K’s Choice is Israel’s choice Each time veteran Belgian indie rockers K’s Choice
show up in Israel, they garner more fans. After adding extra club shows in Tel
Aviv last year during their comeback Echo Mountain tour, the tuneful unit, led
by brother and sister team Sarah and Gert Bettens, is returning to the country
on January 23 for a special acoustic show at a larger venue – the Gesher Theater
in Jaffa.
Joined by keyboardist/singer Reinout Swinnen, the Bettens are
on a three-month tour in support of the band’s new album Little Echoes, which
features several rearranged acoustic tracks from Echo Mountain as well as cover
versions of tunes by Radiohead, Split Enz, Damien Rice and even The Pointer
Sisters. While the rocking side of K’s Choice has secured their elite position
as one of the best bands around, the chance to witness the harmonies and
intimate arrangements of the Bettens makes this a must-see performance.
David
Brinn Indie band tUnE-yArDs on way to TA American thrift shop buzz band
tUnE-yArDs will be bringing their ukeleles and tape loops to Tel Aviv for the
Israel debut on December 13. The brainchild of New Englander Merril Garbus, the
band features her on modulated vocals, stringed instruments and percussion, all
enhanced with tape loops created on the spot.
Rounding out the group is
Garbus’s partner Nate Brenner on bass.
Garbus’s vocals and visual
aesthetics has been called by the New York Times as a hybrid between Aretha
Franklin and Bjork, with a little Yoko Ono thrown into the mix. After recording
her first songs into a dictaphone, Garbus reached the ears of noted indie label
4AD, who signed the band and released its debut album in 2009.
Their
latest record Whokill was released earlier this year to critical acclaim and the
band was touted as one of the highlights at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin,
Texas. Now it’s our turn to see what the buzz is about.
David Brinn
Israeli director films movie in Canada
Moving, an international comedy-action
film based on the novel by Israeli writer Assaf Gavron and directed by Assaf
Harel, will be shot in Canada next year. It will star Asi Cohen and Yossi
Marshak and will tell the story of two Israeli movers in North America who dream
of returning to Israel but get caught up in a caper involving the mafia and the
FBI. Harel has directed several Israeli television shows, including the popular
Mesudarim. The film will be produced by Amir Harel, who made the movies Walk on
Water, Jellyfish and Yossi & Jagger.
Hannah Brown
Oscar producer
Gil Cates dies LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Gilbert Cates, the long-time producer of
the Academy Awards and two-term president of the Directors Guild of America, has
died. He was 77 and recently underwent heart surgery. Cates was found collapsed
in a parking lot on the campus of UCLA.
Aside from producing 14 Oscar
shows in 18 years, Cates was a producing director and president of the board at
the Geffen Playhouse and a former dean of the university’s School of Theater,
Film and Television from 1990 to 1998.
He was a member of the Academy’s
Board of Governors for eight years, winning an Emmy in 1991 for the 63rd annual
Oscars. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.
Cates
loved the awards, and was quoted in 2006 as saying, “If you want a sense of what
America is like, you’ll watch the Oscars.”