Record Reviews

APOCALYPSE ~ APOCALYPSE NMC (ISRAEL) 65271 (Barcode: 7290003301577) ~ ISRAEL ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1972 Released: 1992 Only album by the Israeli group ApocalypseFind albums by this artist, which were the pioneers of Israeli Prog and years ahead of their time. Mixing elements of Psychedelia and Hard Rock with some humor and irony, they created memorable moments that stand well the test of time and sound quite fresh even today. All the members of the group were instrumental in the development of Israeli Rock in years to follow.

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ZOHAR LEVY ~ THE BATHTUB QUEEN EARSAY 086 (Barcode: 7290010420865) ~ ISRAEL ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1970 Released: 2006 “The Bathtub Queen”, a play written by a young Israeli playwright Hanoch LevinFind albums by this artist and staged by the Kameri Theatre in early 1970 turned out to be a symbol of the Israeli intellectual revolution (see Side note). The stage play also included a number of songs, which were performed by the actors. Levin entrusted the task of composing the music for these songs into the capable hands of the young and talented musician Zohar LevyFind albums by this artist, who at the time was probably the most “progressive” musician on the local scene. Levy, who was also an imaginative drummer with strong jazz and blues influences, was totally open minded as to the musical developments of the era. His music was as revolutionary as Levin’s texts and was as hard to swallow by the Israeli public at the time. The theatre was forced by the outraged public and even more outraged Government to cancel the play after just a few performances, but luckily the songs were recorded in the studio, with the original actors singing and Levy’s quartet accompanying them. This was released on LP in a very limited edition of 500 copies only, soon to become one of the rarest Israeli collector’s items. Now, 36 years later this gem is available again, to the delight of many fans of Israeli music and serves as an incredibly important document of the local scene. Levy’s next musical adventure was his superb group ApocalypseFind albums by this artist, which recorded their eponymous album in 1972 (see on this site). Side Note: In 1970 the Israeli public was still living under the influence of the euphoria induced by Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Labor Government ruled the country using methods not far removed from the totalitarian Bolshevist model. Any kind of anti-government activity or social criticism was totally taboo and any symptoms of such activity were often brutally silenced, using both democratic / legal and undemocratic methods of intimidation. Hanoch Levin’s “The Bathtub Queen” created the biggest and most violent outrage the country has ever witnessed. In his play Levin slaughtered “Holy Cows” by the herd and made fun of everything, including the Israeli Military, which was considered untouchable and beyond reproach. He predicted that Israel’s victory will eventually lead only to yet another war, which in fact happened just 3 years later (Yom Kippur War). The Israeli Government and the Ministry of Defense in particular used every bit of their influence (including most of the Israeli Media) to force the Kameri Theatre to close the play. They eventually succeeded, but at the same time managed to bring the issues dealt with by the play into the center of the Israeli public discussion and social life, creating the split between the so called Israeli “left” and “right”, present to some extent to this very day. In time Levin became Israel’s most important playwright and his plays were translated into many languages and staged frequently around the globe. He is accepted worldwide as one of the greatest dramatist and precursors of the absurd theatre, continuing the work of his predecessors like Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco and Harold Pinter. In retrospect the “The Bathtub Queen” can be considered as the singularly most influential piece of modern Israeli literature, proving yet again that words can shake the world’s foundations.

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ELI MAGEN ~ UNDERGROUND MAN (SOUNDTRACK) NOT ON LABEL ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 2010 Released: 2010 Veteran Israeli Jazz bassist / composer Eli MagenFind albums by this artist started his musical career as the founding member of the Rock group ApocalypseFind albums by this artist in the early 1970s. Later on he studied classical music and became a member of the Israeli Philharmonic and in parallel became "Mr. Bass" of the Israeli Jazz scene. This album presents the music Magen composed and arranged for the soundtrack of a movie, recorded by a quintet comprising of other veteran Israeli Jazz musicians: trumpeter Yigal MelzerFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Peter VerthaimerFind albums by this artist, pianist Adi RenertFind albums by this artist and drummer Guy Ben BarakFind albums by this artist. The music is mostly contemporary mainstream Jazz, performed flawlessly and with many splendid solo spots. Magen sings along with his bow solos, which is pretty unusual and the rest of his routine is brilliant, as always. It´s always great to have a recording by Magen, as he definitely recorded much less that he should have, in retrospect. Same goes for Verthaimer, who is one of the greatest reed players in Israel, but unfortunately with no recorded output to back up his reputation. A must for Israeli Jazz connoisseurs!

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