Length 48:21 Protocols (2006) TBA Release date 8 September 2006 | Some People Think That I Am Damned (2005) Protocols (2006) Artist Rav Shmuel Label Jewish Music Group | |
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Released September 8, 2006 (2006-09-08) Recorded Doghaus Studios in Baltimore, Maryland Producer Andres Karu, Michael Ferrentino Genres Alternative rock, Anti-folk, Jewish rock | ||
Protocols
Protocols is the debut studio album by American Hasidic anti-folk singer Rav Shmuel. It was produced by Michael Ferrentino and ex-Wonder Stuff drummer Andres Karu and released on September 8, 2006 by Jewish Music Group. The album title is a reference to the infamous antisemitic hoax The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which Rav Shmuel sarcastically confesses to in the album's title track.
Contents
Rav shmuel live 12 3 06 the protocols of the elders of zion
Singles
The album's lead single, "Protocols" was released in music video form on November 2, 2006. The lyrics respond to antisemitism by jokingly confessing that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an infamous hoax text purporting to be Jewish plans for world domination, is completely accurate. The song's animated music video, created by Erik Horvitz, depicts Rav Shmuel interacting with celebrities like Mel Gibson, Steven Spielberg, and Madonna, and references several Jewish stereotypes.
A music video for "Somebody Else", directed by Francesco Thomas, was released on September 28, 2012. The video depicts Rav Shmuel as a captain aboard the RMS Queen Mary and shows several people, including performers on Hollywood Boulevard and star names on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, obscured by handheld question-mark signs.
Reception
AllMusic's Stewart Mason gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "an immediately likable bit of good-humored anti-folk that doesn't require the visuals -- or even the knowledge that, yes, Rav Shmuel really is a Hasidic rabbi -- to get across." Ben Jacobson of The Jerusalem Post described it as "contemporary, fun and accessible but made heavier by a nuanced, early Dylan-like smirking sense of doom."
Track listing
All tracks written by Rav Shmuel.
Personnel
Songs
1Dumb World3:05
2Somebody Else4:14
3Big Talkers4:31