Reviews:
(Dead Angel no.46) Even for a PE release this is bizarre shit. I know absolutely nothing about this band and the cryptic packaging does not reveal much else, but the band is coming from a lot of different directions using tape loops, samples, and heavily mutated orchestration to create something... something... um, different. The best comparison i can think of, which isn't really true but is sort of in the same neighborhood, is Mauve Sideshow. Lots of groaning tapes in the background and what sound like devolved and processed wind-chimes turning in the wind in the foreground, with plenty of other peculiar bits drifting about in the space between. Much of it sounds like the eerie pipe-organ sound everyone associates with PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, if that helps, only... stranger. Some of the sounds and the overall approach remind me at times of Vox Barbara, although their intentions are different (i think). My favorite of the five tracks on here is "Pachinko," which features lots of swell tremelo sounds and drones, sounding like a science-fiction laboratory in which machinery is slowly switching itself on and off. This band would make excellent soundtracks for sci-fi movies and video games, i think. The music here is eerie and evocative without being jarring and unsettling, and thus would also work well as background music. Throw this on at work and see what your co-workers say, ha! - RKF
(Bananafish no.16) In the ceaseless battle between organs and harpsichords, the Shlomo Artzi Orchestra, contrary to popular expectations, has come up from behind a five-or-so-year hiatus and scored a remarkable goal for the brethren of infinite sustain. Immediately following the opening forty-second hodgepodge of moments plucked like gray hairs from two-dollar records, the Pizza Little Party CDR (Public Eyesore) stakes its claim with the everlasting sonorities of electric organ. 'Jericones (ushinawareta otoko),' while obviously proud of the great plays of previous superstars such as Bengt Haembraus and Gyorgi Ligeti, tempers its adherence to organ purists with loops of rusty rock grinders. The beat-ridden, acid friendly 'Pachinko (moon)' accrues one foul by attempting to curry flavor with advertising executives, and the unwavering support of echo may draw questions from some referees about a few moves, but the deft contributions of Joseph Copolovich to this exhilarating struggle cannot be denied. - Alesandro Moreschi III
(All Music Guide) OK, so you think you¹ve heard it all: the psychedelic, the drones, the electro-acoustic improvising and the experimental freak-outs. Meet Shlomo Artzi Orchestra, the project of Joseph Copolovich. Pizza Little Party, released in 2001 as a CDR on Public Eyesore is the ultimate brain melt: at times scary, always puzzling and obscure, but nonetheless a cohesive and compelling work. The SAO¹s favorite tools seem to be the electric organ, the clean electric guitar and tons (I mean TONS) of echo. The album opens with 'Roribosold 1,' a very short collage of vinyl edits. It is the metaphorical blow to your skull that will keep on echoing in your innards for the next hour. 'Jericones (Ushinawareta Otoko)' is a thick organ drone, echo-drenched and spiced up with bits of bargain-bin vinyl. 'Pachinko (Moon)' works up a hypnotic beat, shaking off the drone torpor to become a krautrock/psychedelic monster. But nothing tops 'Ochirej (Miss Apple),' a 23-minute extravaganza where repetitive motifs of cascading guitar notes and isolated drum strokes reverberate endlessly, their ripples cut by the zaniest collection of sound bits (from Baroque harpsichord to mambo). The music hovers just above amateurishness, although it very well might be intentional. What¹s interesting here is that Copolovich has managed to push the drone/psych ethos into the experimental realm without resorting to harsh noise. Pizza Little Party is the sonic equivalent of some comedia dell¹arte being performed at one end of a gigantic concrete tunnel while you stand at the other. Care to listen? - Francois Couture
(Neo-Barbaric no.16) Five songs of drama including slow atmospheres and"bouncing off the walls" loneliness, with lush movie sound influences amid wavering free form tinkering. Everything comes from a calm meditative base, then wavers with vibes of textural tension and structured acting out. It seems designed to lull you into a hapless drift of synchronized listlessness with just enough distraction provoking thought from the trance. This is great to just drone out to on a lazy day of indulgence or introspection. I'm fading in and out of this thing as if it was only occasionally looking for my attention, satisfied just to do its own thing while I do mine. Passive whispery wandering for a mellow stasis and nearly lifeless animation. Solid! - CC
|
