When I first listened to an Asaf Avidan tune I thought Janis Joplin had resurrected. In fact, if you leave aside the mode of production in his songs, which give some indication about the time of origin, Avidan's music could as well date from the 70s.
While Janis Joplin had a voice a bit too masculine, with the Israeli singer it is the other way round. His voice - when he sings, his speaking voice is much darker - sounds rather feminine or is simply not classifiable. It is a powerful, a yearning and a raddled voice, just like hers.
Yesterday night I went to see him play and for the first time I had a picture appendant to the sound. The performer Asaf Avidan is as difficult to pigeonhole as his voice is. His movements vary from tender to aggressive while his band accompanies the changes. Asaf Avidan and The Mojos surely make a real good match.
The Mojos are Ran Nir on the bass guitar, Yoni Sheleg on the drums, Roi Peled on the lead guitar and Hadas Kleinman on the cello. Especially the songs Asaf Avidan performs together with the only girl in the band, the cello player Hadas Kleinman, radiate this certain fragility that can also be found in his voice. Other tunes such as "Little Stallion" that are escorted by drums, bass and another guitar (Asaf Avidan plays the guitar too) are overflowing with vitality.
I personally tend to like Avidan best when it comes to the more quiet, intense pieces of music. His "Maybe You Are" and "Your Anchor" are consummate beauties that make clear why the singer was quite recently named "a new messiah" by the Rolling Stone Magazine.
Below you find livetubes of Asaf Avidan and Janis Joplin. I'm curious to hear your opinions. You can buy Asaf Avidan's album 'The Reckoning' here.
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