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Lamech ( /ˈleɪmɛk/; Hebrew: לֶמֶךְ‎) is a person in the genealogies of Adam in the Book of Genesis. He is the sixth generation descendant of Cain (Genesis 4:18); his father was named Methusael, and he was responsible for the "Song of the Sword." He is also noted as the first polygamist mentioned in the Bible, taking two wives, Ada and Tselah. He is not to be confused with the Lamech in Genesis 5.

Biblical context[link]

Sandwiched between two genealogical lines, the passage describing Lamech, son of Methushael, descendant of Cain and his children is fairly substantive:

Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.^[1]

Then Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!

For I have killed a man for wounding me,

Even a young man for hurting me.

If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,

Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

—Genesis 4:19-24 (NKJV)

Names[link]

There are various suggestions of the correct translations for the names:

The older Septuagint, unlike the Masoretic Text, has the name Tubal rather than Tubal-Cain.

Translating the names as well, it is possible to read the text of the story of Lamech as:

God's servant took two wives, light and darkness. The light brought forth the shepherd, who was the father of tent-dwellers, and herdsmen, and his brother was the musician, who was the father of harpists and pipers. But the darkness brought forth the blacksmith, the forger of brass, and of iron, and his sister was pleasure.

Interpretation[link]

When fully translated, the text has a strong resemblance simply to a basic mythology concerning the origin of the various forms of civilisation, the shepherds and musicians being products of the day, and pleasure being a product of the night. Blacksmiths, in carrying out their trade, are also associated with the darkness. Thus, in a sense, Lamech could be interpreted as a culture hero. Some of the names also appear to demonstrate punning - Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal rhyme, and appear to be derived from the same root - JBL (YVL in modern Hebrew): to bring forth, (also) to carry. A similar description existed amongst Phoenicians.

The names are instead interpreted in the Midrash as an attack on polygamy. Adah is there interpreted as the deposed one, implying that Lamech spurned her in favour of Zillah, whose own name is understood to mean she shaded herself [from Zillah at Lamech's side]. The Midrash consequently regards Adah as having been treated as a slave, tyrannised by her husband, who was at the beck and call of his mistress, Zillah. It further goes on to claim that part of the immorality, which had led God to flood the earth, was the polygamy practised by Lamech and his generation.

The rabbinical tradition is just as condemning of Naamah. While a minority, such as Abba ben Kahana, see Naamah as having become Noah's wife, and being so named because her conduct was pleasing to God, the majority of classical rabbinical sources consider her name to be due to her singing pleasant songs in worship of idols.

Song of the Sword[link]

The last part of the tale of Lamech (Genesis 4:23-24), takes the form of a brief poem, which refers back to the curse of Cain. In the poem, Lamech's stance resembles that of a supreme warrior, able to avenge himself absolutely. However, no explanation of who Lamech supposedly killed is ever given in the Tanakh. Some scholars have proposed that it is connected to the invention, contextually by Tubal-Cain, of the sword, for which reason the poem is often referred to as the Song of the Sword. The poem may originate from the mysterious Book of the Wars of the Lord, though the greater context for it is likely to remain obscure.

However, this paucity of context did not stop a rabbinical tradition growing up around it. The Talmud and Midrash present an extensive legend, told, for example, by Rashi, in which Lamech first loses his sight from age, and had to be led by Tubal-Cain, the seventh generation from Cain. Tubal-Cain saw in the distance something that he first took for an animal, but it was actually Cain (still alive, due to the extensive life span of the antediluvians) whom Lamech had accidentally killed with an arrow. When they discovered who it was, Lamech, in sorrow, clapped his hands together, which (for an unclear reason) kills Tubal-Cain. In consequence, Lamech's wives desert him. A similar legend is preserved in the pseudepigraphic Second Book of Adam and Eve, Chapter XIII; in this version Tubal-Cain is not named, but is instead referred to as "the young shepherd." After Lamech claps his hands he strikes the young shepherd on the head. To ensure his death, he then smashed his head with a rock.

An alternate form of this negative attitude towards Lamech (such as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan) claims that even though Lamech did not kill anyone, his wives refused to associate with him and denied him sex, on the grounds that Cain's line was to be annihilated after seven generations. The poem is then given by Lamech to allay their fears. Other classical sources, such as Josephus, see the word seventy-seven as the number of sons which Lamech eventually had.

Extending on this classical view of Lamech is the Book of Moses, regarded in Mormonism as scripture. According to this Latter-day Saint text, Lamech entered into a secret pact with Satan, as had Cain before him, becoming a second Master Mahan. When Irad (an ancestor of Lamech) learned his secret and began to publicise it, Lamech murdered him. News of the murder was spread by Lamech's two wives, leading to his being cast out of society.

References[link]

1. ^ According to [Bereshit Rabbah], p.56, she was the wife of [Noah], the son of the other [Lamech][1]

Eddie Amador is an American house music record producer and remixer. He is also the founder of the Mochico and MochicoPrimo record labels.^[1]

Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Amador studied mechanical engineering at Arizona State University while moonlighting as a hip hop DJ. In 1996, he earned a bachelor's degree and relocated to Los Angeles. There he took a day job in engineering while devoting evenings to practicing the craft of writing and producing house music. After a year of labor, Amador released "House Music" — his first single — in 1998. It peaked at #37 in the UK Singles Chart.^[2] The single's success garnered Amador a recording contract with Yoshitoshi Records.

Amador established his own record label, Mochico, in 2001.^[3] Two years later, he moved to Amsterdam, where he signed a new recording contract with ID&T in 2005.^[4] While living in Amsterdam, Amador also teamed with Belgian producer Tom de Neef, and the duo released a handful of singles and remixes under the alias Bazement Freakz. Amador continues to oversee releases on his MochicoPrimo label.

Remixes[link]

• Yoko Ono – "I'm Not Getting Enough" (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Eddie Amador discography at Discogs
• Bazement Freakz discography at Discogs
• EddieAmador.com, Eddie Amador's official website
• Eddie Amador's profile at MySpace

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For the Japanese airline see StarFlyer.

Starflyer 59 is an alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band has included a number of different musicians over the years, including Jeff Cloud, Frank Lenz, and Richard Swift. The band's sound was initially identified as an outgrowth of the shoegazing movement of the early 1990s, but the band's music in the late 2000s bears almost no resemblance to that of its early days.

Biography[link]

Starflyer 59 was signed to Tooth & Nail Records, their original and current label, after Jason Martin gave a demo to Brandon Ebel when the two met at a music festival in 1993. Shortly afterwards, Ebel contacted Martin and offered him a record contract. By the end of the year, Starflyer 59's debut album, Silver, was recorded and released.

In mid-1994, Starflyer 59 released a follow-up EP to Silver entitled She's The Queen. Fans who had purchased Silver and new listeners who were beginning to hear more about the band had begun to say that they "liked the second album more than the first." Interestingly, this somewhat angered Jason Martin, as he did not intend for the EP to be considered any sort of album whatsoever. He felt there was no reason to compare the two pieces of work to each other. Either way, the fanbase for Starflyer 59 was beginning to grow.

In 1995, Starflyer 59 released their second album, Gold. The sound was similar to their first release, while Jason Martin continued to add layers of guitar riffs to each song. Original response to the album was generally negative.^[2] Many who had enjoyed the band's debut were disappointed with the release, partly because the songs had a somewhat depressive tone and continued on for minutes and minutes on end. Eventually, people began viewing Gold positively. Sales of the album suddenly jumped and it nearly tripled the sales of Silver.

For Starflyer 59's next album which was released in 1997, Americana, several changes to the band were made. Bass player Andrew Larson departed, being replaced by Eric Campuzano (The Prayer Chain). In addition, Wayne Everett, also of The Prayer Chain became the band's studio drummer, a role that had previously been held by Jason Martin himself (although Everett had been the drummer on several tracks on Gold). Campuzano left the band before it began touring to support the new album. Replacing him was Jeff Cloud, who had been Starflyer's touring manager.

The release of The Fashion Focus in 1998 signaled a significant change in the direction of the band's sound, largely due to the influence of producer Gene Eugene. Where previous albums had emphasized guitars and loud rock and roll, The Fashion Focus was a significantly softer album. This album featured the introduction of keyboards in the music, which replaced layered guitars. The new sound was more pop-friendly than earlier albums, while not abandoning the signature Starflyer sound. The song "Too Much Fun" would be the band's last song in the early shoegazing style. Everybody Makes Mistakes, released the next year, continued in the same direction as The Fashion Focus.

On November 21, 2000, Starflyer 59 released Easy Come Easy Go, a two-disc "best-of" set. The first disc consisted of the band's most popular songs from their first five LPs (three songs from each album), while the second disc was a collection of rarities, B-sides, and eight songs from a live performance. 2001 saw the release of Leave Here A Stranger, Starflyer's next full length album. The band's sound continued to evolve, as Leave Here A Stranger would come to be lauded and praised by many music critics as Starflyer 59's best release to date. After the untimely death of Gene Eugene, Martin called on long-time musical hero Terry Scott Taylor to take over production of the new album. In a tribute to the Beach Boys' monumental album Pet Sounds, Leave Here a Stranger was recorded in mono.

From 2003 to 2006 Starflyer 59 released one full-length album a year; all of them self-produced. The first of these albums was Old. Old maintained a more pop-oriented sound that had begun with The Fashion Focus, but was also more guitar-oriented than Leave Here A Stranger. However, the music of Old was still significantly softer than the band's early work. Many fans point to this as the bands peak. In 2004, I Am the Portuguese Blues was released. With this album, Starflyer 59 returned to the heavy guitar format that was so prominent on their early albums Silver, Gold, and Americana, as well as to the monochromatic album covers that had characterized these albums. I Am the Portuguese Blues was not a true follow-up to Old, but instead was a set of older songs that Jason Martin had written for a follow-up album to Americana. The material was originally shelved when the band shifted gears and instead recorded The Fashion Focus. This confused many newer fans and critics who were familiar with Starflyer 59's more recent pop-friendly work. The album is generally thought of as an EP or side project and not a proper Starflyer 59 studio album, and to date is the last time guitar distortion was featured on a Starflyer 59 recording.

2005's Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice saw the band change their sound yet again, to a style that seemed a more natural follow-up to Old than I Am the Portuguese Blues had been. For this album, Starflyer 59 was cut down to two members: Jason Martin and drummer Frank Lenz. It would be the first studio album since Americana to be recorded without bassist and ideas man Jeff Cloud. Despite having only two band members, the songs on Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice have a full sound. This is largely due to the inclusion of guest string players on many of the albums tracks. Also in 2005, Starflyer 59 re-issued digitally re-mastered versions of Silver and Gold, with bonus tracks. The re-issue of Silver came with the tracks of the band's follow-up EP, She's The Queen. Gold was reissued with the Goodbyes Are Sad 7 inch single and three of the four tracks from the Le Vainqueur EP. Many of these extra tracks, however, had been included on the 2-disc set Easy Come, Easy Go.

Frank Lenz left the band near the end of the recording process, leaving Jason Martin as the only member. Josh Dooley re-joined the band as second guitar, the first time in the band's history with a guitar player other than Martin, and Trey Many joined as the drummer. This threesome toured very briefly behind Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice with an electronic bass track.

The band released their follow up to Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice titled My Island September 12, 2006, along with a music video for the album's single, "I Win". As the years go by, Starflyer 59 continue to release albums that seem to be a natural progression of the previous album, with the exception of I Am the Portuguese Blues. In 2007, Starflyer 59 had a special promotion among the most devoted fans, where they would release a total of 10 7-inch vinyl records over a period of months. Each 7" would contain a song from the forthcoming record, as well as a B-side that would be released only for the promotion. The 10 vinyl records, known as Ghosts of the Future, came with a custom wooden record box, and early buyers were rewarded with inserts signed by Jason Martin and Scott Hatch. Their 11th full-length album, Dial M, was released on October 28, 2008. Dial M consisted of the first track of each vinyl record from Ghosts of the Future, remixed and cleaned up. The album was significantly influenced by the passing of Jason's father, affectionately referred to in the song Mr. Martin.

The band's latest album, The Changing of the Guard, was released on August 10, 2010.

After the passing of his father, Jason Martin took over the day-to-day operations of his father's trucking business in Riverside, California. Because of this responsibility, Starflyer 59 no longer actively tours as of 2010.

Side projects[link]

Jason Martin's side projects include Bon Voyage, Pony Express (with Jeff Cloud, Richard Swift, Frank Lenz, and Josh Dooley), Starflyer 2000 (with Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer) Enemy Ships (formerly known as The Emergency), Neon Horse, and The Brothers Martin. He has also produced albums for Fine China and MAP and performed work as a studio musician and guest musician on several albums.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

All studio releases were on the label Tooth and Nail.

• Silver (1994, reissued in 2005)
• Gold (1995, reissued in 2005)
• Americana (1997)
• The Fashion Focus (1998)
• Everybody Makes Mistakes (1999)
• Leave Here a Stranger (2001)
• Old (2003)
• I Am the Portuguese Blues (2004)
• Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice (2005)
• My Island (2006)
• Dial M (2008)
• The Changing of the Guard (2010)

EPs[link]

• She's the Queen (1994)
• Le Vainqueur (1995)
• Fell in Love at 22 (1999)
• Can't Stop Eating (2002)
• Old Demos (2003)
• The Last Laurel (2004)
• I Win (2006)
• Minor Keys EP (2009) (digital-only release)

Live albums[link]

• Plugged (EP) (1996)
• Live at the Paradox (EP) (2002)
• Never Play Covers (2005)
• Live at Schubas II (2006; offered only on eMusic.com)

Unofficial Live Recordings[link]

• Live at Schubas (2003)
• Live At The SpinCycle (2003)
• Live At The Loft (2004)
• Live At The Green Door (2005)

12 inch vinyl[link]

• Gold (12") (1995, Tooth and Nail Records)
• Americana (12") (1997, Tooth and Nail Records)
• The Fashion Focus (12" + bonus 7") (1999, Velvet Blue Music / Burnt Toast Vinyl)
• Everybody Makes Mistakes (12" + bonus 7") (1999, Velvet Blue Music / Burnt Toast Vinyl)
• Leave Here a Stranger (12") (2001, ABC Group Documentation)
• Portuguese Blues (1-sided 12") (2004, Burnt Toast Vinyl)
• The Last Laurel (1-sided 12") (2005, Republic of Texas Recordings)
• Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice (12") (2005, Burnt Toast Vinyl)
• Dial M (12" w/ bonus track) (2008, Burnt Toast Vinyl)
• Silver (12") (2009, Crossroads of America Records)
• Old (12") (2010, Crossroads of America Records)
• The Changing of the Guard (12" + bonus 7") (2010, Burnt Toast Vinyl)

Singles (7″ vinyl)[link]

• The Drop (1993)
• Goodbyes Are Sad (1995)
• Bonus 7″ w/The Fashion Focus 12″ (1999)
• Bonus 7″ w/Everybody Makes Mistakes 12″ (1999)
• Bonus 7" w/The Changing of the Guard 12" (2010)

Box Sets[link]

• Easy Come Easy Go (2000)
• Ghosts of the Future (2007) (10-record 7" vinyl box set, released on Burnt Toast Vinyl)
• Ghosts of the Past (2009)

Compilations[link]

• A Steve Taylor Tribute: I Predict A Clone (CD) (1994, R.E.X. Music)
• Happy Christmas (CD) (1998, BEC Recordings)
• When Worlds Collide: A Tribute to Daniel Amos (1999, Ferris Wheel)
• Plastiq Musiq: Electric Music Comp.1 (CD) (1999, Plastiq Musiq)
• Happy Christmas Vol. 2 (CD) (1999, BEC Recordings)
• Start Right Here: Remembering the Life of Keith Green (CD) (2001, BEC Recordings)
• Happy Christmas Vol.3 (CD) (2001, BEC Recordings)
• A Live Tribute Recording For Gene Eugene (CD) (2001, Northern Records)
• Daniel Amos When Everyone Wore Hats 3 CD set (Features an interview with DA frontman Terry Scott Taylor, conducted by Jason Martin).
• X 2003: Experience the Alternative (2xCD) (2003, BEC Recordings)
• Past and Present, Velvet Blue Music (2003, Velvet Blue Music)
• Neverending White Lights: ACT 1, Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies (CD) (2005, Daniel Victor)
• Happy Christmas Vol.4 (CD) (2005, Tooth and Nail Records)
• You Cant Handle The Tooth! Vol. 01 (2006, Tooth and Nail Records)
• Songs From The Penalty Box, Tooth and Nail Vol. 6 (2009, Tooth and Nail Records)
• Ghosts of the Past (2009, Tooth and Nail Records)

Books[link]

• When I Learn To Sing (Songbook/Fake book) (2005)

Members[link]

Current members[link]

• Jason Martin - Guitar, Vocals
• Trey Many - Drums (Velour 100 & His Name is Alive)
• Steven Dail - Bass (Project 86 and Crash Rickshaw)

Former Members & Players[link]

• Andrew Larson - Bass (Silver - Gold)
• Eric Campuzano - Bass (Americana)
• Jeff Cloud - Bass (The Fashion Focus - Everybody Makes Mistakes - Leave Here A Stranger - Old - I Am the Portuguese Blues)
• Dan Reid - Drums (Silver)
• Ed Giles Benrock - Drums (Gold)
• Wayne Everett - Drums (Gold - Americana - The Fashion Focus - Everybody Makes Mistakes)
• Joey Esquibel - Drums (Leave Here A Stranger)
• Josh Dooley - Keyboards (Leave Here A Stranger), Guitar (My Island)
• Richard Swift - Keyboards (Old)
• Frank Lenz - Drums (Old - Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice)
• Gene Eugene - Keys, Mixing and Production (Gold - Americana - Everybody Makes Mistakes)

Trivia[link]

• Prior to Starflyer 59, Jason Martin played in the group Dance House Children with his brother Ronnie.
• The original name for Starflyer 59 was Starflyer 2000. This name was later used for a short-lived collaboration between Jason Martin and Leigh Nash.
• In a concert listing for Cornerstone Festival in the May 1995 issue of CCM Magazine, the band was referred to as Star Flyer 69.
• Jason Martin's wife Julie stars opposite Martin in the video for "A Housewife Love Song". Jason and Julie first met on the set.
• Original copies of the Plugged EP have sold for several hundred dollars on eBay.
• The original CD release of Silver had the band name spelled Starflier 59 on the CD. It is considered rare.

External links[link]

• Official website

References[link]