Mashina

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Mashina is an Israeli rock band which was active from 1984 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band and has sold approximately 400,000 albums in Israel.

1 History
2 Music
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Compilations
4 External links

[edit] History

Mashina was formed by singer Yuval Banai, a member of the Banai family, probably Israel's best-known family of entertainers; father Yossi was an actor and singer, as are uncles Gabri and Ya'akov, along with most of Yuval's cousins. During his army service he met guitar player Shlomi Bracha and the two started playing music together. A friend of theirs, a recent Russian immigrant, suggested they call their band "Mashina Vremeni", which means "time machine" in Russian (this suggestion may have been inspired by the well-known Russian rock band Mashina Vremeni of the 60's and 70's).

After the army service the two split up, but later re-met and formed the band "Shlom Ha-Tzibur" ("Public Safety"). They eventually teamed up with bassist Michael Benson and drummer Igi Dayan as Mashina; in 1985, they released their self-titled debut, which quickly became a hit on the Israeli charts. Later Avner Hodorov joined the band on keyboard and saxophone. They gained widespread popularity in Israel during the late 80's and early 90's. In May 1995 the band announced their retirement and put together four heavily-publicized farewell shows. What would have been their fourth and final performance, in Arad, Israel, ended tragically when three of the spectators were crushed to death by the crowd before the band went onstage. The band played another farewell concert several months later at The Yarqon Park, which they dedicated to the three deceased fans.

After Mashina broke up, Banai released 3 solo albums ("Yuval Banai" in 1997, "Rashi Dub" in 1999, and "Nish'ar BaMakom" ("Staying In The Same Place") in 2001), Bracha released a solo album, and Benson co-founded the electronic-rock group Atmosfire, which came out with one album. The band re-formed in 2003 and began touring and releasing albums again.

On October 8, 2006, the band performed at the opening ceremony of the 27th Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre.

[edit] Music

Mashina's debut album

The musical growth of Mashina can be mapped to different influences across their albums. Their early sound was obviously imitative of ska bands like Madness; they didn't bother to hide the influence, titling what became one of their earliest hit songs "Rakevet Laila Le-Kahir" ("Night Train to Cairo"), an homage to Madness' "Night Boat to Cairo". Their subsequent albums combined reggae, punk rock and Middle Eastern elements. "Ha'Amuta Le-Heker Hatmuta" ("The Society for the Study of Mortality") sounds influenced by The Cure, "Miflatzot Ha-Tehila" ("The Monsters of Fame") sounds influenced by The Pixies, "Si Ha-Regesh" ("Emotional Peak") has the blues influence of Pink Floyd, and "Lehitra'ot Ne'urim Shalom Ahava" ("Goodbye Youth, Hello Love") has the anthemic quality of U2.

Their lyrics, mostly written by Banai, tend to be cynical, sometimes humorously so. There are common themes of alienation, the struggle of everyday life and a desire for some sort of physical or spiritual escape. For all their disaffection, and despite Banai's leftwing tilt, they avoid any political statements in their music, as expressed in what could be the band's manifesto, "Az Lama Li Politika Achshav?" ("So Why Do I Need Politics Now?").

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year	Album	Israel Certificate
1984	Mashina	2x Platinum
1987	Mashina 2	Gold
1988	Mashina 3	Gold
1990	Ha'Amuta Le-Heker Hatmuta	Platinum
1992	Miflatzot Ha-Tehila	Gold
1993	Si Ha-Regesh	Platinum
1995	Lehitraot Neurim Shalom Ahava	Platinum
1995	Mechonat Ha-Zman	Platinum
2003	Mashina Live 2003	Gold
2005	Romantika Atidanit	Gold