Rockfour
Encyclopedia
Rockfour is a Psychedelic rock
band, formed in 1988 in Holon, Israel
. Most of their catalog is in English, and they regularly tour the United States
.
, and in 1991 released a single, "Haka'as" ("The Rage"), which did well on the Israeli rock charts.
After undergoing several lineup and stylistic changes, they settled on what would remain a fairly stable musical identity in 1995 with their second studio album, Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol (The Man Who Saw It All). The music of the album was firmly rooted in 1960's psychedelic rock and the band used vintage instruments and recording equipment. To complement the "sixties" setting, six music videos were published for song from this album, all in a consistent, distinctive style: they combined vintage footage made with amateur-class cameras with footage of the band in the same style. Though not initially popular, over time this album gained the reputation of being one of the best albums in Hebrew-language rock, especially among younger critics. After several years it was certified as a gold record for selling over 20,000 copies.
After In the late 1990s, the band began to write new material in English. During this period they recorded a studio album consisting of covers of classic Israeli rock songs by Shalom Hanoch
and Arik Einstein
, Behazara L'shablul. Ironically, though most of the songs were written during the psychedelic era, and Rockfour's covers were produced in their usual neo-psychedelic style, the original production on albums such as Shablul was fairly straightforward. In 1999 the band bid farewell to the Hebrew language with a live album (Behofa'a), in which they performed old and new material accompanied by a string section. The last track was a new studio recording titled "Mesibat Siyum" ("Graduation Party"), which literally translates as "Finishing Party".
, released in 2000, was Rockfour's first full-length album in English. It received some attention outside of Israel (for example, from Allmusic), which encouraged the band to record another album of new material, One Fantastic Day, and begin touring internationally in 2001. Eventually they were signed to American label Rainbow Quartz. Their first release for the label was Another Beginning - a compilation of tracks from Supermarket and One Fantastic Day, which was followed by For Fans Only! - a collection of b-sides and live covers. During 2001 they produced and played on Shy Nobleman
psychadelic pop debut album " How to Be Shy
" , which became a hit in Israel.
During the recording of Nationwide in Detroit, Michigan
in 2004, tensions began to develop between lead singer Eli LuLai and the rest of the band. LuLai left the band in the middle of the subsequent world tour. The remaining trio shifted around vocal duties and returned to performing the night after LuLai's departure.
During the recording of Memories of the Never Happened the band recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's debut single "Arnold Layne
" and submitted it to a competition created by David Gilmour
in honor of composer Syd Barrett
's death. Gilmour picked Rockfour's version as the best cover of the song, and the band won a day of recording at London
's Abbey Road Studios
. As of April 2010, these recordings have yet to be released.
In June 2010, the band had released their first album in Hebrew from original materials with Anova Music. The album, Ha'olam Hamufla (The Wonderful World) gained the critics' love though the complexity of the materials that merged their psychedelic rock influences with more contemporary sounds in the style of the 00's Flaming Lips, The Shines and Grandaddy .
groups as The Beatles
, The Zombies
, The Who
, The Byrds
, and early Pink Floyd
. However, because Rockfour freely recombine their influences, and adopt a playing style significantly more aggressive than that of their influences (with the exception of the record-setting loudness of The Who
), the resulting sound is modern and distinct. Among their psychedelic
influences, the use of extended three-part harmonies and the unique sound of the 12-string Rickenbacker
guitar
stand out especially.
groups such as King Crimson
and Genesis
, most notably on the songs "She's Full of Fears" from Supermarket
and "Old Village House" from Memories of the Never Happened. The mellotron
, played in a style quite close to that of Robert Fripp
of King Crimson
, has also appeared on many of the band's studio recordings.
Starting with One Fantastic Day, they have incorporated the heavy, distorted guitar-sound of alternative rock
, though it was toned down since the departure of LuLai. Live performances of older material maintain this style.
^^ Producer Engineer Amiel worked in his first demos that actually are rare and desirable pieces in the underground Market.
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band, formed in 1988 in Holon, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Most of their catalog is in English, and they regularly tour the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early years
Rockfour began writing and performing in HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, and in 1991 released a single, "Haka'as" ("The Rage"), which did well on the Israeli rock charts.
After undergoing several lineup and stylistic changes, they settled on what would remain a fairly stable musical identity in 1995 with their second studio album, Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol (The Man Who Saw It All). The music of the album was firmly rooted in 1960's psychedelic rock and the band used vintage instruments and recording equipment. To complement the "sixties" setting, six music videos were published for song from this album, all in a consistent, distinctive style: they combined vintage footage made with amateur-class cameras with footage of the band in the same style. Though not initially popular, over time this album gained the reputation of being one of the best albums in Hebrew-language rock, especially among younger critics. After several years it was certified as a gold record for selling over 20,000 copies.
After In the late 1990s, the band began to write new material in English. During this period they recorded a studio album consisting of covers of classic Israeli rock songs by Shalom Hanoch
Shalom Hanoch
Shalom Hanoch is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer.He is considered to be the father of Israeli rock and the most important artist of that area. His works have profoundly influenced Israeli rock and modern Israeli music...
and Arik Einstein
Arik Einstein
Arik Einstein is an Israeli singer-songwriter.Einstein was a vocalist for Batzal Yarok , Shleeshiyat Gesher Hayarkon and Hahalonot Hagvohim . His collaboration with Shalom Hanoch and the Churchills planted the seeds for the first Israeli rock albums...
, Behazara L'shablul. Ironically, though most of the songs were written during the psychedelic era, and Rockfour's covers were produced in their usual neo-psychedelic style, the original production on albums such as Shablul was fairly straightforward. In 1999 the band bid farewell to the Hebrew language with a live album (Behofa'a), in which they performed old and new material accompanied by a string section. The last track was a new studio recording titled "Mesibat Siyum" ("Graduation Party"), which literally translates as "Finishing Party".
The International Market
SupermarketSupermarket (album)
Supermarket is a studio album by the Israeli rock band, Rockfour. Released in September 2000, Supermarket is the band's first English album. The album's psychedelic tracks are sung in perfect English by the Israeli members of Rockfour...
, released in 2000, was Rockfour's first full-length album in English. It received some attention outside of Israel (for example, from Allmusic), which encouraged the band to record another album of new material, One Fantastic Day, and begin touring internationally in 2001. Eventually they were signed to American label Rainbow Quartz. Their first release for the label was Another Beginning - a compilation of tracks from Supermarket and One Fantastic Day, which was followed by For Fans Only! - a collection of b-sides and live covers. During 2001 they produced and played on Shy Nobleman
Shy Nobleman
Shy Nobleman is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist, guitarist and Actor.He is one of Israel's leading indie musicians, whose English language psychedelic and power-pop albums have been hits in Israel and enjoys increasing popularity in a number of European...
psychadelic pop debut album " How to Be Shy
How to Be Shy
How to Be Shy is the debut studio album by Israeli indie rock artist Shy Nobleman, released on June 6, 2001.Nobleman's backing band on the record is Israeli psychedelic rock band Rockfour...
" , which became a hit in Israel.
During the recording of Nationwide in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 2004, tensions began to develop between lead singer Eli LuLai and the rest of the band. LuLai left the band in the middle of the subsequent world tour. The remaining trio shifted around vocal duties and returned to performing the night after LuLai's departure.
Without LuLai
Guitarist Baruch Ben Yitzhak took the role of lead singer for the recording of Rockfour's next album, Memories of the Never Happened, which was released through the Israeli indie label ANOVA. Keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Yaki Gani was also added to the band after participating in the recordings, making them a quartet once again. In 2006 the groundbreaking artist management/ record label ANOVA Productions, founded by singer -songwriter and Midem Veteran Anat Damon, picked up the band. With the help of manager Hillel Wachs and after a long production process, the album was released in Israel in May 2007, and internationally on October 9, 2007 on Cooking Vinyl USA, with an accompanying extensive tour of the United States.During the recording of Memories of the Never Happened the band recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's debut single "Arnold Layne
Arnold Layne
David Gilmour, during his solo tour promoting On an Island, unexpectedly added the song to the setlist near the end of the American tour on the 17 April 2006 show at the Oakland Paramount Theatre...
" and submitted it to a competition created by David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
in honor of composer Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
's death. Gilmour picked Rockfour's version as the best cover of the song, and the band won a day of recording at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
. As of April 2010, these recordings have yet to be released.
In June 2010, the band had released their first album in Hebrew from original materials with Anova Music. The album, Ha'olam Hamufla (The Wonderful World) gained the critics' love though the complexity of the materials that merged their psychedelic rock influences with more contemporary sounds in the style of the 00's Flaming Lips, The Shines and Grandaddy .
Psychedelia
From Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol on, Rockfour have kept strictly to a neo-psychedelic style, writing and recording songs using techniques of such classic psychedelic rockPsychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
groups as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Zombies
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, and early Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. However, because Rockfour freely recombine their influences, and adopt a playing style significantly more aggressive than that of their influences (with the exception of the record-setting loudness of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
), the resulting sound is modern and distinct. Among their psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
influences, the use of extended three-part harmonies and the unique sound of the 12-string Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
stand out especially.
Other Genres
Rockfour sometimes employ the compositional style, though not the winding melodies, of progressive rockProgressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
groups such as King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, most notably on the songs "She's Full of Fears" from Supermarket
Supermarket (album)
Supermarket is a studio album by the Israeli rock band, Rockfour. Released in September 2000, Supermarket is the band's first English album. The album's psychedelic tracks are sung in perfect English by the Israeli members of Rockfour...
and "Old Village House" from Memories of the Never Happened. The mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, played in a style quite close to that of Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
of King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, has also appeared on many of the band's studio recordings.
Starting with One Fantastic Day, they have incorporated the heavy, distorted guitar-sound of alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, though it was toned down since the departure of LuLai. Live performances of older material maintain this style.
Members
- Baruch Ben Yitzhak (guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - Marc Lazare (BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - Issar Tennenbaum (drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) - Yaki Gani (keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s)
Other significant contributors
- Danny Recht - production on Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol
- Noam Ledderman - drums on Behazara L'shablul
- Gadi Pugatsch - keyboards and vocals
- Noam Rapaport - mellotron and piano on Supermarket
- Jim DiamondJim Diamond (music producer)Jim Diamond is a music producer, studio engineer, and bass guitar player based in Detroit, Michigan. He worked on the first two White Stripes albums and played bass with The Dirtbombs.- Background :...
- production on Nationwide
^^ Producer Engineer Amiel worked in his first demos that actually are rare and desirable pieces in the underground Market.
Hebrew
- Resheth Parparim (Butterfly Net) 1991
- Ha'ish Shera'a Hakol (The Man Who Saw Everything) 1995
- Behazara L'shablul (Shablul Revisited - literally, Back to the Snail) 1996
- Haolam Hamofla (The Wonderful World) 2010
English
- SupermarketSupermarket (album)Supermarket is a studio album by the Israeli rock band, Rockfour. Released in September 2000, Supermarket is the band's first English album. The album's psychedelic tracks are sung in perfect English by the Israeli members of Rockfour...
2000 - One Fantastic Day 2001
- Nationwide 2004
- Memories of the Never Happened 2007
English
- Another Beginning 2001 (Compilation of English-language tracks from Supermarket and One Fantastic Day)
- For Fans Only! 2003 (b-sides, covers and rarities)