Halas Radio (Curator)

Some favorites for 2011 from Halas Radio, a non-profit internet radio station broadcasting from The Israeli Center for Digital Art in Holon, Israel 

Watch Aviv Marks new Video for the song Homely Dust.

Aviv Marks full album is available to download here on FMA.

In "Met/ מת", brazilian artist Maurício Ianês called israeli musician Daniel Meir to collaborate on a performance in which the sound of his voice was processed and turned into a long drone that evolved to an intense soundscape. Along with the voice drone, Ianês' reading of Paul Celan's poem "Tenebrae", whispered, was processed live by Meir. The performance was presented at the Center for the Jewish Culture in São Paulo, Brazil, on July 23, during Ianês' solo exhibition and work-in-progress "Emet/ אמת", as the result of a residency at the Digital Arts Lab, in Holon, Israel.

A new musical group orbits Barcelona with a proposal that wouldn't let you down. La Piccola Orchestra Gagarin lives up to its name in every way. It's small because there are only three players, but it sounds like an original orchestra (with instruments tuned to that point). And "Gagarin" is a nod to history's first cosmonaut launched into space, with whom they share the same uncertainty when they go up on stage, never rehearsed.

This trio of the Italian Paolo Angeli (Sardinian prepared guitar), the Russian Sasha Agranov (cello) and Catalan Oriol Roca (drums) has released the album Platos Combinados - "Mixed Dishes" - which is a true pleasure. All improvised on the spot, by the way, and characterized by creative freedom with no additives.

Who knows which planet they are on looking to for inspiration? But if you want a clue, know that their style is as much pop art as free jazz, indie and folk music of Sardinia.

First, Watch the Video!

Keeping their rough and intuitive approach to song-writing, Milgrom’s new ep is cleaner, sharper and shinier! 

Making Salad is like a tiny health-food buffet containing 7 polished little snacks, ready for immediate consumption.

Bouncing from rock to non-sense to ballad, Milgrom never loses contact with their experimental-pop souls. With Dolly’s unique voice as the song’s anchor, the drums, guitars and keyboards don’t stay shy and take turns to express their own quirkiness.

Over the last couple of years we did on Halas.am 18 Mixes called FMA Collection Mix - You should listen to it! They are between 1:30 hours to 3 hours long!

FMA was my main source of music this year.

Here is eclectic mix from 15 favorite tracks!

51% is a super group of rappers and producers that started working together during 2005, they joined forces while working nights at J.C.M studios, on separate projects. 51% are: Taboo+, Jozeph, Shai Fishman, Avi Ashkenazi & Avi Golzman. After a year and a half of intense working the album was done. The band itself creates everything revolves the project, from the music to the graphics, clips, shows and publicity. In 51% everyone do what he does best and that's the corner stone that leads us forward. Till now we put out 2 albums. The debut album called “51 Percent” and the second one called “Zehu” (which is “That’s It” in hebrew).

Our manifest is "music should be free" that's the reason we give the album free in our shows. We believe that giving the album for free gives us more crowd and more intense relationship with the crowd. In order to keep close with our audience we also release songs to the internet every few months, and we let people download them for free. There is also a Collection of songs called “Songs From The Boidem” the include 24 songs of us in “Megatron” 51% form and also as solo artists (we do that once in a while).

In our shows we created an interactive system that helps up to communicate better with the crowd. In that system people can record themselves to a web cam & a microphone and then the system create a bit from them. Atop this crowd-generated beat, we are rapping. This concept is called “The Song With The Crowd”. Off course that’s not the only interactive thing we do in the show but in order to find out more you can just jump over and observe a show. You can also check out youtube channel for videos from the show (http://www.youtube.com/aviashkenazi)

It's been an exciting year for London's electro-rock-cabaret outfit iNiT. The band has finished creating its new video for the track "Hatch" - sticking to a DIY ethos, and playing with shadows as doppelgangers - alter-egos with a major role in the imagery. See if you can figure out what it's all about.

The band has also finished recording a second EP, which you can hear on FMA. iNiT is now working on new material - danceable disco material with tragic undertones - as performed at the high profile GFest in London, as well as on a boat in the Thames (the Ship of Fools monthly club night) and a gallery in Greenwich.

Stay tuned for the recordings of this new turn in the band's musical style or come to one of the live gigs!

"Fronts" - No Regrets For Our Youth from No Regrets For Our Youth on Vimeo.

Uncontrollable Mumbles [Milmulim Chasrei Shlita] is Aviv's first solo album, but he is by no means a beginner. Aviv has been in the music biz for 16 years now, and is fondly remembered as the leading man of The Subway Suckers, a punk-rock-grunge band.

The Subway Suckers released 2 albums on a major lable-NMC. The first, KOMOT KARKA VAMATA, came out in 1994. The next album was SHEKET NAFSHI which came out in 1996. the subway suckers started in 1992 and broke up in 1998.

In 2002, Aviv started a new band called Aviv Mark and the Philharmonic. They released their debut album in 2004. This album, Milmulim Hasrei Shlita (Uncontrollable Mumbling) is a departure from hispast works. It still rocks, though. Personal songs from the gut.