Rabbinical School Dropouts / Cosmic Tree

This first release by the Rabbinical School Dropouts on Tzadik shows how good, and how interesting the band can be. This is an absolutely lovely meld of Middle Eastern rhythms and more. The wood blocks on "Warp to Level Three" give the song a faintly Caribbean feel, while the opening "Dung Gate" or the title track showcase a far harsher, riff-driven band. The music rocks from jazzy, off-the-wall improvisation (a la "Hasidic New Wave") to places farther afield than the immediate cosmos, expert, perhaps, as defined by the late Sun Ra, and then the band returns, with a lovely, primarily piano jazz piece like "Solarium Khosidl" only to demonstrate some minimalist tendencies with "Jebusite Hypothesis". It is the sort of music that works only when the band feels tight, and here they are tight. Very tight.

This is the sort of mostly-jazz, with a bit of a whacked edge that I enjoy immensely. From the deliberate "Adom-atik" Israeli-dance feel of the opener to "Nuclear Jet Set," to the funked up "Mosquito from Megiddo" or the closing "Semitic Slam", this is all a pleasure. If the result is a bit less whacked out than earlier efforts at their extremes (see below), it's also the most enjoyable outing so far. This is very tight, and very enjoyable.

Reviewed by by Ari Davidow, 5/26/03

Songs

1. Dung Gate (Michael Friedmann) 2:34
2. Pillow Rock (Michael Friedmann) 3:39
3. Warp to Level Three (Michael Friedmann) 4:01
4. Cosmic Tree (Jon-Jon Friedmann) 4:34
5. Solarium Khosidl (Michael Friedmann) 4:07
6. Jebusite Hypothesis (Jon-Jon Friedmann) 3:48
7. Sweet Beat (Nicholas Carvajal & Michael Friedmann) 5:29
8. Yanatan Hakatan II (Jon-Jon Friedmann) 1:28
9. Mosquito from Megiddo (Jon-Jon Friedmann & Michael Friedmann) 4:25
10. Nuclear Jet Set (Michael Friedmann) 3:40
11. Integratron (Michael Friedmann) 3:11
12. Semitic Slam (Jon-Jon Friedmann & Michael Friedmann) 5:59