Reviews - Time Tunnel/The Kabalas

Renaissance Man Review

Artist:   The Kabalas
Album:    Time Tunnel
Date of
Release: 1999/10/19
Label:    Dionysus Records / Mordam
Cat. No.: Dionysus 123379
ASIN:     B00001T3AX
Country: US
Genre/s: World|Jewish
Sub-
Genre/s: Contemporary, Other, Klezmer
Type:     Studio
Time:     43:56
Date of
Review:   2003/04/08
Web site: http://www.kabalas.com

Purchasing Info!

The Kabalas - Time Tunnel
Originally released in 1999 on the Dionysus label, The Kabala's "Time Tunnel" could be described as a refreshing breath of (not so) rotten air. Klez punk-rock? Well, sort of, perhaps in a "metaphysical" sense... Basically, The Kabalas inject rock with some much-needed life force in the form of klezmer. They take solid klezmer and give it a thorough rock treatment, their rock grounded to some extent in punk/garage punk. From this they take all that's best about that genre and combine it with originality and inventiveness and solid musical skill, so often otherwise lacking in the genre. Throw in generous helpings of fun and manic humour and satire, a pinch or two of hip-hop and contemporary jazz, a lyrical touch here and there, stirr well - et voila, The Kabalas and their "polkadelic klezmer", as they like to describe it.
Thanks to multi-instrumentalist Scott Morschhauser, The Kabalas can avail themselves of an unusually varied instrumental palette for a band of this kind, including some excellent xylophone. Solid grounding is provided on most of the tracks by a more than capable accordion, and Kabala's saxophonist distinguishes him- or herself with wonderful flexibility. There's even some excellent bass clarinet as well. A very versatile and capable band with original ideas, and the ability to transform their ideas into great sounding music, The Kabalas have turned out a thoroughly likable, enjoyable album in "Time Tunnel". Traditional klezmer material and standards as well as originals are all handled with equal, almost hyper-active flair.
This is klezmer with a difference. Vive la difference! Have fun!

© 2003 Renaissance Man/Rainlore. All rights reserved.

Track List:
1. Time Tunnel (Williams) - 3:27
2. Medley: The Dybbuk/Hells Bells (Kassel/Morschhauser) - 4:04
3. Attack of the Giant Ants (Stein) - 2:25
4. Little Lisa (Morschhauser) - 4:22
5. Quiet Shtetl (Traditional) - 4:14
6. At the Rabbi's Table (Traditional) - 3:17
7. Photograph of Aunt Rachel Doing the Cha-Cha at Cousin Ira's Bar Mitzvah (Morschhauser) - 3:28
8. Odessa Bulgar (Traditional) - 2:06
9. Comfort Me With Apples (Gould/Mizzy) - 2:34
10. Freilach 2 (Traditional) - 1:49
11. Do It on Your Own Time (Smith) - 2:24
12. Erev Ba (Levanon/Levanon) - 3:19
13. Tanz Medley (Traditional) - 6:27

Credits:
Joel "Mister Joel" Dick (Percussion, Drums, Djembe)
Scott Morschhauser (Guitar (Acoustic), Percussion, Accordion, Ukulele, Vocals, Xylophone, Vibraphone)
Barry "The Wolfman" Wolf (Accordion)
"Nervous" Neal Smith

PURCHASING INFO:
Time Tunnel can be purchased:
From Jewish Music Distribution UK
From Hatikvah Music International (US)
General online sources such as Amazon etc. and probably better CD stores

All images used on review pages and artists pages kindly supplied by the artists and/or their record companies, unless otherwise stated. All such images are copyright their respective owners, and all such copyrights and/or other intellectual rights hereby acknowledged.

|    Home    |    Jewish Music Page    |    Steel Pan Page    |    Other World Music Page    |    Jazz Page    |    Classical Music Page    |    Other Music Page    |    Artists' Pages    |    The Guzikow Archives    |    Links    |    Contact    |
|    All CD Reviews    |    All Live Music Reviews    |    Jewish Music Reviews    |    Jewish Music UK Calendar    |

	`Artist: The Kabalas` `Album: Time Tunnel` `Date of` `Release: 1999/10/19` `Label: Dionysus Records / Mordam` `Cat. No.: Dionysus 123379` `ASIN: B00001T3AX` `Country: US` `Genre/s: World\|Jewish` `Sub-` `Genre/s: Contemporary, Other, Klezmer` `Type: Studio` `Time: 43:56` `Date of` `Review: 2003/04/08` `Web site: http://www.kabalas.com` `Purchasing Info!`
	The Kabalas - Time Tunnel Originally released in 1999 on the Dionysus label, The Kabala's "Time Tunnel" could be described as a refreshing breath of (not so) rotten air. Klez punk-rock? Well, sort of, perhaps in a "metaphysical" sense... Basically, The Kabalas inject rock with some much-needed life force in the form of klezmer. They take solid klezmer and give it a thorough rock treatment, their rock grounded to some extent in punk/garage punk. From this they take all that's best about that genre and combine it with originality and inventiveness and solid musical skill, so often otherwise lacking in the genre. Throw in generous helpings of fun and manic humour and satire, a pinch or two of hip-hop and contemporary jazz, a lyrical touch here and there, stirr well - et voila, The Kabalas and their "polkadelic klezmer", as they like to describe it. Thanks to multi-instrumentalist Scott Morschhauser, The Kabalas can avail themselves of an unusually varied instrumental palette for a band of this kind, including some excellent xylophone. Solid grounding is provided on most of the tracks by a more than capable accordion, and Kabala's saxophonist distinguishes him- or herself with wonderful flexibility. There's even some excellent bass clarinet as well. A very versatile and capable band with original ideas, and the ability to transform their ideas into great sounding music, The Kabalas have turned out a thoroughly likable, enjoyable album in "Time Tunnel". Traditional klezmer material and standards as well as originals are all handled with equal, almost hyper-active flair. This is klezmer with a difference. Vive la difference! Have fun! © 2003 Renaissance Man/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
	Track List: `1. Time Tunnel (Williams) - 3:27` `2. Medley: The Dybbuk/Hells Bells (Kassel/Morschhauser) - 4:04` `3. Attack of the Giant Ants (Stein) - 2:25` `4. Little Lisa (Morschhauser) - 4:22` `5. Quiet Shtetl (Traditional) - 4:14` `6. At the Rabbi's Table (Traditional) - 3:17` `7. Photograph of Aunt Rachel Doing the Cha-Cha at Cousin Ira's Bar Mitzvah (Morschhauser) - 3:28` `8. Odessa Bulgar (Traditional) - 2:06` `9. Comfort Me With Apples (Gould/Mizzy) - 2:34` `10. Freilach 2 (Traditional) - 1:49` `11. Do It on Your Own Time (Smith) - 2:24` `12. Erev Ba (Levanon/Levanon) - 3:19` `13. Tanz Medley (Traditional) - 6:27`
	Credits: `Joel "Mister Joel" Dick (Percussion, Drums, Djembe)` `Scott Morschhauser (Guitar (Acoustic), Percussion, Accordion, Ukulele, Vocals, Xylophone, Vibraphone)` `Barry "The Wolfman" Wolf (Accordion)` `"Nervous" Neal Smith`
	PURCHASING INFO: Time Tunnel can be purchased: From Jewish Music Distribution UK From Hatikvah Music International (US) General online sources such as Amazon etc. and probably better CD stores
	All images used on review pages and artists pages kindly supplied by the artists and/or their record companies, unless otherwise stated. All such images are copyright their respective owners, and all such copyrights and/or other intellectual rights hereby acknowledged.