Sometimes when I’m on the verge of insanity I open all of my music folders, virtually and physically, in the look after the perfect tunes to suite me.

“The Secret Sea” is one of those rare bands that successfully calm me down, making everything sensible. It started as an another project by Amit Erez but then became a full band project under the name “The Secret Sea”, the band members are: Amit Erez, Yael Shapira, Yoav Brill, Noga Erez, Shahar Haziza & Dave Bareket. The first EP “Not About Us” (2012) was the first sign from the band gaining them a new loving fan base. Then came their first full album “The Secret Sea” showcasing their great abilities as a band to write and perform amazing pop tunes and timeless melodies and pour everything into an amazing album full of beautifully crafted songs such as “Afterlife” (listen to the great remixes HERE), “Slow Burning Light”, “Elegy” and “Not About Us”.  Now the band is touring before leaving to perform at this years “Primavera Sound Festival” in Barcelona.

You can CATCH them performing at the “Barby” (Kibutz Galuyot 52) on the 8th of April and listen to the album and “Afterlife” below.

When I think about soulful and emotional singer Ruth Dolores Weiss‘s name comes first to my mind. Her ability to make all of your emotions to come up from deep places to the surface is incredible.

Since the first time I heard her voice on her debut album “Come See (Raw Versions)” I felt that it’s going to be an long-lasting affair. Then came her 2nd album “Be’Ivrit” with its’ amazing songs and one heartbreaking cover and the incredible covers album “My Middle Name Is Misery”, both of them became a very important part of my private records collection while breaking my heart every time I listen to them and to her everlasting voice and music. Now Ruth is finishing her new album, producing it all by herself for the very first time with great musician on her side and releasing 4 beautifully crafted new songs that will be part of the forthcoming album but for that to happen she needs the help of her old and new fans by raising money for the project via the self-financing website “Headstart”.

Listen to the new songs below and go to her “Headstart”  project and support the new album (only 4 days left…)

The first day of Spring brings so many promises about the future and an uplifting feeling with the hope that all the promises will somehow come true without breaking any hearts.

Koevary are one of those Spring promises, an all man band leaded by one of the new and most intriguing female voices around here - Avigayil Atara Koevary. The band members are Ziv Zac, Maor Alush, Chen Baruch, Nimrod Kama & Ido Zilberman. Avigayil grew up in a religious family from Jerusalem and moved to Tel-Aviv when she was 20 leaving the religion behind and yet seeking after her own concept of religion and what does it mean to be religious, so she wrote the songs for Koevary’s debut album “Religion Home God Love”. The four words in the title are the best way to describe these songs and Koevary’s music – incredible rock statements about the search and the find of the things that are important to each and one of us with Avigayil’s powerful voice and lyrics combined with the great music that the band provides makes this album a very honest, emotional and a rare one in the local musical landscape.

Watch the video for “Poland” below and CATCH them performing live with the release of the album at “Tmuna Theatre” on the 26th of March.

Lately I was thinking about late bloomers. Maybe it’s because of the beginning of the Spring and maybe because of other reasons but late bloomers are the best letting themselves to learn many things until getting to the point when they have to take the centre and show all of their talents.

After years as a Bass player on stages with different artists TSOOK felt that now is the time for him to come to the front with his own music and showcase his great singer-songwriter abilities. “All The Cups Are Empty” is his first single taken from his forthcoming debut EP (out in May 2014), its’ beautiful and yet heartbreaking lyrics mixed with a great tune makes it a best candidate for pushing the repeat button to ON and become addicted to it.

You can catch him live on the 12th of April at “Rotchild 12″ and on the 26th of May at “Levontin 7″. Watch the video for “All The Cups Are Empty” below.

It’s easy to think about the winter when you listen to Noa Kornberg’s debut album “Mrs. Frost”, just the title can make you feel the winter’s frozen bites on your skin.

10 wintry songs beautifully crafted by Noa and produced by Zach Drory mixing soft electronica with the warmness of Noa’s vocals and distant lyrics. You can just let go and get into a journey in a very cold, remote and mysterious lands leaving all of your daily worries behind.

Watch the video for “Vadaut” and listen to the album below & CATCH her performing at the OzenBar on the 24th of March.

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Happines comes to me when I discover exciting new music, In those moments of revelation I feel like a child in a new candy store.

OFRIN is one of those new and exciting musical revelations that makes what one can say: a brilliant music. After two well acclaimed albums that she made with her partner (“Rust&Velvet” and “On Shore Remain”, in which the band cooperated with Producer/ keyboarder Eddie Stevens from Moloko) comes her latest album “The Bringer” – A fresh start as a solo for the very first time produced all by her. Inspired by such as Bjork, Fever Ray and Planningtorock this amazing album combines all of Ofrin’s inspirations in one becoming a very sharp and honest conceptional album full of powerful and breathtaking songs mixing east and west and discovering her own roots. Coming from north of Israel and living in Berlin for 10 years now you can’t ignore the influence of the city and musical culture on her music, making her an artist that is not afraid of discovering new territories in the musical landscapes mixing between bedroom electronica with Bulgarian choir and other instruments singing about the new people in the new world.

Watch the video for “Sacks On Our Backs” and listen to the full album below and CATCH her performing live at The Pasáž on Wednesday (12.03)

OFRIN

The Spring is definitely almost here so I began with the search after the perfect music for these spring days.

NoaBe, also known as Noa Briro, just released her debut album called “ExtraVagantic Things” after 2 years of work. Its mixture of Folk, Rock, Classical and even Electronic influences make the experience of listening to the album so much better. Noa easily  jumps from the Americana influenced “Worthwile” to a more Rocky style in the title-song to the Folky Ballad-like “Speed of Heart” and “Sweet Corn from a Can” all with big passion and great lyrics. The album was written and composed by Noa herself and on the musical production you can hear Yossi Mizrahi’s (Acollective) magic touch. ”ExtraVagantic Things” is one of those album that is best to take with you on a road trip or just listen to it at home and feel as if you are on an amazing journey.

Catch NoaBe and her band performing this Saturday (22.02) at the OzenBar and listen to the full album bellow.

Apperently the Israeli winter forgot about us, the sun is outside and there’s no chance of rain in the foreseeable future. So I’m left with the only option I can imagine: listening to wintry songs and imagine about real winter with rain and all.

David Lavi was discovered in the 9th season of the Israeli version of a music reality seeking after the next great musicians. He was one of the more memorable contestants with amazing interpretations to the songs he chose and at the end he won the very promising 2nd place and I truly believe that in the manner of music reality shows the second place is always kept for the really interesting musicians that are not afraid of going to deep with their music. Since the show he is  working on his debut album with the search after the exact sound and production that will soothe his musical soul and combine his very religious past as a kid with his new life. Until the album will be released you can listen to “Two Rooms”, a song beautifully produced by the acclaimed Tzach Drori.

Catch him performing TODAY  (11.02) with a special acoustic show with his old & new songs at “Shpagat Live”.

Sometimes you’re not quite ready for good music. It just slides through an open door and crawls into your bed and sets its tunes right into your ears and heart.

Guy Baron’s music project as “Semi Precious” began as a project for his music degree in Goldsmiths University in London and developed into a beautiful and intriguing body of work compiled into a short and stunning EP. The songs are based on samples from not-to-old songs by different artist that Guy cherishes and wanted to leave a mark on them before he continues to other musical projects combined with his soft vocals floating above all (à la James Blake). You can totally fall in love with these 4 songs while drifting to other dimensions and hoping he will release more of this beauty in the future.

Listen below to the beautiful “When It’s Hard” (combining the Isreali artist Sivan Shavit  with Jazzanova’s “Another Day”) and visit the “Semi Precious” web site for more info about the project.

Sometimes all you need is one great song to be hooked on let it warm you in these winter days.

Anat Ester Hitman‘s new single from her forthcoming self-titled debut album is exactly one of those songs to be hooked on. I’ve heard this song as a sketch almost 2 years ago but then it was a more mellow version as expected from a sketch version, since then Anat decided to disconnect herself from everything and start working and recording her debut album. The songs grew and got a full rock treatment full of layers and textures becoming into these great songs with Anat’s powerful and dominating voice above all taking me back to Skunk Anansie’s “Post Orgasmic Chill” era. The full album will be out later this years so there’s something to wait for.

Watch the video for “Hayiti Menasa” below and catch her performing TODAY (09.01) at “Caffe Bialik”.