Habiluim (; lit. ''The recreations / entertainments'', also the name of members of the

Bilu Bilu may refer to: People * Bilú (footballer, 1900-1965), Virgílio Pinto de Oliveira, Brazilian football manager and former centre-back * Asher Bilu (born 1936), Australian artist * Bilú (footballer, born 1974), Luciano Lopes de Souza, Brazi ...

movement) is an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i, theatrical

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

formed in 1996 by Noam Enbar (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

) and Yammi Wisler (

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

) as a reaction to the deep sense of abhorrence they felt listening to contemporary Israeli pop music, which they viewed as a means of escape from the harsh Israeli reality. The band's songs are grotesque accounts of the Israeli life from a political, social and critical point of view. In their song "Shaul Mofaz" the former minister of defense (

Shaul Mofaz Shaul Mofaz (; 4 November 1948) is a retired Israeli military officer and politician. He joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1966 and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He fought in the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, and Operati ...

) is riding a snow sledge from house to house, giving out amputated organs of dead soldiers to their bereaved families. "Etzot Me'Imma" (Motherly Advice) is a mother's recommendation to her daughter to have an

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, so her life won't be ruined by the need to raise a child, like her mother's was when she was born. The grim contents of the band's songs are often accompanied by lively dancing music, drawing from the

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

sounds of the Jewish

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

, combined with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n and

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, and inspired by composers such as

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

and

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The ...

. In 2002 the band was joined by pianist

Maya Dunietz Maya Dunietz (; April 16, 1981 in Tel Aviv), is an Israeli musician and artist, combining a solo career with collaborations with renowned musicians: Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Roscoe Mitchell, John Tilbury, Habiluim, and many others. Her w ...

, and the band was signed by a major Israeli label,

NMC Music NMC Music () is an Israeli record label. It was established in 1964 as a subsidiary company of CBS, and became independent in 1988. Artists represented by NMC include Noa Kirel, Mashina, Yehuda Poliker, Shlomi Shabat, Chava Alberstein, Ehud B ...

. Habiluim recorded their first album (self titled), produced by

Berry Sakharof Berry Sakharof (, ; born 7 July 1957) is an Israeli rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who is popular and critically acclaimed. He is often referred to as "the prince" or "the prince of Israeli rock". Biography Sakharof was born i ...

(

Minimal Compact Minimal Compact is an Israeli rock music, rock band associated with the post-punk and indie rock movement of the 1980s. Biography Between its foundation in 1980 and its dissolution seven years later, Minimal Compact played an important role in ...

). The album won critical acclaim and commercial success. Soon afterwards the band was joined by Yoni Silver (

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

s). Throughout the years, several drummers have joined the band, including Shlomi (Kruvi) Lavi and Shahar Haziza. The band also included scratcher DJ Ofer (Schoolmaster) Tal, accordionist Assaf Talmudi and brass player Eyal Talmudi. In 2006 Habiluim recorded their second album "Bereavement and Failure" ("שכול וכישלון" ''shchol vekishalon''), inspired by the novel of

Yosef Haim Brenner Joseph Chaim Brenner (; 11 September 1881 – 2 May 1921) was a Hebrew-language author from the Russian Empire, and one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature, a thinker, publicist, and public leader. In addition to his literary innovations ...

by the same name. the album was recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, produced by

Tamir Muskat Tamir Muskat () is an Israeli musician/producer-sound engineer who was born and raised in Petah Tikva, Israel as son of a Romanian immigrant. His father was the manager of Anzeagi Conservatorion for music in Petah Tikva. As a teenager, he was alr ...

(

Balkan Beat Box Balkan Beat Box (BBB) is an Israeli musical group. Founded by Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan in 2003, BBB was later joined by Tomer Yosef who became a core member. The group plays Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates Jewish music, Jewish, ...

), and released in August 2007, also by NMC. The album enjoyed great critical and public acclaim. In an interview in October 2007, Enbar and Wisler characterized the album as a

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to a fictional

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

, transposing Brenner's novel into a contemporary setting.

Discography

Now Be Our Slaves (1996)

Habiluim (2003)

Source:

Shchol Vekishalon (Bereavement and Failure) (2007)

Source:

Hora Haslama! (2013) (!הורה הסלמה)

Source:

References

* https://www.haaretz.com/1.4990736 * http://www.mako.co.il/music-Magazine/articles/Article-748926c9c549e31006.htm * http://e.walla.co.il/item/2643755 * http://www.mouse.co.il/CM.articles_item,729,209,14524,.aspx * http://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/1.1432758 * https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/1.1432758

External links

Bandcamp page
{{authority control Israeli rock music groups