Shelley Hirsch - 1995 - O Little Town of East New York

Shelley Hirsch

1995

O Little Town of East New York

01. On The Far Reaches 0:34

02. 544 Hemlock Street 2:31

03. Marcia Baskin 0:32

04. Hymie And Harry 0:34

05. Claire 0:40

06. I Put On Shows 0:31

07. Killing The Ants 0:27

08. Singing With Johnny 1:45

09. Street Fair 0:47

10. Bongos 0:12

11. Mrs. Mcintyre / Chrysler Building 0:29

12. Mrs. Mcintyre / Bananas 0:28

13. Aida Vidzer (I Liked Her) 1:24

14. The Aida Song 1:45

15. Aida's House 3:55

16. Electric Menorrah 0:24

17. The Jewish People 0:57

18. Chant 1:21

19. Maria Finchenko / Highland Park 1:31

20. Maria's Father 0:25

21. Maria's House / The Troika 4:38

22. Confession Booth 0:57

23. Slap The Shit 0:38

24. Grandma Gertie 0:51

25. Rhapsody 1:23

26. The New House 1:02

27. 625 Hemlock Street 3:16

28. Dipped 0:46

29. Songs In My Head 3:53

30. Vinnie Russo 0:33

31. Sliced Open 1:10

32. Franklin K. Lane / I Worked My Ass Off 4:41

33. Hush My Darling 0:47

34. Marsha Calabro 4:15

35. Outro 3:39

Shelley Hirsch is a marvelous performer with remarkable vocal talents, charm and a wicked sense of humor. She is one of the best-knownimprovisers of the Downtown New York City scene, performing with virtually every major experimental artist in New York and Europe, but has thus far released only two albums of her own music (both released only in Europe).

An award-winning radio play and Hirsch's most ambitious work, O Little Town Of East New York is a semi-autobiographical musical suite about growing up in Brooklyn in the '50s and '60s - reenactments and reminiscences of childhood, family, rites of passage, the ethnic melting pot, Johnny Mathis... It's a hilarious, nostalgic, touching and stunningly original album merging avant and pop sensibilities.

O Little Town Of East New York is one of the very first releases in the Radical Jewish Culture edition of the Tzadik Records. It's a semi-autobiographical play about growing up in Brooklyn in the '50s and '60s, written by Shelley Hirsch with music and effects composed and performed by Hirsch and David Weinstein.

Hearing Shelley Hirsch in concert, accompanied only by DJ Olive, was one of the highlights of the Saalfelden music festival, two years ago. She is a marvelous performer, very talented and versatile singer with great charm and a wicked sense of humor. A cross between Liza Minelli and Woody Allen, and more. Tzadik's promo material mentions that Shelley Hirsch is one of the best known improvisers in the Downtown NYC scene and was performing with virtually every major experimental artist in New York and Europe. I am puzzled why has she so far released only two (quite difficult to find) albums of her own music.

The radio broadcast version of this hillarious, nostalgic and moving play has won the Ake Blomstrom Memorial Prize at the 1993 Prix Futura International Radio and Television Festival, Berlin. T

Shelley Hirsch is an American performer from New York. She's been involved in various areas of the arts - from theatre, to film, and, most importantly, music. She first began working in an experimental theatre troupe, but went on to study some more experimental and extended vocal techniques. A lot of those ideas are explored on this extremely bizarre, interesting and unique album.

Much like Hubert Selby Junior's "Last Exit to Brooklyn", "O Little Town Of East New York" provides a really character-driven look into a side of New York that many might not see. But unlike Selby's dark, obscene magnum opus, "O Little Town Of East New York" is a beautiful, albeit odd description of a Jewish Neighborhood, and the many characters that inhabit it. What I really love about this album is how three-dimensional the characters are - Hirsch creates characters that seem so real and detailed, you can't help but imagine them fleshed out, strolling the streets of New York, or sitting inside, reading Dostoevsky -the whole album so lovely and picturesque. Now, this album is part of Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture, and yes, Hirsch's proud sense of Jewish identity shines through on this - Skinheads might be disappointed, but to everyone else, it's a great addition to Tzadik's roster - the range of Jewish characters she conjures up are anything but stereotypical, and really add to the the three-dimensionality of the characters and the overall narrative of Hirsch's album.

And while I would classify this as Spoken Word, Hirsch's voice is not just flat, monotonous monologues - Hirsh's voice soars and bellows, going from playful sing-song to crazed yelling, and occasionally, beautiful singing. It's a very varied album in terms of vocal delivery, and Hirsch's experimentation only makes me love this absolutely bizarre album even more. On another not, the instrumentation on this album is extremely varied and bizarre as well, and I love it. It goes from odd and off-kilter bleeps and bloops to screeching violins, to plaintive piano ditties - it's absolutely lovely, and it perfectly complements the music.

Overall, this album is a lovely addition to Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture - the characters seem so real and fleshed-out, Hirsch's unorthodox and oft-changing vocal delivery, coupled with the idiosyncratic and strange instrumentation makes this an extremely unique album that will completely captivate you.