Twisted Shiksas

Looking for oddball music that is becoming mainstream? Here’s a couple picks for you:

Matisyahu

I first thought that this fellow was a Jewish rapper. “Hold it” I says. “Everybody knows that there is only room for 4 white rappers in the world, three of which are already Jewish.” How wrong I was. Matisyahu is in fact an orthodox Hasidic Jew, but he sings Reggae, not rap. If you were looking for the perfect soundtrack to study your Talmud and smoke weed by, look no further.

My experience with reggae is fairly limited, but Matisyahu seems pretty good. Reggae often blends into the background by its very mellow nature, but Matisyahu brings himself back into your attention by throwing in the occasional guitar riff. He does in fact sing a fair amount about all things Semitic, so be prepared to have no idea what’s going on.

KT Tunstall

I also first thought that KT was a rapper, since who but a rapper would change their name of Katie to KT? It’s totally gangster. But it turns out that she’s a blues/folk/country/pop singer. This sounds like quite a range, but I think you’re familiar with the type by now. I wouldn’t quite lump her in the lesbian music genre, though like Dar Williams she does have a bit of a lesbian following. Listen to her pronouns; they’re pretty ambiguous.

I first heard of KT while in China, where I pirated a wide variety of music. It wasn’t really any easier to pirate music in China, I just had more free time to devote to such activities. We ran across her because she is of mixed Chinese and Irish heritage. I had mostly forgotten about her until I both saw her on VHI and heard her on the radio this week. If she’s on the radio in Utah, she’s on the radio where you are.

Song of the moment: “Pop Goes the World” Men Without Hats