Happy Hanukkah

Klezmer Conservatory Band, "Khasidm Tant" (YSI link)

Klezmer Conservatory Band, "A Yingele Fun Polyn" (YSI link)

Klezmer Conservatory Band, "The Dreydl Song" (YSI link)

Klezmer Conservatory Band, "Oy Chanukah, Oy Chanukah" (YSI link)

Klezmer Conservatory Band, "

Thank G-d this holiday is eight days long, allows me to maintain my normal few days behind pace while still being relevant. Yeah! I know that most people think of this site as a g-dless, secular, atheistic one dedicated to gay dance music, debauchery and boobs, and you are right to think that. But, deep down, way down, there's the remnants of a soul and a heart and maybe even some spirituality.

In celebration of the 8-day Festival of Lights, I'm digging into the archives and coming up with these songs from the Klezmer Conservatory Band's Oy Chanukah! It's a great CD dedicated to the most underrated of holidays, featuring a mixture of music and spoken word interludes dealing with various aspects of the holiday, from its history to its practices. Originally aired as a radio program on Boston Public Radio in 1985, it was released by Rounder Records in 1987. While the music is great, it's the reminiscences of people like The Yiddish Voice's Chasia Segal and Yiddish Boston radio show host Ben Gailing that give it its charm.

For those wondering how this can connect to dance music, give one listen to the songs above and tell me that they do not possess the same ecstatic nature and rhythmic intensity of house or disco music. The intensity, fervor, solemness and darkness make this essential Pound for Pound music; as the liner explain, the word 'oy' can be a "a lament, a protest, a cry of dismay, a reflex of delight." Perhaps that's what we should call all of the tunes here, oy music. I'd highly recommend picking up this CD, or any of the ones the KCB have put out over the years.

So, again, happy Hanukkah to everyone,