"Another older album that I keep pulling out is Rubinchik's Orkestryr's first offering, "Flipnotics Freilachs" (1998). I guess it's been a freilachs kind of time for me, personally. Frantic, if not freilach :-). This is a Texas klezmer album, and like my favorite Tex-Mex and blues, I'd have to say that any good music put together in Texas is likely to be somewhat special. Here, the band is not so tight--both parts of this album were recorded live--but the spirit is right on, and the vocalist has a perfect Texas swing klezmer voice--the same vocalist I loved on another Texas klezmer recording by the former Austin Klezmorim. This CD has been one of the "almost got reviewed" albums for longer than I can remember--maybe since summer of 1998, and it's time people know about this album. It doesn't get reviewed because I love listening to it and never feel like doing the work of writing about it when I'm listening. In some nice ways, this album reminds me of the second Shirim album, the one where they stretch out a bit. In any event, both feature "Zhankoye," a favorite for singing here whenever we get people together, as well, and not a bad way to put a happy face on sending people off to Stalin's labor camps. (I wish I knew more about the history of the song--good macho, could easily be sung by Kinky Friedman, with or without the Texas Jewboys, lyrics. But the time in which it was written, under Stalin, suggests illusion on the part of the songwriter, or something more ominous.) Oh, yes, back to the band. Bandleader is Mark Rubin, also of one of my favorite kick ass country/bluegrass/bad attitude bands, the Bad Livers. So, yeah, put some good musicians together, let them wail, and listen to what they do with "Mark went to Klez Kamp and all we got were these lousy Khosidls." The band's website is at www.markrubin.com/rubinchik. You can read the whole liner notes there. And thanks, Mark.
Notes by Ari Davidow, www.klezmershack.com, 01/15/00
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