From The Editor: Fall 2011

I’ve had this idea for some time that instrumental music is nothing more than noise to back something else. I’ll spend an afternoon on my bed streaming NPR while I jump into a new book, or I’ll cook breakfast to Morning Edition and, unnoticed, it will slide into a set of stringed concertos. I’ve done this for as long as I can remember—enjoyed the instrumental as a background layer. Béla Fleck plays well over South American poetry. Tartini yields a good omelet. It has never been, for me (dare I say it), proverbial “driving music.”

I sunk into bed one afternoon with the newest issue of Ecotone and put on Remember, the album of original work that Yair Yona had handed me the week before during the Hopscotch Music Festival. I knew I would need to say something about the album in the article, so I decided to see how well it plays under Billy Collins.

By “Russian Dance,” a song of buoyantly animated, stimulating string trills, which Yona consequentially wrote while doing “something else,” I had abandoned my poems completely and lay face-up on my bed, entertaining fantastic imaginations of something flavored foreign-adventure. “Russian Dance” listens a little bit like they way Italian food eats—saturated, rich, lays a little heavy on the chest—especially “Brave Walls.”

Since the festival, I have kept up with Yona and his travel companion, Einat, both of whom have been treating me with the finest of Israeli music, all of which is completely new to me, and probably to you. What a shame it is that there is so little cultural export from these people—a people who carry a rich artistic history. Israel is such a small place—one might pack eight of them into Florida—yet is so artistically ripe.

It is my sincere hope that Red Thought Media will be able to bring you more of the brilliance that’s coming out of Israel right now—to drink it, touch it, swim around in it—and encourage you to tap into this relatively unappreciated place.

I’m also thrilled to present our newly re-designed site, thanks to Jonathan Stephens, as well as all of the new material. Many thanks to Travis Watt, our resident funny-man, who, without reservation, threw himself into the bowels of Seattle’s too-cool-for-school and brought us Bumbershoot. I’m also pleased to welcome Yael Warach, our newest contributing writer. Yael will be exploring one of the world’s most artistically fertile cities, New York, and finding out what it means to live in the midst of such artistry.

For the past two years, we’ve gotten the chance to speak with some amazing artists, see some amazing shows, drink some amazing beer, and it’s only just the beginning for us. A big sloppy-kissed thanks to all of the readers who have been with us since 2009, and a warm rtm welcome to those who are just now jumping on our hovercraft; we like to get weird around here.

We always love to hear from readers and artists alike—tell us what you want to see, what you want to hear, who you want us to talk to—maybe it’s you.

Cheers,

em

Need More Yair Yona?  Check out his blog and radio archive.