Can there be a happier day than receiving a new release from vocal improviser, stylist and stream-of-consciousness artist Shelley Hirsch? Her latest release, far in, far out on Tzadik is a reworking of material heard in O Little Town of East New York (also on Tzadik) and States (on Tellus), along with rare live performances and new works. All material is extremely well recorded or remastered, making this one of the finest sounding Hirsch in the entirety of her recorded output.

To those unfamiliar with Hirsch's approach, hers is an extemporized view on thematic or storied words in extremely unusual song formats. Working with sympathetic synthesizer, electronic and acoustic players, she forges fantastic stories out of the unusual and the mundane. In the studio she layers her voice, conforming and contrasting her ideas in a format that may sound at first somewhat insane, but on repeated listening reveals an intense logic that supports her ideas.

Hirsch is a vocal chameleon with an extended range, both in octaves and in sound palette, and she runs the gamut from singer to chanteuse to twisted little girl, often in the span of seconds. At one moment you may think yourself in a comfy kitchen on Long Island hearing the latest gossip, and at the next you're cringing in fear before the crazed rantings of an ancient crone. Hirsch's music may be an acquired taste, but to these ears it's one that rewards the listener with a vocal experience unlike any current or previous vocalist.

The disc is broken into five sections: The Vidzer Family representing autobiographical pieces reworked from O Little Town... and States, War of Dreams with words by Angela Carter, For Jerry, a live performance and homage to composer/performance artist Jerry Hunt (who provides "elect ronic music" for those pieces) and Sitting in a Room. Those familiar with any of these pieces will be impressed at the care taken in their transfer, and the clarity of the many ideas that rebound throughout the recordings.