Pizzicato Five Albums (25)
'Five Minutes of Pizzicato Five'
Release Date 5/29/2006
Tracks 11
Label Sony/Columbia
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Ca Et La Du Japon'
Release Date 3/6/2001
Tracks 16
Label Sony International
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Bossa Nova 2001'
Release Date 11/14/2000
Tracks 16
Label Sony International
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Bossanova 2001 would turn out to be Keitaro Takanami's swan song with the Pizzicato Five and, as such, it's a beautiful testament to his songwriting skills. (But, like Paul McCartney after the Beatles, his solo material just hasn't been as good.) Calling on Keigo Oyamada (aka Cornelius) to produce, the album is less about the bossa nova of the title and more a trip through every late-'60s record in Yasuharu Konishi's voluminous collection. "Sweet Soul Review" is "Sweet Soul Music" updated, "Magic Carpet Ride" is 1967-era psychedelia, "Hallelujah Hare Krishna" is a funked-up Traffic pastiche. It's the Takanami songs that hook the most, too -- "Peace Music" and "Eclipse" are some of the finest from his time in the band. Top-notch production, as well, make this one of most satisfying of all their releases. ~ Ted Mills, All Music Guide
'The Fifth Release from Pizzicato Five'
Release Date 11/14/2000
Tracks 14
Label Matador
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What The Critics Say
While it was only the group's fifth American release, the Pizzicato Five had compiled a lengthy discography in Japan, and the weight of their past sounds like it caught up with them on what proved to be their swan song. Fifth Release from Pizzicato Five isn't appreciably different from what preceeded it; Yasuharu Konishi's songs are still a frothy blenderful of ultra-stylish pop, equal parts Bacharach, Motown, '60s kitsch and '90s electro. Maki Nomiya remains the perfect vocalist for this melange; her little-girl vocals (often in Japanese) seldom weighing down the songs with emotional complexity. Yet on the whole, the album is missing the freshness that was a vital component of the duo's sound. Disc-opener "A Perfect World" illustrates the problem perfectly; its frenetic stomp and swirling strings sound like vintage P5, but the melody is reminiscent of too many other numbers in the group's back catalog (which, of course, are often reminiscent of songs by Konishi's inspirations), and despite all the energy, it never takes off. The most successful songs here come shaken, not stirred; "LOUDLAND!" and "Tout, Tout Pour Ma Cherie" inject some rock grit into the suave surroundings and come off authentically giddy, while the seven-minute-plus "Darlin' of Discotheque" is one of Konishi's evocative near-instrumentals, with Philly International violins morphing into a Beatlesque raga midway through. In a note more sad than ironic, the pair close their career with a simple pop song as genuinely sweet and sprightly as the others here seem labored. Appropriately titled "Goodbye Baby & Amen," it's at least a reminder of the Pizzicato Five at their considerable best. ~ Dan LeRoy, All Music Guide
'Sweet Pizzicato Five'
Release Date 10/1/1999
Tracks 9
Label Pinnacle
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What The Critics Say
A year after the breakthrough This Year's Girl, the Pizzicato Five once again transformed, this time into a sleek house music machine, releasing Sweet Pizzicato Five, a collection of sparse grooves over which Nomiya Maki becomes a disco diva. The result is mixed -- for every "Flower Drum Song," a seven-minute spacy echo of a song, there's a "Catchy" or a "KDD," which overstay their welcomes at over seven minutes each. The record is surprisingly free of the genre-bending inventiveness that usually marks their work. Still, the stomping "Tout Va Bien" is a fine song, as is Takanami's "Cosmic Blues." The songs' potential didn't go to waste, however -- the hard-to-find vinyl only Pizzicato Free Soul album features some terrific remixes, which turned up later on other releases. ~ Ted Mills, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This Year's Girl was more than the culmination of a Japanese indie media blitz that had started back in early 1991, it was the album the Pizzicato Five had been looking to make since their inception, and one that has influenced all their albums since. It finds Yasuharu Konishi, Keitaro Takanami, and Nomiya Maki on top of their game. This Year's Girl is very polished, but also has an airy, offhanded quality about it, in the way that the whole album seems to sample itself, with glimpses of songs popping up in the mix before their due. The centerpiece of the album, "Twiggy Twiggy," is to the band what "Satisfaction" is to the Rolling Stones -- instantly catchy, with a recognizable riff made up of samples from the Ventures (those timpanis!), Jimmy Smith, and Lalo Schifrin turned into something greater that the sum of its parts. It's a sign of the creativity of this period that there are plenty more, equally great songs sharing the CD. "Baby Love Child" cuts between Sonny & Cher flower power and the sophisticated groove from the band's own "Couples." "I Wanna Be You" is a laid-back midnight groove a scant couple of years before acid jazz. "Party," a cover of a 1973 song by Haruomi Hosono (pre-YMO), is all bumpin' disorienting rhythms. "Thank You," from an earlier EP, is stripped down to its tuneful essence. Yet all this would be techno diddling about if Konishi and Takanami weren't accomplished songwriters. Like De La Soul, Yasuharu Konishi had taken the potential of sampling, looping, and reconstruction to its pop limit. Even years later it sounds ahead of its time, plus it's a joyous, fun album. ~ Ted Mills, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
In early 1994, the remaining members of the Pizzicato Five (Yasuharu Konishi and Nomiya Maki) played in America for the first time, and it shows in Overdose. The album is a tribute to New York City, soul music, and Stevie Wonder in particular. Wonder-esque instrumentation and harmonica pop up in "Questions," "Hippie Day," and especially "On the Sunny Side of the Street," one of their best singles. Elsewhere, Konishi is lifting riffs from the not-exactly-New-Yorker-but-it'll-do Donovan ("Airplane"), using a rapper for the first time (Takagi Kan on "Statue of Liberty"), and, while "Superstar" may sound like Lenny Kravitz, adding a lush orchestral break American artists would never think of. The album loses some energy when it hits the ten-minute remix of "The Night Is Still Young," and none of the following tracks apart from the closing number match the energy of the opening seven. A mixed bag, but it does show that a Takanami-less Pizzicato Five could carry on. ~ Ted Mills, All Music Guide
