Matisyahu performs reggae and hip-hop. He's also a Hasidic Jew. As a teenager, Matis found spiritual sustenance in an album by the jam band Phish. Read the full description.
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Related Pieces
Broadcast History
This piece airs locally during October on WXPN-FM in Philadelphia and nationally on NPR's World Cafe.
Timing and Cues
3:58
begins and ends with music
narrative self-contained
Musical Works
Phish, "A Live One" (Elektra, 1995)
Harry Hood
Matisyahu, "Live at Stubb's" (JDub records, 2005)
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Posted on November 02, 2005 at 09:44 PM | Permalink
Review of Musicians on the Record: Matisyahu
This piece is interesting to listen to, but a bit confusing. The mix is beautiful, a blending of first person recollections and reminiscence, but my confusion came as the featured musician, a young hassidic jew who is a reggae musician talks about his musical inspiration from the band Phish. Is the music in the background by Phish? Or is it the music of Phish by the young musician? This is not made clear in this presentation, and I'm not enough of a "Phishhead" to know.
I like this format of narrationless music features, but the onus is on the producer to craft a more focused story.