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Jesse Rifkin phones it in from Annapolis, MD. Jesse is a 'Jewish' musician (on a 'Jewish' record label), in the same sense Leonard Cohen is a 'Jewish' musicians, a 'Jewish' poet. That is, Jesse's explorations into language and song, emotion, pop culture, life and death are informed by many things, and one of them happens to be the faith of his birth. And while there's plenty of Cohen in the Wailing Wall (and even some cantorial music, I think), he's also been influenced plenty by the modern crop of DIY troubadours- many of whom he's shared the stage with- Tiger Saw, Thanksgiving, Castanets. It's a moving blend, and that it recalls a Mangum or a Meloy is an asset to this end rather than a weight. Even over the phone, accompanied only by harmonium, Jesse's songs are never less than electric.

Nadav Carmel, KDVS 12/07/2009

Songs

Hospital Blossom
Speak Not Its Name
Fear No Apple, Fear No Flood
Bones Become Rainbows
Mysteries Of Love [From 'Blue Velvet']
The Words We Choose

Links

The Wailing Wall on MySpace The Wailing Wall at JDub Records