Stereo Sinai's Guide to the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival

Thumpers! We at Stereo Sinai are very excited to remind you that this Sunday, June 13th, at 4:00pm on the Cabaret Stage, we will be playing the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival! We've got all kinds of fun things in store, so we hope you'll join us for some rockin' out, biblegum pop style...

But, shlepping out to the 'burbs, you may as well make a day of it. The following list comprises Stereo Sinai's picks of our Festival favorites - enjoy!

There are a bunch of cool acts performing - here are some highlights:

The Moshe Skier Band - 11:00am, Crain-Maling Stage

The Ruby Harris Band - 12:00pm, Crain-Maling Stage

David Broza - 12:45pm, Crain-Maling Stage

(Get ready for more shameless self-promotion in 3...2...)

STEREO SINAI, HOORAY! - 4:00pm, Cabaret Stage

Aaron Freeman (comedian) - 5:00pm, Cabaret Stage

(Sadly, our friends at Even Sh'siyah will not be playing this year, as they have in the past, but we encourage you to check them out around town whenever you can. Their unbelievable drummer, Matt Kanter, will be performing with a fun, goofy outfit called Tzioni 'R' Us at 11:00am on the Crain-Maling Stage.)

And definitely take some time to stop by the organization booths of some of our brilliant buddies:

Kfar Jewish Arts Center

PunkTorah

The Gan Project

The Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago

Limmud Chicago

There are some truly talented visual artists exhibiting and selling their wares. Take a moment to visit Limor Katz-Evans of Ella Klara Designs (a sponsor of Stereo Sinai) and Fran Moss's fun and funky Chai Note Designs.

Once you've done sufficient wandering, there are all kinds of kosher (even vegetarian!) options available at the various food booths.

So go, gey gezunterheyt. See you there!

Help PunkTorah Invade Chicago!

Some of our favorite altera-frummies, the PunkTorah crew, are coming to Chicago! PunkTorah (which you can check out for yourself at punktorah.org or on Facebook), founded by the unstoppable Patrick Aleph, is...well, they explain it better than I ever could:

Because the term “punk”, like “rebel”, “renegade” or “revolutionary”, is at the heart of the Jewish experience. “Punk” as a mindset, not a musical style.

Avraham Avinu, Abraham, our father, was the original punk. Abraham smashed idols like Jimi Hendirx smashed guitars. Abraham completely rebelled against the mainstream culture of his time, spreading a message that was hated and feared by many. He taught those willing to be taught, and stood firm against the tide of social blindness running rampant in his day. Like our ancestors, we are a tribe of people who don’t take “no” for an answer. We survive and flourish because of our individuality, but also our collective responsibility for each other. When you dig into your heart, and pull out a Jewish answer to the issues that confront you, that is “as PunkTorah as it gets”.

A non-profit organization (501c3 pending), PunkTorah is committed to the idea that you can approach “doing Jewish” without undoing yourself. You don’t have to be someone that you are not. It’s not about taking stuff away from your life, or taking things away from you. It’s about adding to your life.

PunkTorah has registered a booth at the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival - where we will also be playing at 4:00pm - and we hope you'll stop by and say hi to them. In order to get there and make their mark, though, they're gonna need some gelt. An $18 donation through PayPal (to punktorah@gmail.com) will not only get them to Chicago, but will help them develop new outreach programs on progressive approaches to prayer and kashrut, organize a tikkun olam trip to Uganda, counteract the anti-Thumpers at Westboro Baptist Church, run interfaith Shabbat dinners, and so many other incredible things.

Got questions? Want to know more, or help out? Definitely check out PunkTorah.org, or connect with Patrick: punktorah@punktorah.org.

Upcoming Biblegum Pop Shows - 5/11 and 5/16

Thumpers! We have some exciting events coming up that... well, we just couldn't contain ourselves. We had to let you know.

In case there was any doubt, Stereo Sinai does indeed rock the suburbs. On May 11th we'll be celebrating with Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation, and we hope to see you there!

Yom Yerushalayim Concert (Jerusalem Day)

Tuesday, May 11th

at Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation

7117 N Crawford Ave in Lincolnwood

6:30-8:00pm

Tix are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, $5 for students w/ID

(BUT we have a few FREE tix to give away - shoot us a message and we'll hook you up!)

Also, we are very excited to be playing in the VIP room of Emanuel Congregation's Comedy Night with Fred Armisen, Jeff Garlin, and special musical guest Jeff Tweedy of Wilco!!! (Yes, really.) Info is below, but be sure to check out all the details here.

Comedy, Q & A's with Fred Armisen and Jeff Garlin

Sunday, May 16th

at Emanuel Congregation

5959 N Sheridan in Chicago

7:00-9:00pm (doors at 7, show at 8)

Ask us about ticket prices, or check out www.armisenshow.com

Oy, and there is so much more to come... Keep your ears to the ground, thumpers!

Earth Day Special - Help Us Help the Arava Institute!

Thumpers! Stereo Sinai is doing a huge promotion in honor of Earth Day 2010!

For every 100 new "likes" on our Facebook page, we will donate $50 to the Arava Institute in Israel, an organization that promotes both cooperation and environmental sustainability in the Middle East.

So what are you waiting for? Find us on Facebook, tell your friends, help us get there!

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

See you at the Jewish Festival, June 13th!

Thumpers! We are proud to announce that Stereo Sinai is a judges' pick to play this year's Greater Chicago Jewish Festival!!!

Thank you to everyone who came out to vote and cheer for us at Jewish Chicago's Got Talent - y'all are the best. We're very excited to have been offered a slot performing alongside so many other cool Chicago acts and this year's headliner, the incomparable David Broza. Mark your calendars and we'll see you there!

Generation Gap

As you may know, yesterday was Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Rememberance Day. Our friend Eli Ungar-Sargon, who is a filmmaker/photographer currently based in Chicago, used the day to release his new film documenting three generations of his family - his grandfather, father, and Eli himself - and how they relate to the Holocaust. "Generation Gap" is a deceptively simple, powerful film that is both deeply personal and undeniably universal. And we're proud to say that the short snippets of music included (a niggun, or wordless tune, that is one of the Ungar family's last vestiges left from before the Holocaust) were recorded in the Stereo Sinai studio.

We hope you'll take a moment to watch, reflect, remember, challenge, and take action.

Help Stereo Sinai Play This Year's Folk Festival!

Hey Thumpers! This Sunday Stereo Sinai will be auditioning alongside a whole slew of cool local acts (including our friends the Moshe Skier Band) for a slot at this year's Greater Chicago Jewish Festival, and we need your help!

Everyone is welcome to this show. Admission is $5, which gets you into the Skokie Theater and grants you 5 votes, which you can cast for any band you like. You can also, in this oh-so-democratic system, buy extra votes for a buck each, or 25 for $20.

Anyway, below are all the details fit to print. We're the 4th band to play, so come by early and hang out with us afterwards... :)

Jewish Chicago's Got Talent (we know, we know...)

Sunday, April 11th

6-9:00pm

Skokie Theater

7929 Lincoln Ave.

Skokie, IL

See you there!

And, as always, there is more biblegum pop to come, so stay tuned...

Stereo Sinai and Leah Jones on FOX Chicago Tonight!

Finally, some real news...

Tonight at 9pm, tune in to FOX Chicago, or go online to MyFoxChicago.com to catch a special segment with your favorite biblegum pop duo and our brilliant social media coach, Leah Jones!

In the meantime, we'll attempt to satisfy your insatiable need for more Stereo Sinai... Here's a live video of our performance from JCUA's Cafe Finjan 2010 (Look! New hair!):

Cafe Finjan 2010

Thumpers! We know it's been a while since you've heard from us. Alan was in Israel for a while, and we've been spending lots of time in the studio prepping new tracks for your biblegum pop enjoyment. But never fear! We are back out and rocking again with Cafe Finjan, coming up this Thursday on the Loyola University campus. Here is the info on this unique, exciting event that we're so proud to be part of - see you there!:

Café Finjan is a series of interfaith arts exchanges begun in 2002 as part of the Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative (JMCBI). The series establishes points of contact, and nurtures a greater understanding between Jews and Muslims of Chicago while creating spaces for people of these diverse backgrounds to come together and give voice to their identity and experience as part of a larger community.

The theme of the upcoming Café Finjan is “2020 Vision”.

This dynamic evening, featuring performing artists and interactive audience participation, will explore both a common vision for the future (a vision for the year 2020) as well as clarity of vision (20/20) with regards to the challenges we face and the complexity of our identities.

Thursday, Feb. 4th

7-9:30pm

at the Loyola University/Mundelein Center Auditorium

1020 W. Sheridan Rd

$5 suggested donation

New Hanukkah Song Available on MyJewishLearning.com

It's that time of year again - dreidels a-spinning, latkes a-frying, biblegum a-popping...

It's (almost) Hanukkah!

We are thrilled to announce that Stereo Sinai's version of one of our favorite Hanukkah songs, "Mi Yimalel (Who Can Retell)," has been featured on the endlessly cool (and consistently helpful) site MyJewishLearning.com!

You can hear and download the song ABSOLUTELY FREE by following this link.

And be sure to check out the other awesome tracks that offer their own spins on Hanukkah- Dov Rosenblatt, Rosi Golan, and Deena Goodman contributed a beautiful, almost haunting version of "Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages)," Mista Cookie Jar of Chibi Vision sings "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah" how it's meant to be sung (like a gypsy cowboy, of course), and Alicia Jo Rabins of the fabulous biblical-indie-rock band Girls in Trouble performs "Sivivon, Sov Sov Sov" the way I'd expect Alice to sing it while lost in one of the more sinister parts of Wonderland...love it.

You gotta hear them. Such a cool collection, and did I mention you can download them all for FREE?!

Consider it an early Hanukkah present. Happy holidays, everyone!