Forward.com

The Teapacks Push the EnvelopeThis past May, the Teapacks were eliminated in the semifinals of the Eurovision song competition along with bands representing 17 other countries. Their elimination capped a months-long saga in which pop music collided with geopolitics, garnering international headlines for the six-member, ska-inflected, band originally hailing from the now-embattled Israeli town of Sderot.
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What Does Gay, Jewish R&B Sound Like?What does an openly gay, Jewish R&B singer sound like? Thanks to Ari Gold, a formerly Orthodox kid out of the Bronx, the question isn’t speculative. On his newest album, “Transport Systems,” out this week, he answers that an openly gay, Jewish R&B singer sounds much like any good R&B phenom: a sexy, honey-tinged voice and lyrics about falling in love.
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D.J. Without BordersSam Hopkins, aka DJ Balagan (Balagan is Hebrew for tumult), is a mixer, drummer and producer. His newest album, “Funny Accent,” is a mix tape in the most classic sense. Rather than simply sample older songs for his own aggrandizement, Hopkins removes himself from the process — acting more like a museum curator than an artist. The result is one of the most fascinating documents of 2007. Funny Accent is the statement of a fan toting around a crate of LPs, and in the process of showing them off, Hopkins tells the story of a Jewish musical history.
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