专辑简介

Zegunder are Alosha Tsinovoi and Gil Cohen. Both live and create music in the northen Israeli city of Haifa, where the picturesque carmel mountains meet the mediterranean sea on one side of the bay. On the other, the industrial and highly polluted "kishon" sea port: oil from big ships, dead fish and birds cover the public beaches, all providing a telling reminder as to the true nature of this place. Standing near the Stela Maris lighthouse, on the edge of the cliff, you can see more than one third of Israel, from the Lebanese border in the north to the monstrous "hadera" power plant in the south, a panoramic view summoning unbearable, inescapable feelings of claustrophobia and incompetence. All the bubbles start to burst, silently like a mime show. Alosha was born in the USSR, in the old sea port city of Odessa, whose harbour gently kisses the black sea. After studying viola and piano for two years at Odessa's Music School, named after Lenin, he emigrated to Israel - fed with empty promises about "the land of milk and honey", he wound up in Haifa's industrial seaside slums. "But what should a poor boy do? 'cept to be in a rock n'roll band"... (in Alosha's case it was a post rock band) gil was born in haifa to a quiet, middle-class half iranian, half tunisian family, growing up in a warm, protected environment and developing his own perspective on life and music without cynicism and harsh reality. after a couple of years studying piano, gil started to mingle in israeli dance music circles. haifa's circle of "groovy cats" isn't that big, so inevitably the two met up and found much common ground musically and intelectually. Zegunder's new album challenges a dreadful local situation in which people usually become hateful or "comfortably" numb, (both unimaginable) as the only humanly possible way of dealing with an impossible reality with no real solution at hand. none of those two paths seemed a worthy way to live ... after rich experiences in the ranks of local post rock bands like "MuTe" and "Birdy", "telling it like it is" didn't feel right any more to gil and alosha, just too plain and straightforward for the ambivalent nature of existence in israel. after a period of small solo projects and recording for film soundtracks, the feeling that something must be said grew stronger. This album describes what's left to be said when empty cynical promises, a monotonous routine that on a regular basis makes your skin crawl, have drained all substance from the once familiar words ...and a decadent silence becomes the only real thing around...Zegunder started as a route to finding some safe haven and continued under the sparkling glimpse of hope from our loved ones eyes. Beautiful vocal accompaniments come from Daphne Haller - more like another instrument than something associated with words, and the slowly, unfolding mainly instrumental beauty on show here, will spook Angelo Badalmenti junkies. Zegunder have found a way into our hearts, and hopefully will find their way into yours.