If you’re living in NYC and are into the avant/jazz rock scene chances are you’ve heard of the power trio Rashanim. I’ve mentioned their myspace page before, but their new album Shalosh on Tzadik deserves a dedicated post. Rashanim is guitarist Jon Madof, bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (who was also playing the upright bass on the awesome Filmworks XVIII CD by Zorn this year.) and drummer Mathias Kunzli. They’re a highly electric and rocking trio unlike some of their Tzadik buddies, that’s why they were given the chance to do the 5th Masada Anniversary title : Masada Rock, where I first heard their name.

The musical quality of the album is totally out of the roof, Madof’s distorted guitar sounds and melodies are very much inspired by the Surf Legends of the past, and the song “Atbash” which literally means horse head in Turkish (and Jewish as well?) will hopefully be remembered as the Jewish surf classic of the 2000s. “Yosefa” with its changing signatures, offbeat parts and the incredible guitar melody breakdown, showcases their complex jazz/rock hybrid. While on “Da’at“, the music is more mellow, with Madof playing accoustic guitar like an oud, and the rhythm section serving as backup. I was banging my head on the wall, trying to select songs to feature when I saw that the band has put 3 songs from Shalosh on their webpage, sometimes having too many choices suck, so I stuck with their choices. In fact the page has a whopping total of 14 songs. More than any decent band I’ve ever seen give away for free. Impressive.

What’s more, Rashanim is having a concert in NYC tonight. I normally miss occasions like this because I’m lazy to blog about it on time, but this time by luck I’m not failing to report this (alright it would have been better, if I reported it a few days ago, I know). So, if you’re in NYC and you want to listen to something unique and electric, you have to go to Zebulon, I’m happy to say that they never take cover charge, and their December artist list features Nomo and many more interesting ethnic/avantgarde musicians, just be sure not to miss today’s Rashanim + Talat album release event and send me a photo if you’re there, because I’m like 2 continents away :(.

Rashanim - Yosefa
Rashanim - Da’at
Rashanim - Jacob and Esau
Rashanim - Chorek
Rashanim - Der Khusid Geyt Tantsn
Rashanim - Shadrakh (feat. Marc Ribot)
Rashanim - Meshek