A Roundup Of Roundups

Great music you need to hear from the London label, Batov Records, as well as Chant Records, from New York

Welcome to the Ingathering. 

The Ingathering is a series of original content—interviews, essays, and more—and takes a comprehensive look at Jewish music and spirituality. This week’s edition features an interview with DJ Kobayashi, co-founder of Batov Records, a roundup of five great Batov artists, as well as another roundup of five artists from the New York-based label, Chant Records, that you need to hear. 

It’s Batov, We’re Happy

Doron Erez—better known as DJ Kobayashi—co-founded Batov Records in 2013. The labels focus is what he calls, “global funk and world grooves,” and boasts a sizable roster that includes a number of Israeli artists like Shiran, Lior Romano, Cherry Bandora, Eyal El Wahab (El Khat), Tal Sandman, and Sababa 5. The label’s aesthetic is a mashup Mediterranean and Middle Eastern sounds, which, as long as they’re funky, can be acoustic, electric, or somewhere in between.  

“Do you know what the expression, batov, means in Hebrew?” Erez asks, explaining the origin of the label’s name. “Ba means, ‘to come,’ as in, ‘somebody is coming to see you.’ Tov means ‘good.’ But in modern Israeli slang, if you told me that you were walking down the street and found $50, I would say, ‘Oh, ba-tov.’ If you told me that you lost $50, I would say, ‘ba-rah’ [rah means, ‘bad’].” 

I spoke with Erez and we talked about signing and working with artists, the types of acts he wants on Batov Records, and the resurgence of interest in music from Middle Eastern Jewish communities. We also highlight five recent releases featured on the label. 

Go here to read the full interview with DJ Kobayashi, and to learn about five great Batov artists.

Chant Records Roundup

Chant Records was started in late 2017 by musicians Jon Madof and Shanir Blumenkranz. Their goal was to help people from their community work together, and release music. “It occurred to me that we should make a web,” Madof told me earlier this year. “Whatever reach we have as individuals, that had to be pooled together. Anytime one of us puts out an album, all the fans of the other bands should know about it, too. It should all be out there, in one place, no matter how small it is.”

Chant Records sits on the edges, and isn’t genre-specific. The music isn’t necessarily avant-garde or abrasive, but it also isn’t vanilla or staid. “Our tag line is, ‘adventurous music across the spectrum,'” Madof said in that same interview. “Whatever the genre is, we’re the outer reaches. We’re the experimental wing of whatever genre. But that doesn’t always mean that it sounds experimental.”

Go here to see the complete roundup, and to learn about five Chant Records releases that defy convention, but that also, somewhat, have something to do with Jewish music.

Go here to learn more about five great Chant Records artists.

#ICYMI: The Cultural Activism And Exemplary Musicianship Of Neta Elkayam

Neta Elkayam is an incredible singer. She possesses an almost flawless sense of pitch, and her grasp of complex polyrhythms is intuitive and natural. She has dedicated the last decade to exploring the musics from different regions in Morocco, and has made an effort to master the various subtleties and dialects as well. Her many projects include a contemporary reimagining of the music recorded at the Arènas transit camp of women from the Atlas Mountains as they made their way to Israel, a tribute to the great Moroccan diva, Zohra Al Fassia, and original compositions that draw from Andalusian and Mediterranean influences as well as liturgical and Western music. She also does numerous collaborations with artists like Ester Rada, Ravid Kahalani, Dudu Tassa, and many others.

I spoke with Elkayam from her home in Jerusalem. We discussed the importance of celebrating the music and culture of the Jewish diaspora, the stories behind her Arènas and Zohra Al Fassia projects, the survival of Moroccan heritage despite aggressive attempts at assimilation, and how her first visit to Morocco inspired her to reconnect to Judaism and to settle in Jerusalem. 

Go here to see the complete interview.

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