Navigate to News section

Josh Kun Makes a Mix Tape

Getting ready for Dawn 2010

by
Marc Tracy
May 07, 2010

Josh Kun, of the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation, crafted a special mix tape for Dawn 2010, the Tablet-sponsored late-night cultural arts festival going down in honor of Shavuot on the evening of Saturday, May 15 in San Francisco. He talked to me about the cuts he selected:

Conceptually, I tried to do a mix of old, archival, vintage recordings, and mixed that in with some contemporary stuff that has been remixed, or is more fitting to a dance floor vibe. The Barry Sisters, Machito & his Afro-Cubans, mixing up to bands like Soulico, from Israel, as well as a kind of crazy, eight-minute, classic eighties house version of “Hava Negilah”. Plus a number of cuts from leading African-American artists that are on Black Sabbath, the compilation we’re releasing this July, which has traditional Jewish and Israeli tracks by African-American artists.

“Oh plus,” he added, “some really great Israeli psychedelic rock!” Trippy.

Below: Slim Gaillard’s “Dunkin Bagel,” a track from the mix.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.