Their combination of Yiddish traditional, partly sung in Yiddish and partly sung in English, and new compositions by Kahn is absolutely a golden combination. Without sounding depressed or desperate they sing and play a critical view on our world, its history and presence. Songs about the working people, political protest songs and the beautiful ballad Sunday after the war which is one of the best anti-war songs I know. I like it that parts of the songs are in English, it makes the music much more accessible for a wider audience so they understand the often poetic way of reflecting on the hard Yiddish life. As a child I grew up with Zupfeigenhansel’s album Jiddische Lieder and still consider that as a milestone album in Yiddish music. This Lost causes sounds completely different, but has the same energy and almost the same impact. Two songs on this new album are also on the Jiddische Lieder album. The beautiful vocals/banjo English version of Dem milners trern and their own version of Arbetslozer marsh. They don’t copy, they create a new song with the same impact in a different style. Kahn and Painted Bird even manage to let Lili marleyn sounds like new. With this album Daniel Kahn & Painted Bird show their unique talent and the fact that they are not afraid of walking new routes. I absolutely love their way of bringing the beautiful old songs in a open minded, almost relax way. Add the strong new compositions by Kahn to this and you won’t be surprised to find this album in my top 10 of best albums released in 2010 as you can see somewhere else in this FolkWorld issue.