BEIRUT

Every once in a while I mention music and politics. Well, here comes again. I don't know if you're aware of what's going on in Palestine, but Israel has taken over almost all their territory. If you take a look to a picture of Palestine and the Israeli occupation, this is what you'll see

Anyway, the relation with music comes here...very abstract, or maybe not?
Last Thursday (May14) a new hospital for Palestinian refugees was inaugurated in Beirut (Lebanon), and as a coincidence, I just got a great concert of the band Beirut. They performed in February @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg and I missed them because it was sold out, but things come to me when they're supposed to, and I'll share them with you, so here's a part of Beirut's beautiful concert, but before you click, think about all the interesting things they do with fusion (to give you an idea, here's a quote from their myspace: "a trumpet from Paris, farfisa organ, accordion, piano, ukelele, mandolin, glockenspiel, violin, cello, tambourine, The air powered organ I bought on twelth street, Congo drum donated from the neighbors....A broken microphone stolen from the university of new mexico...."), in this concert they even covered "Brazil". I wish the same would happen in real life

Watch the full concert at baeblemusic.com

"MY FUNNY BUSINESS": MATISYAHU

I don't like religious music or proselytizm, but when music's good it stands above everything, even words. Last Sunday (Dec 28) I went to see Matisyahu @ the Music hall of Williamsburg; Great sound, great venue, good musicians, and great energy once the opening act was over because that was BAD, really bad.
I've come to the conclusion that in music, once the technical aspects are exceeded, it is all about the energy, and relegious or not, the energy that night was special.
Jewish reggae might sound like a contradiction, but these days everything merges and Matisyahu knows exactly how to do it, no wonder he said it was his "funny business" when he tried to anounce a ringtone code.
It was very exciting to see souch a diverse crowd attending the same concert, just imagine the dough of people that wanted to listen to Reggae, drum n' bass, hip hop, Jew chants, middle Eastern instruments, free music (including a bike handlebar with different bells and horns), and beatbox in the same show, and not happy with that, Matisyahu brought 5 guests and performed for 3 hours.
Here are some pics and videos I'd like to share with you