JDub Records

Asfur (”Birds” in Arabic)  is a comic crime drama series, which went on air on March 7, 2010 and gained massive popularity among millions of viewers in Israel. Asfur’s creators are Hanan Savyon and Guy Amir, who also play the main roles in the series. The series tells the story of four pot-smoking, laid back friends who live in discarded buses at an abandoned farm, on the margins of an industrial zone in Jerusalem and struggling to keep possession of the farm, by raising money in various ways, most of them barely legal…

Many current Israeli songs were featured in the acclaimed series and the creators chose to feature “Jerusalem” by Sagol 59 featuring Shaanan Streett and Rebel Sun, from the JDub album Make Room, on the very series’ very last episode (episode #50)

Watch the Jerusalem clip here

People may know the songs and albums he’s played on more than his name, but a bona fide musical icon from the 1960s made Aliyah to Israel last year.  Harvey Brooks has played bass guitar on some of the most groundbreaking records of the post-Beatles era - including Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew (1969), The Doors’ The Soft Parade (1969) and 1968’s Super Session featuring Michael Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills. And that’s only a fraction of the some 100 albums he’s appeared on or produced over the past 40 years on his way to cementing his status as one of the most respected figures on the American music scene. Brooks and his family currently live in Jerusalem. Click here to watch the YNET interview.

Some of the top names of Israeli, German and Palestinian Hip Hop will gather this Wednesday at the Yellow Submarine in Jerusalem to make connections and bust some dope rhymes. Organized by Heartbeat Jerusalem and the Willy Brandt Center, in association with Corner Prophets. If you’re in J-Town this week, make sure you’re there.

To get y’all warmed up for the Jerusalem Hip Hop extravaganza taking place at The Lab (Hamaabada)this Tuesday, here’s a new video of the event’s 3 featured M.Cs. JDubber Sagol 59 plus up-and-coming rappers Ruff and Hasid, performing the posse cut “7″ in Tel Aviv’s Barzilay club to an ecstatic crowd.

For two days next week, Jerusalem will turn into the music, arts, theatre, food, drink and good vibes center of Israel, as the de:frost festival will offer hundreds of parties, gigs, plays, exhibitions and other mainstream, fringe and guerilla events. And if you’re looking to catch some authentic Jerusalem Hip Hop flavour, on January the  19th Sagol 59, Hasid and Ruff will perform at The Lab (Hamaabada).

For more info, check out De:frost Festival’s Facebook page.

Tomi Rotem a.k.a Crazy Dog has been rapping and freestyling for 6-7 years now, and producing tracks in his home studio for the last 2-3 years. Not bad for a kid born in 1995, huh? I should know. I happen to be his father.

About a year in the making, now’s the time to check out his first ‘proper’ release, the free, internet E.P “GTA Tribute”. Enjoy.

The inimitable Y-Love had visited Israel last week, and gave two very dope shows in Jerusalem. Y-Love was supported by Shtar, a live Hip Hop band from Beit-Shemesh and by Jewish funk-rockers Hamakor. Sagol 59 was the featured guest on both shows and local Hip Hopppers Funati Hasid, Empress Eyesis and Crazy Dog were also in attendance. More photos here.

So, what started as a Rebel Sun & Sagol 59 show at the Bass club in Jerusalem on Saturday night, eventually turned into a full-fledged Corner Prophets freestyle cipher, featuring Sagol, Rebel Sun, Knights Of The Roundtable, Marc The Black Russian, Funati Hassid, DJ Meth-A-Morph and Joseph, a dancehall M.C from Ghana.

More photos on the C.P website

Jerusalem film-goers have learned this week the the venerable Lev Smadar cinema (located at the German Colony) might be offered for sale, after a Jerusalem District Court ruling last week. As the only single-screen theater left in Jerusalem, the indie Smadar has a devoted following. Is Jerusalem, once declared “Israel’s Film Capital” by mayor Barkat, losing its cinemas?

Haaretz reports.

FACTbyFACT is a full length documentary about Fact Records - argubly the most important Independent record label in Israeli music history. The film covers Fact’s three and a half years of activity and documents the emerging Jerusalem music scene between 1999-2003. Directed by Ran Eisenstadt, the film features performances by: Yuppies With Jeeps,  Sagol 59, The Young Puritans, The Rubberband  Project, Charlie Megira, Gelbart and more, and interviews with: Shaanan Street, Quami, Nadav Ravid, Adi Gold, David Peretz, Hadara Levin-Areddy, Sagol 59, DJ  Caress, Subsoniq and many others.

You can watch the film here , or download a high quality copy here.

Enjoy.