PIZZICATO FIVE TWIGGY PLUS

PIZZICATO FIVE TWIGGY PLUS

вЂTwiggy TwiggyвЂ™, which samples Lalo SchifrinвЂs вЂMan From ThrushвЂ™, Dionne WarwickвЂ™s вЂAnother NightвЂ™ and a snippet of the VenturesвЂ™ вЂHawaii Five OвЂ™, is in its own way the ne plus ultra of what might have been had the cocktail/bachelor pad/tiki thing ever fallen into the right hands. Using photography, costumes, visual and textual iconography, Pizzicato Five assembled a pastiche of the late 50вЂ™s/early 60s Jet Age that is composed entirely of its older component parts вЂ“ fashion, design, architecture, cinema and of course, music вЂ“ and yet also entirely new.

In the case of Pizzicato Five, itвЂ™s probably necessary to take them in as a complete package, adding yet another iteration of postmodernism. Seeing the video that accompanied it (yes, I know, yet another postmodern concept, and a whole new bag as far as processing music goes) is another experience entirely. Hearing a song like вЂTwiggy TwiggyвЂ™ is one thing. I do recall seeing their videos at the time, which were an indispensable adjunct to the music. The first song I remember hearing by them was вЂBaby Love ChildвЂ™, which along with todayвЂ™s selection appeared on the 1994 вЂFive by FiveвЂ™ EP, which I originally picked up on CD. The roots of Pizzicato Five go back into the early 80s, but I first became aware of them after Matador started to compile and repackage their releases for the US market. This was of course nothing new, but Pizzicato Five elevated it to a whole new level. Pizzicato Five, as part of the Japanese Shibuya-kei movement (along with another fave of mine, DJ Towa Tei of Dee Lite) took these ideas and ran with them, mixing it with a remarkable, high-style aesthetic in which the creation extends beyond the sound of the record and well into the performance and packaging. It goes far beyond the artists mentioned above, and the concept extends beyond actual sampling into a kind of stylistic pastiche, in which some or all of the sampling is accomplished via creation and re-creation of a vibe. Going back to the original hip hop Djs like K ool Herc, Africa Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash, who created on the turntables while cutting breaks, on through any number of non-hip hop artists (like Beck) and again to DJs like DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist the idea of stripping down previously recorded music and employing its component parts to create something new is probably the most important musical idea of the last 40 years. The concept of musical collage and the re-purposing of elements of previous recordings, sometimes reduced to the shortest drum break or loop, sometimes done with the heaviest and most unimaginative of hands (see Diddy, P), has had far reaching artistic and legal implications and in the right hands has produced some amazing music. ItвЂ™s one of the few postmodern cultures that I really dig, and it has been a home for some of the most innovative musical minds of the last 35 years (taking it back to the early days of rap). Though youвЂ™d never know it by reading Iron Leg, I have long been a fan of sample-based pop.

I donвЂ™t recall where I first heard Pizzicato Five, though itвЂ™s entirely possible that I read about them, and was interested in them as a concept long before their music ever reached my ears. The tune I bring you today is by far the latest track IвЂ™ve ever featured on Iron Leg, and is a tune that I have loved since I first heard it back in the early 90s. Listen/Download вЂ“ Pizzicato Five вЂ“ Twiggy Twiggy

Pizzicato five twiggy