-7 Part Three will be songs 8-14.

The hype surrounding Yossi Green’s 8th Note CD has been huge. People have been talking about this album literally for years. Yossi Green and Yossi Tyberg have been working either together or separately on a variety of interesting projects. Here is a short list of whats come from them over the last few years. Ohad 1 and Ohad 2, Shimon Craimer, MBD’s Efshar Letaken and of course, Shloime Gertner. Not to mention the tons of albums Yossi Green has composed songs for that came out over the last 5 years. (Also worth a mention is the soon to be released Yeedle album.)

Nothing in that list comes even close to The 8th Note. It’s almost as if they were saving their top quality material for this album. There were many bright spots in the previously mentioned albums, I’d even go as far as saying that Shloime Gertner’s CD was a practice run for 8th Note.

I think that the people who don’t like it are more or less coming from the same place. They are looking for quick fixes. This CD isn’t the typical commercial fluff. It’s not meant for people who want “something to listen to” in the car. Maybe you are one of those people that just gets a CD because everyone else is getting it. If you are just looking for background music, or the next wedding hora, don’t even bother, you won’t appreciate it.

I get it, I do, and I can be like that myself. Sometimes you just want a burger with some fries. You can’t eat steak every day. But this CD is like a gift to all the genuine Jewish music lovers. This is for all those cynics and kvetchers (myself included!) who complain about every typical Jewish CD with 10 songs, 2 of them hits, 5 fillers and 3 bombs.

This is the $250 Prime Grill dinner you go out with your wife on once a year. This is like going to the Opera, not renting a DVD and watching it on the couch. This is staying at The Waldorf Astoria, not the airport Holiday Inn. (Did I make my point, or do I need more examples?)

I had an interesting discussion with someone the other day, which was then mimicked by a comment in the comment section. The gist of it was that The 8th Note sounded almost Goyish, yet it doesn’t. It SOUNDS goyish, but it isn’t. Just take a look at the lyrics, the meanings, the Kavanah, and the PEOPLE singing these songs.

This is anything but Goyish. It covers various topics like Ahavas Yisroel, judging your fellow man, or as the lyrics explain, admitting you couldn’t judge them even if you wanted to. Lyrics about the times of Moshiach, people learning Torah throughout a persons life span, from Cheder to Kollel.

This album hits on every aspect of Jewish life. Yet, it sounds goyish? Why is that? What is that? Then it hit me, this is like eating a 4 star meal and saying “It tastes so good, it must be treif!”, same thing. Why do we say that? Because sometimes we’re just not use to high quality. They don’t cook like that at your local Kosher burger and fries shack.

The frum community has accepted below average quality. Anything from horrible Kosher Potato chips (Paskez) to Jewish Music produced to just barely meet the standards of the community. Too many albums are just “checklist” albums. Rock song? Check. Hora? Check. English song? Check. Ballad? Check.

When you are so used to sub par quality you start accepting it as the best, because you don’t know better. Then we glance over to the Goyim and we think what THEY have is only good because it’s forbidden.

Goyish Music doesn’t sound like that because it’s goyish. That’s absurd, it sounds like that because the people who produce that music sleep, eat, breathe and live what they love. They love music with every fiber of their being and that drives them to create the best. Of course it helps that Sony, Epic or Warner Records gives them hundreds of thousands of dollars to do whatever they want with in the recording studio.

It sounds like that because they aim to make it sound as good as possible. They are given the money to accomplish that goal, and it produces, well, good quality music. They do it to produce good music. Not to just meet the wedding standard. They don’t make it so it’s good enough, they make it to sound great.

Enough rambling, at this point either you feel me or you don’t. If you are looking for the next song that they will sing at your cousin Shloimy’s Chassena at Ateres Avraham, then this album isn’t for you.

This album is meant for people who love music on a personal intimate level. This album is meant for people who will go over this album for months, listen to every song 1000 times. The people who pay extra money for the good speakers or headphones. It’s meant for people who will crank up the dial and just appreciate the genuine quality of this CD.

Wow, the Kiddushei Hashem keep on coming!!

I hope they find this guy and chop both of his hands off.

Here is the link to the full story.

Just another case of Esav Soneh Yaakov. No matter what we do, no matter what we think, they will always want to harm us.

I have a few comments regarding this poster. (Via J.I. Magazine)

1) Is Eli Gerstner REALLY REALLY BIG or are the YBC kids VERY VERY SMALL?

2) Is that new “Release Date” for Dovid Stein’s CD an inside Joke? Is there even a CD? According to that new date (8/31/08) it’s 11 months after it was first supposed to come out. In this months Country Yossi “cover story” Dovid Stein was featured and Eli Gerstner said it was coming out BEFORE Pesach. So I guess that plan was scratched.

3) It says Eli Gerstner will be performing his “Classic Hits.” Which of his specific songs are the classics or the hits?

4) Mini Gerstner is now an independent act? Are you serious? He’s making his “solo debut” ?

This poster just turns me so off. Sorry, if it’s between this and Miami, Fried, Levine & Pruzansky I’ll do the Miami one.

Here are two follow up stories to the original story (click here for that).

Emotions Run High at Precinct Council Meeting.

Shomrim Meet with Police.

Since we’re talking Crown Heights news here’s a doozy of a story. A man who has been arrested 12 times for 50 car breaks in over the last 3 years was released again from jail. He was quickly rearrested after breaking into 7 cars in 2 days. Amazing.

This is the concert poster for the show I was talking about a couple days ago. Some things jump out at me. “The Show of the Year!” will every concert now need a tagline like that? The Big Event, The main Event, The Show of the year? When I think superstar concerts I don’t think Pruzansky and Baruch Levine and a guy whose only contribution to Jewish Music so far is “Niggun Neshama” “Lazers Niggun” and a debut album that was promised 7 months ago. (Dovid Stein, and no offense meant.)

I think Miami and Fried is exciting though, and the other three combined with Miami and Fried do make for a packed show, so that’ll be good. Of the “other 3″ I like Baruch Levine the best. Not a huge fan of the voice, but I liked his album song wise a lot. (I should have reviewed it.)

The other thing that jumps out at me is the “Separate Seating” and then in smaller print underneath “Family Seating Available.” It’s a funny way to phrase something. Because if you want the show to get a Kosher seal then the WHOLE show should be separate seating. If not it’s like being a little finished. You either are or you aren’t. If you have mixed seating available then your event is a mixed seating event, only with separate seating available.

This further goes to show that the only thing that was accomplished from that entire Lipa Ban Story was the collapse of respect for “daas torah. “This is gonna go down n history as a very dark time. The days when people lost all faith in the Rabbi’s. It’s so crazy to even say that, buts true. Our greatest Tzadikim have passed away. We are headless and the people who have attempted to fill those voids are failing miserably.

I understand it’s Purim in this clip but that shouldn’t matter. Lipa is 1) singing a song based on non Jewish roots. 2) Ten steps past of “kalis rosh” here. 3) Singing literally in front of mixed crowds. You can actually see women, just a few feets away from Lipa, while there are men in the same shot. Nothing has changed. The only thing that has changed, as I said, is the attitude towards “Daas Torah.” Mr. Asher Friedman. Good job!

Well this is not nice. I really am trying not to post every anti Obama story out there. Although lately there have been a ton of them. But it’s to keep ignoring these. I’m trying, it feels like “dirty” politics. He said, she said, broken telephone, comments made 2 years ago, 10 years ago, in context, out of context. Ya, I know all the excuses. Ya, I know Cheney and Bush are saying idiotic Israel peace process things too, but they aren’t running now for President. There are way too many of these types of stories coming from the Obama camp. It’s not good.

A very cute idea from the people behind Agent Emes.

I’m so excited about this. Expect a full review of this album in a couple weeks.

Disgusting.

So after that whole Lipa Ban fiasco, new concerts keep popping up. You want to know the real reason so many people were outraged by the Lipa Ban story? It’s simple. Intellectual dishonesty.

Sure the Rabbi’s are out of touch with todays youth, heck not just the youth, but todays entire generation for that matter. Ya - they were “misled” or rushed into making bad decisions. Sure it was all about money and politics. Mostly it was all about falsely projecting todays serious problems with frum youth were all Lipa’s fault. (as if.) Though, the real problem here is that it was just instigated by people who wanted to personally attack and harm Lipa. The concert was just a cherry on top.

Yes, I blame many of these Rabanim for being so out of touch with reality, but it’s the people instigating this that are the root of the problem. But for me the intellectual dishonesty issue keeps popping up. Here’s the problem, either concerts are assur [and should all be banned] or they shouldn’t. You can’t have it both ways.

Especially when no one says anything about a Shwekey/Shalsheles concert, or 20 years worth of HASC concerts. It’s only when Lipa, who gets certain kanayim nervous, tries to make a big, kosher, exciting and entertaining event - THEN we get a ban.

So here we are, just weeks before Pesach and Yerachmiel Begun is announcing the mother of all Jewish shows. Aside from an Ohel or a HASC this is the next largest regularly scheduled concert. I can’t imagine that Yerachmiel Begun, before putting this massive event together didn’t secure assurances that it wouldn’t be banned.

So I’m forced to assume one of two things. Either Yerachmiel Begun is ignoring the will of those 32 Rabanim who said Concerts are wrong and should be banned. Or he has struck a back room deal to assure that this event won’t be banned.

Either way we’ve got a problem. I wish guys like Rabbi Horowitz would address it, since no one else is. We need answers, real open honest discussion. Why is a mixed seating event with the Miami Boys Choir, Avraham Fried, Baruch Levine and Michoel Prusansky any less wrong, any less evil then a SEPARATE seating Lipa/Gertner concert. Because one is in MSG and the other Brooklyn College??

Or am I completely wrong and the Rabbanim WILL put out a Kol Koreh against this show. Would they even dare? After the outrage and controversy and anti “Daas Torah” sentiment caused by the last Kol Koreh, would they even dare?

I guess we will find out very soon, but either way one thing is for sure. The Kol Koreh against the Lipa show was a fraud and the people involved should apologize and explain their actions.

But that never happens, the people behind that disaster will never admit they were wrong and the Rabbi’s will do what they do best when they mess up. Ignore it, pretend it never happened, and move onto the next fad that needs being banned.

If the Rabanim DON’T ban this concert then they admit to being frauds and show that they are in fact intellectually dishonest. If they DO ban the concert then they will further show how out of touch they are and continue to make the outrage grow that still strongly lingers from the Lipa ban story.

No matter what they do it’s bad. See what happens when you open up a can of worms? It’s not pretty and it stinks to high heaven.