Consumer Guide Album

Golem: Tanz [Corason Digital, 2014]
Produced by bassist to the weirdos Tony Maimone, this all-acoustic klezmer sextet is amped up only marginally by a guest guitarist you'll hardly notice up against Annette Kogan's accordion and Jeremy Brown's violin. The title song translates "dance," naturally, and is more frenetic than and very nearly as compelling as most of the many African-inspired calls to that activity. Equally compelling are not one, not two, but three Kogan-penned love-songs-with-a-twist: "Mikveh Bath," in which a virgin bride fantasizes about her husband-to-be as she purifies herself; "Miskayt," in which a man and woman "so ugly you could cry" discover each other's good points; and "Love You All the Time," in which a perpetually worried Kogan implores her husband not to run with scissors or go on Facebook. Inspirational Verse: "We don't believe in heaven/We just want to die happy." A-