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 Matisyahu, K’Naan at Wiltern Theatre, L.A./Jay-Z, “D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)”:
Could a Hasidic rapper/reggae toaster who was once a Phish fan actually be the one we’ve been waiting for, the so-called mashiach…the promised messiah? The former Matthew Miller strikes quite a figure on stage with his yarmulche, rabbinical beard, peias and fringed tsetse hanging berneath his waist, spinning around like Fiddler on the Roof’s Tevye crossed with a sufi. It’s been three years since his 2006 major label debut Youth, which followed the surprise success of his Live at Stubb’s album, and his new effort, Light, has been postponed several times and is now slated to come out Aug. 25. Hitting the stage solo with a programmer for “WP,” Matisyahu’s widespread appeal remains astonishing, an incredible melting pot of reggae-loving California girls, jam band hippies, hip-hop skateboarders and the occasional observant Jew, the force of the music transcending religion to touch on nonsectarian liberation. The segue from opening act, A&M/Octone Somalian reggae/rap performer K’Naan, makes explicit the connection between the African and Jewish disaporas and yearning for Zion on songs like “T.I.A.” (“This is Africa ”) and the patriotic singalong “Wavin’ Flag.” Matisyahu’s six-piece band, featuring guitarist Aaron Dugan, pushes the music into jam-band territory, especially on the atmospheric first single from the upcoming album, “One Day,” as well as new mumbers like the rousing “So Hi, So Lo,” “Smash Lies” and “I Will Be the Light,” which exist easily alongside such standards as “Youth,” “King Without a Crown” and the militant “Chop 'Em Down.” If witnessing an audience of all different ethnic persuasions getting down to the rantings of a Hasidic Jew wasn’t enough of a confirmation of my own Hasidic hip-hop fusion, M.O.T., a decade ago, the emergence of Jay-Z’s new single, “D.O.A.,” with its mournful klezmer clarinet snaking through its anti-Autotune protest song, offers conclusive proof I and I was 10 years ahead of my time. Luckily, it’s not too late to get saved.
Roy Trakin
Sr. Editor at Hits Magazine
For more logon to www.hitsdailydouble.com or www.sonicboomers.com |
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