Homesick Songs

Part of the whole "new klezmer" scene, in which rock and jazz sensibilities are mixed in with this traditional Eastern European sound, Golem features many familiar names in its lineup, most notably singer-accordionist Annette Ezekiel and singer Aaron Diskin. The sound is about evenly balanced between respect for the klezmer tradition and Ezekiel and Diskin's irreverent, almost punky desire to kick over the traces a bit; Diskin in particular takes his seemingly improvised vocals into some surreal and occasionally rude places. Klezmer, in its own place and time, was such a vibrant and immediate music that the results sound perfectly organic. The rave-up intensity of the opening take on the standard "Odessa" would be as at home on one of New York's dozens of Yiddish-language radio shows in the '40s as it would be on-stage at the Knitting Factory in the '80s; the fact that on this track, Ezekiel's vocals sound uncannily like classic Lene Lovich doesn't detract in the least. Homesick Songs may not be a record for purist musicologists, but it's both a delight to listen to and tremendous fun for dancing.