Partisans & Parasites

Renegade Yiddish music? okay, like that he isn't a Netanyahu guy. Parasite is an awesome song. 6 Million Germans/Nakam is nuts. What a ]crazy album this thing is like a modern Jewish Gil Scott Heron. It rips!

Have no idea how to feel about this

Klezmer is extremely fun and sounds extremely distinctive. Was super excited to draw this one

It’s certainly different and an under represented genre, that alone is enough of an argument for it to make the list. Not really my personal taste though, doubt I’ll return to this one.

What Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird serve up here isn't entirely new. Their description of themselves as *"Verfremdungs-Klezmer: Yiddish Punk Cabaret"* might sound unique, but you'll hear echoes of Gogol Bordello, Kurt Weill, The Dresden Dolls, Tom Waits, The Pogues, Oi Va Voi, and even The Tiger Lillies scattered throughout the album.

Yet it never feels like a copy. Kahn and his multinational Berlin collective bring enough of their own personality to the mix, helped by the switching between languages every now and then, and the sense that this music grows naturally from the city's cosmopolitan cultural scene rather than being a theatrical exercise.

The cabaret and Weimar influences are impossible to miss, but unlike some artists working in that tradition, this feels more authentic than performative. The songs are funny, political, melancholic, and often surprisingly uplifting. Most importantly, they sound like they're being played by people who genuinely believe in them.

It's music that puts me in a good mood and make me want to join the revolution

Weird and bad