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LP
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BTR 072LP
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Boom Pam, widely renowned for their spellbinding Middle Eastern guitar music, have unveiled their highly anticipated fifth album, Royal. Celebrating their twentieth anniversary, the Tel Aviv based band combine cinematic atmospherics and high-powered surf rock on their first album for international ambassadors of Middle Eastern grooves, Batov Records. Over the course of eight thrilling tracks, Royal leads listeners on a topsy-turvy journey from Middle Eastern exotica to Spaghetti Western style scores, via scorching Mediterranean beaches. Highlights of the album include the surf-meets-Western delights of "Silver Lining", where irresistible guitar lines are piled high and topped with euphoric synths and rock drums, resulting in a timeless soundtrack for both headless nights in dive bars and heedless days at the funfair. "Juda" follows, a deadly combination of Zeppelin and Middle Eastern rock with subtle hints of synth funk. The track is named after living legend and Middle Eastern guitar hero, Yehuda Keisar, who also joins the band for this song, contributing a scorching solo. The thunderous guitar riffs are matched pound-for-pound by the irresistible percussive groove. Boom Pam "Rock the Casbah" on title track "Royal", revealing another card up their sleeve, as they transform a famous '80s Israeli radio theme into a disco-inspired super jam with a punk edge. The band maintain their reputation for first-rate and distinctive surf rock on the fast paced "Daber Yafé" and "Monsour". The sonic imprint is both warmed and widened by the rare addition of a tuba supplying the lower frequencies. Meanwhile, opener "Lava Tongue", and "Golden" emphasize the melodic side to the band, conjuring dreamy sunset mirages to hypnotize the listener. Boom Pam have established themselves as pioneers of modern Middle Eastern surf rock, combining sophisticated yet catchy guitar riffs, with roaring tuba basslines and fiery drums. In the past decade the band have frequently collaborated with and backed legendary Turkish folk singer-songwriter, Selda Bagcan, on stage and record, and performed at some of the world's most renowned festivals, including Primavera Sound, Lollapalooza, Fuji Rock, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and many more. An engaging listen from beginning to end, Royal is the perfect representation of Boom Pam's incredible 20-year journey, showcasing their superior skills in pushing the boundaries of their genre.
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CD
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AY 018CD
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Tel Aviv's Boom Pam returns with a second album for Essay Recordings. Puerto Rican Nights is made up entirely of cover versions of the beloved tunes they've been playing live throughout the years, and which are now officially being released for the first time. As the band explains, "Our mix really describes Tel Aviv... a place where people from all over the world meet. This sound is a sharp cocktail of all the different styles that collide here. And we try to bring them all together." Their music is a prolific dialogue between East and West, with an almost hypnotizing virtuosity and eloquence that moves you. Each member of the band differs from the other and plays an equally important part within the exchange of their artistic personalities. Whether it's their great version of "Shayeret Harochvim" with Maor Cohen (originally a song by Israeli folk pioneers Dudaim), which they turn into a country/surf/Israeli rock version, their theatrical version of "Marylyn Jones," a song from an Israeli Hassidic comedy, with the charismatic singer Dror Romem, or sticking tight to the groove of Tomer Yosef's "Ani Rotze Lazuz" ("I Want To Move"), Boom Pam hold onto their roots, while pulling up others deep from the Balkan underground. There are three great tunes which Uri found on his parents' old cassettes from their days in a Balkan dance group: the first is the dramatic opener "Ushest," and the second is "Krai Dunavsko," in which they flow freely from Greek music to dirty rock 'n' roll, and the third is "Chervoné Coralé." They also bring Dick Dale to life with their speedy version of "The Wedge," drawing new connections between American surf guitar and the glissando sound of Arabic quarter tones. "Longa Sultaniyegah" is an old Turkish song which Uzi learned from his brother. "Ay Carmela" appears in two shiny versions, one instrumental and the other with singer Italo Gonzales. The song was part of the soundtrack to the Israeli movie Comrade, and the section starring the band is included as a bonus video, along with the video for "Dalida." The instrumental version of the song "Boom Pam" is also here, since it has become their personal trademark. Boom Pam are: Uzi Feinerman (guitars, banjo, harmonica & vocals), Yuval "Tuby" Zolotov (tuba), Uri Brauner Kinrot (guitars, saxophone & vocals), Dudu Kohav (drums & percussion).
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CD
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AY 005CD
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This debut from Boom Pam is filled with magical surf guitars from Tel Aviv kicked by tuba and drums on an ecstatic Mediterranean spicy Balkan trip! Forget the daily headlines and immerse yourself in Tel Aviv's vibrant music scene. If there's a sound you can't find here in this offbeat Mediterranean metropolis, it probably doesn't exist. The music brewed up by the Boom Pam four is the acoustic equivalent of a high-energy drink. They already have a cult following in the Middle East, and now they have wowed European audiences in their gigs with Shantel at his Bucovina Club in Berlin, Frankfurt and Zurich. This CD, released worldwide exclusively on the Essay label, marks their recording debut. It is hard to categorize their music. So maybe we should invent a new category for Middle Eastern surf rock with a pinch of Balkan, a touch of irreverence and a lot of groove. Along with their two surf guitars, minimalist percussion and distinctive tuba comes a unique blend of Mediterranean, Balkan and Greek styles, sweetened with Jewish melodies and fattened up with cinematic circus music. The musicians are fed up with the klezmer cliche that still tends to be associated with Jewish music. "Nobody listens to klezmer," they say in unison. "Klezmer is the stuff that's sold in airport shops as 'the music of Israel.' Well, there is usually some klezmer in it, but that really isn't what's happening here -- that's what's popular outside Israel, but it isn't what's happening here. And there's a lot happening here."
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