Family
Hanukkah Songs I Can Play For My Son Without Wanting To Poke My Eyes Out
By Aaron Bisman / December 8, 2010
There has been no shortage of new  Hanukkah music this year, with entries from Macabbeats, a chasid dressed as Santa, and electronica producers from Germany.  Getting beyond the novel, the ridiculous, and the avant garde though, most of what’s been sent my way isn’t particularly interesting or kid-friendly.  And if you are at all like me, after a weekend of family and kiddie Hanukkah parties, you will poke your eyes out if have to listen to “I Have a Little Dredyl” one more freaking time.
So I was pleasantly surprised to hear a new entry into the fold today, from the one and only King of indie kids music, Dan Zanes. Â Dan’s cover of Israeli folk favorite Ner Li is raw and sweet, with an immediate payoff.
Dan Zanes: Ner_Li_.mp3
While you’re here, I want to share a few more gems.  Our friends at MyJewishLearning sponsored the creation of a new Bible Raps song, “Light is in the Air.” While I could certainly do without the auto-tuning myself, it’s a catchy song with some creative visual effects.
Finally, whether you saw it upon its initial premiere in 2005 or not, the classic Sesame Street-inspired video for How do you spell Hanukkah, by JDub’s own LeeVees, is worth a spin or 5.
LeeVees – How Do You Spell Channukkahh? from The LeeVees on Vimeo.
I clearly haven’t covered all un-annoying, non-novelty Hanukkah songs in this post. Please tell me what I’m missing in the comments section!



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What about JDub’s very own Gangsta Rabbi?
(pending review on Jewcy.com since 11/30/2010) :(
JDub’s first Jewish punk Steve Lieberman the Gangsta Rabbi has released his first Hanukkah song since 1992 entitled “No Festival of Lights(On This Hanukkah). In his typical controversial style, Lieberman goes to the 1st and 2nd Books of the Maccabees to tell the historical account of the holiday, of a miraculous military victory and rededication of the Temple, more important to the Hebrews than more modern traditions existing today.
This track is different than his 18 previous cds as Lieberman, who sang, played basses, flutes, melodica and trombone is joined by a band(Jon Graber on guitar and Ian Berk on drums) for the recording .
The song is available on Lieberman’s website http://www.gangstarabbi.com and will be featured on NYC commercial radio WRXP 101.9 on Sunday 12/5/2010 between 9PM and 11PM EST and the official video is available now on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUKju4XSfS4
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