In the words of the Torah and the music of Toto and Peter Gabriel, now is the season of renewal

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We address many of our prayers, especially at this time of the year, to “Eloheinu v’elohei avoteinu” — Our God and God of our ancestors. In so doing, we acknowledge that in every generation we both appreciate our received heritage from our ancestors but also build the culture anew ourselves.

 

The new project by Michael Hearst, famous for his indefinable klezmer Lit Rock duo One Ring Zero, grapples with how to do both of those things: receive and renew. Instead of using the Tanakh or the Talmud as sources, though, he is employing the diverse arcana of 80s pop. To execute this very particular project, he has enlisted bandmate Allyssa Lamb, long time friend Claudia Gonson (from The Magnetic Fields, Harvard and, briefly, law school) as well as such guest vocalists as Gonson herself, Tanya Donelly, Jamie Lenman and Amanda Palmer. The list is growing as more people hear of the project and ask to sing a song.