Holy Ghost!’s Alex Frankel Finds Religion Via Vocoder on “Hanukkah in 96”
Holy Ghost!’s Alex Frankel
Finds Religion Via Vocoder On The New Song
“I want to thank my hazzan, Ari, at Temple B’nai Jeshurun on 86th, for not believing in me because it fueled me to the highest levels of Judaic song. Happy Holidays to All” —️ Alex Frankel (Hebrew School Dropout)
Ft. On The New LP Hanukkah+via Verve Forecast Out Now Compiled by Legendary Music Supervisor Randall Poster(The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Joker, The Irishman) Also Ft. The Flaming Lips, Jack Black, Haim, Yo La Tengo, + More
New York City, NY, November 22, 2019 — As part-owner of Brooklyn’s Frankel’s Delicatessen and Appetizing, Holy Ghost!’s Alex Frankel has never been shy about his Jewish NYC roots. Now he’s leaning even further into those roots with the newly-penned track “Hanukkah in ‘96”
Revealing personal details via heavily vocoder-ed verses (“My dad was a reporter / And my mom was a New York Shrink / We were living on the border / Between the Hudson and Walman Rink”) Frankel takes a trip down memory lane in the new song which is featured on the forthcoming compilation Hanukkah+ out today. The 12-track collection, compiled by legendary music supervisor Randall Poster — best known for his work with Wes Anderson — brings together an inspired range of artists including Jack Black, Haim, The Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo, Loudon Wainwright III, and of course the aforementioned Frankel.
Most recently Poster oversaw the music for Joker and The Irishman. In addition to Frankel’s “Hanukkah in ‘96”, highlights from the album include the Haim sisters’ moving, stately cover of Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will”, acclaimed bluegrass group Watkins Family Hour offering a joyous rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “Hanukkah Dance”, and two Jack Black covers including the classic “Oh Hanukkah” and, more unexpectedly, a version of “Chad Gadya,” which closes the Passover seder with a story that escalates from the purchase of a baby goat to God smiting the Angel of Death. Plus an orig “Sing It Now, Sing It Somehow” by The Flaming Lips, (“Seeing the Flaming Lips is like going to temple if they had unicorns and body glitter as sacraments,” explains Poster).
For Poster, shaping Hanukkah+ was about determining the story he wanted to tell, which in turn came down to his own feelings about the holiday. “With the collision of these artists and songs, I tried to create a spiritual reflection of one of the three big Jewish holidays” he says. “How do you make something where each song is part of a whole? I built it piece by piece, artist by artist. “I think it’s about history,” he continues, “and keeping history in mind and expanding the community and the notion of what this holiday is.” Hanukkah begins the evening of Sunday, December 22, 2019 and ends the evening of Monday, December 30, 2019. TracklistingOh Hanukkah – Jack BlackDreidels Of Fire – Adam GreenEight Candles – Yo La TengoIf It Be Your Will – HAIMSing It Now, Sing It Somehow – The Flaming LipsHanukkah In ‘96 – Alex FrankelGive You Everything – Buzzy LeeDedication – Tommy GuerreroEight Nights A Week – Loudon Wainwright IIIHanukkah Dance – Watkins Family HourSanctuary – Craig WedrenChad Gadya (Passover Bonus) – Jack Black