PIZZICATO 5
The Fifth Release From Matador
Matador Records
www.matadorrecords.com

A host of cheeky good times, madcap cabarets, hard drivin' beats and soaring sunny choruses bring retro-chic to its scholarly conclusion for wigged out Pizzicato Five's latest ode to dance fever.  The succinctly titled, "The Fifth Release from Matador," zips with exuberance, splashing lavish orchestration with snide jet set decadence, sprinkling coy, kittenish sexiness with cartoon explosions of ironic self-detachment.  A musical lesson plan for the last forty years of DJ culture, "Fifth," concocts a curriculum of anything goes trippiness that swerves from hyperbolic lounge jazz arpeggios to chunky Memphis soul, from pastel and paisley cocktails to dreamboat hip-hop and rebooted shindigs.  Rocketing beyond Art of Noise aesthetics and planting them firmly on the dance floor, Five's, "Fifth," swings with elated charms and subtle wit.                                                     John Noyd