Ghettoblaster

I found Socalled’s Ghettoblaster to be an exciting and unique listening experience. His unique fusion of hip hop and kletzmer, blended together with a strong sense of personal eccentricity are a refreshing change from the otherwise stagnating hip hop music scene. And within his already diverse album, there is also a peppering of cultural commentary on the evolving nature of the role of technology and how our heritage can fit into this changing world. In his own way, Socalled has found a way to blend his traditional Jewish heritage with the modernizing world through the musical fusion of the two very distinct styles. The album quickly asserts it views on the almost overabundance of technology in our society with the track (These Are The) Good Old Days. This track has a fairly humorous tone to it, which is probably best summed in the line “truly these are the good old days, where man, woman, and child can log onto the Internet and text message each other across their own house.” It also acknowledges the religious intolerance that exists in the world, even at a purely domestic level. He seems to allude to our society becoming overly decadent, and equates us to fallen empires of Inca and Egypt. His exudes subtle commentary on how our competitive nature coupled with our hyper consumerist culture will lead us to destroy what we’ve created. Yet even among all these subtle jabs at society, the overarching sense of absurdity given of by his musical style makes the entire thing seem to be mostly a joke, and leaves the listener amused rather than put off. Easily the most compelling and enjoyable track is You Are Never Alone. It is a musical mishmash of various cowboy themes, all with Socalled’s Jewish musical style serving as the core. This track is excellent example of Socalled’s use of musical sampling, consisting of several shorts tracks, edited and fitted into a rhythmic base. On top of this he builds layer upon layer, some hip hop, some kletzmer, and some from various other styles. As the track progresses, the backdrop and the layers mix seamlessly into a wonderful musical event, completely distracting from the fact that the song is essentially about a Jewish cowboy. Although its somewhat difficult to decipher all the songs meaning on the first listen, after a few runs through, you begin to realize the song is essentially about the feeling of being out of place, finding parallels in the Wild West, and then fusing that with Socalled’s Jewish heritage. The song questions the role of our cultural heritage in our lives, and although it never seems to present an answer, it still leaves the listener with some comfort in the line “you are never alone.” Socalled deserves a good deal of credit for his continuing the trend of innovation that has long been associated with technosonic music. Yet his most notable accomplishment with this album is his ability to incorporate so many musical styles through the medium of electronic music. Through skillful music sampling, he has allowed for more traditional musical themes to still be present and relevant in a society that seems to be increasingly neglecting its past in favor of embracing the modern. And rather than follow with that trend, Socalled’s embracing of his cultural roots makes him a highly unique artist and a joy to listen to. I look forward to what he has in store for us next. -slr3m

saw him live @ canerggie hall in NYC. great stuff. album is damn good

This was one of the best albums released last year and it's a shame that it hasn't received wider recognition. Mr SoCalled has creates a imaginative landscape of of cultural references and catchy pop hooks to keep you listening for hours.

this album is the bomb! especially the song "You Are Never Alone" not only is the song a good one the video is cool too. the only bad thing is iTunes has the song but not the video PLEASE SELL THE VIDEO HERE. i would deffinatly recommend this album to all.

This Jewish mom loves to hear her boys play this in the house. Mazel tov!

This is a great ablum. It is creative and fresh. This is real hip-hop. Anyone tired of the crappy rap on MTV will love this ablum. "You Are Never Alone" is more than enough reason to love this ablum. Checkout the music video for it too. It's really trippy!

Mazel'tov Socalled, a sweet mix

I was at the Krakow Klemzer Music Festival in Poland when I saw them preform live. They were the single greatest band there of the night. Their strong Jewish roots mixed with some fly rap gives them a revitalizing sound. Best music period.

I met Josh Dolgin (SoCalled's real name) at KlezKanada, and I even interviewed him for the KlezNews newsletter. He told me everything I asked, and was really nice about it. He wanted me to listen to his album leading up to the interview, and I fell in love with his music. I am very fortunate to know someone so great, and music this great.

sock it to 'em SoCalled.