This year Hannukkah is from December 11^th to 19^th, which is in about a few short weeks. I don't really know that much about the Jewish religion, other than that they get like 10 gifts for Hanukkah! So, to take care of two of your gifts idea, for the music lover in your life:

KOSHA DILLZ
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We've previously mentioned Kosha Dillz before, with his collaboration with C-Rayz Walz. Derek said that previous album had "classic hip-hop that rests firmly on a bed of oldskool beats", so missing from Beverly Dillz, Kosha Dillz's latest album (released November 10^th on Modular Moods Records), seems to be the "oldskool beats".

Although the album starts off with a surprisingly hip-hoppy "DooDoo" - the rest of Beverly Dillz seems pretty laid back to me. There are a few exceptions like "Jungle" and "Tastes Good" (the best rap song on the album).

Personally, I thought "Puddles" was one of the better song, it's probably because it had Yak Ballz as guest. The song feels really familiar to me, like its bass is from the 80s or something. Speaking of familiar, you'll get that on his single, "Cellular Phone", which features some classic Dilliefied version of "This Old Man" and "Word Up".

Kosha Dillz was recently in the news because he remixed fellow Jewish artist YACHT (aka Jona Bechtolt) for an EP called Swim Club. You can grab the free 8-track EP at Kosha Dillz's website. I didn't listen to the entire 8 tracks, but I can tell you that I spotted some Beastie Boys, New Jack City, and Hansons references!

PS, While there are a lot of "hhheh" Hebrew sounds in "Kol Ha Kavod Lirkod", I believe all the songs on Beverly Dillz are in English.

MOSHIACH OI!
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With the baby picture and my generally association that Jewish musicians tend to be either traditional or modern hip-hop, Moshiach Oi!'s album, Better Get Ready, surprised me with their hardcore punk music. Like typical punk songs, these songs are fast, loud, and brief - like a punch in the face.

The band's singer and found, Yishai Romanoff, actually sings his songs (instead of shouting out loud that you find on hardcore bands). Unfortunately, as religious as some of the songs can be ("I Wanna Learn Torah", "I Wanna Learn Torah", "This Is My G-d", "Hashem S'fasai Tiftach"), I can't help but think that the message will be lost in a loud sea of drums and guitars. The one exception of "I Love Torah", where you can clearly hear the majority of lyrics are "I love Torah, yeah!"

To me, punk bands do not often translate their live energy and performance well on the recorded medium, so to really appreciate a band like this, you sort of have to see them live. They are playing one date - probably to celebrate Hanukkah at: Chabad of Bushwick Brooklyn, New York, on December 12^th.

You can pick up both of these albums from Shem Speed Store (the largest collection of Jewish music).

IN MORE JEWISH NEWS

Jewish singer Girls In Trouble (I previously fell in love with her), has a cute live video of "Hunter/The Bee Lays Her Honey" on youtube, complete with torn stockings and all. The video was previously featured on YouTube's Music Spotlight for a few days. If you recall, that was my song of choice when I reviewed the album, citing it as "my favorite song" easily.

Also, Matisyahu, Yair Dalal & Deleon, among others, are playing the 5th Annual Sephardic Music Festival from December 12^th to 19th, throughout New York City.

For a full listing of events, head over to sephardicmusicfestival.com, what I can tell you is that Matisyahu is headlining on December 14^th, which incidentally is also the most expensive ($35) among all the dates. The rest of the dates are decently priced at $12 or so.

Oui c'est une reprise !