Sabra Sounds

Tali Fine has a great summer groove. The Haifa singer offers 11 peppy pop-rock tracks on her debut album.

By VIVA SARAH PRESS
tali fine disk 88 298 (photo credit: )
tali fine disk 88 298
(photo credit: )
TALI FINE Bruchim Haba'im Lechaim Hatovim (Fresh Records) Tali Fine has a great summer groove. The Haifa singer offers 11 peppy pop-rock tracks on her debut album. While only two of the songs have been released as singles thus far ("Shalosh Dakot Ve'esrim", "Kacha Stam"), all of her tracks fit Israeli radio rotation requirements. The songs have a good beat, are creative, and average 3:50 on the clock. In addition to those two singles already released, "Sentimentalit" has a terrific rhythm and cute lyrics and could very well make for a hit. Fine does not sound like the rest of her pop-rock counterparts. Her voice is appealing and even enchanting. Her closest corresponding singer in the local music field would be MC Karolina - though Fine sings mainly in Hebrew. Alon Adiri produced, arranged and co-wrote the album with Fine. Guests include UK's MC Navigator and reggae artist Ghetto Priest. Her texts are not complicated, and almost always carry an optimistic feeling. For example, on "Wrapped in Prophecy" (which she sings in English), she croons: "some play god while others fall down and when the walls are caving in on you and me I feel as if you were someone else, somewhere else wrapped in prophecy... at the end of the climb the sun always comes out." This is an album with a cheerful vibe. MIKA KARNI Pashut Vetov (Simple and Good) (Hatav Hashmini) Mika Karni's sixth album is indeed what its title suggests, simple and good. From the opening title track through to the last song, the album comprises nine catchy rock songs. Karni continues from where she left off on her last album, Migdalor, and infuses her new compilation with electronica. Lenny Ben Baset is back as her musical producer and together they funked up her songs. Grammy nominee Yossi Fine also had a hand in the sound as he mixed, edited and produced this album. "Laredet Mehaetz" has an electronic-dance beat, while songs like "Romeo" and "Sof Hamea Hesrim" lean towards electronic-rock. That's not to say the whole album is electronica saturated. Karni croons clearly on "Ach Yakar" sans techno, and shines shines brightest when performing without the computer music backdrop. Her warm voice is somewhat lost on previous fast-paced electronica tracks. Karni gives independent artists a boost with this latest album. She made her big break onto the music scene with the help of a large record label nine years ago, released five albums with them, and then chose to go it alone. Now she tests out her new music at intimate venues near her home in Amirim before recording them. In the introduction to her album she writes that she wanted to work without all the music industry brouhaha. This release proves that independent artists can succeed.