Hanukkah+

Yo La Tengo, Flaming Lips, HAIM, Jack Black & more feature on new Hanukkah album

Yo La Tengo, The Flaming Lips, HAIM, Adam Green, Jack Black, Loudon Wainwright III, Craig Wedren, Alex Frankel (Holy Ghost!) and more have contributed new songs to Hanukkah+, a new holiday album that’s out next week (11/22) via Verve Forecast. (The vinyl will be out 12/13.) The compilation was curated and executive produced by Randall Poster, who has been Wes Anderson’s longtime music supervisor (and works on lots of other cool movies and TV shows), and was inspired by Yo La Tengo’s annual Hanukkah run of shows in NYC.

“When our old friend Randy Poster asked us to contribute to an album of Hanukkah songs he was putting together, we were kind of stumped,” say Yo La Tengo of their contribution. “As non-practicing Jews (and non-Jews), truthfully the holiday has little meaning for us (that’s the meta joke behind Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows), but we were open to inspiration. We thought maybe another friend, Sam Elwitt, could crack the code, and we think he did a fantastic job with his composition ‘Eight Candles.'” HAIM’s contribution is a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will.” You can check out the tracklist for Hanukkah+ below.

Yo La Tengo’s 2019 Hanukkah run happens at Bowery Ballroom from December 22-29 and you can still get tickets for the 12/24, 12/25 and 12/26 shows.

Hanukkah+ tracklist:
01 Jack Black: “Oh Hanukkah”
02 Adam Green: “Dreidels of Fire”
03 Yo La Tengo: “Eight Candles”
04 HAIM: “If It Be Your Will”
05 The Flaming Lips: “Sing It Now, Sing It Somehow”
06 Alex Frankel: “Hanukkah in ’96”
07 Buzzy Lee: “Give You Everything”
08 Tommy Guerrero: “Dedication”
09 Loudon Wainwright III: “Eight Nights a Week”
10 Watkins Family Hour: “Hanukkah Dance”
11 Craig Wedren: “Sanctuary”
12 Jack Black: “Chad Gadya (Passover Bonus)”