I wasn't sure what to expect when I began listening to Songs In The Key Of Hanukkah. And after a few times through I'm still not sure what I heard.Erran Baron Cohen, brother of Sacha, is the mastermind behind this project. The album features many traditional Jewish Hanukkah songs reinterpreted for today's music listening public.
The songs are mostly electronically backed with flares of Spanish, funk, and jazz inspiration. Funky horn flourishes on tracks like "Dreidel" make much of the album a rump-shaking club set.
The songs are sung in a combination of English and Hebrew. Israeli singers Ida Raichel and Yasmin Levy are featured alongside NYC rapper Y-Love and Jules Brookes.
One of the more interesting songs, "Look To the Light", features Brookes on vocals in what can be best described as what you would hear if Neil Diamond were the lead singer of Chicago.
Y-Love's rapping on "My Hanukkah (Keep the Fire Alive)" sounds like Adam Sandler rapping "The Hanukkah Song" or Fiddler On the Roof goes to Compton.
Songs In the Key of Hanukkah is a difficult album to grasp. As a stand alone dance record its stands up pretty well. However, with the overall concept one is never quite certain whether all of this is tongue in cheek or a serious attempt at creating holiday music.
Unless you have a pre-existing attachment to the traditional versions of these songs I would not recommend picking it up.
Best track: "Dreidel"
Track listing for Songs In the Key of Hanukkah:
- Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah
- Dreidel
- Ocho Kandelikas
- Spin It Up
- Look To the Light
- Rock Of Ages
- Relics of Love & Light
- A La Luz De La Vela
- My Hanukkah (Keep the Fire Alive)
- Ma'Oz Tzur
5.0
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