Building Up while Falling Down by Yuzo Nieto
Denver singer-songwriter Yuzo Nieto is a brown man in a white, white world. Sure, race shouldn’t matter—but honestly, not acknowledging color is almost as bad as being judgmental about it. Nieto’s self-released full-length Building Up While Falling Down is a kaleidoscopic rainbow, and that's a good thing. A variety of cultural influences are all over it: The album travels from Latin jazz to Seattle electro-pop to San Francisco folk to a secret song that is pure Miami bass (done up acoustic-style, as befits Nieto's main mode of music-making). It's an urban lounge record for people who can't sit still. The disc also seems to draw inspiration from some hometown heroes: Building Up has all the lyrical cleverness of Chris Adolf (of Bad Weather California), the broken-hearted sincerity of Ian Cooke, and the guitar fingers of Nathaniel Rateliff (of Born in the Flood and The Wheel). But there’s nothing derivative about Nieto and his worldly muses. His Spanish-tinged croon is uniquely his own, as is his far-reaching musical style. The boy may be brown, but he writes songs in Technicolor. And his dedication to the craft is concisely summed up on the track “Pama.†On it he wails, “I would give my life to sing to you.†And by “you,†he means everyone everywhere in this wide, wide world.
~Tuyet Nguyen, Onion
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Those familiar with Yuzo Nieto's other projects won't be expecting his music with Yuzo Nieto and the Hand That Rocks the Dreidel. It's definitely not the wildly experimental free jazz of Pink Hawks or the earnest, visionary folk of Pee Pee. Instead, this band is a blend of non-Western popular musical styles, jazz and electronic pop. But rather than a misguided attempt to hash together music for the appearance of originality, the sound here is wholly organic. Avi Sherbill's percussion set-up goes beyond basic drums, incorporating found objects that produce unique sounds and lend an air of post-industrial chic to the outfit's songs. And while Yuzo's voice is soulful and melodic, like the band's absurd name, it is subversive in its lyrical aims — both sublime and parodically profane.
~Tom Murphy, Westword
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Denver's premier minimalist acoust-o-matic Bossanova troupe, Yuzo Nieto and the Hand that Rocks the Dreidel. Check out myspace.com/yuzonieto for their acoustic guitar cover of Sir Mix-A-Lot's infamous "Baby Got Back," second in its insane inanity only to the Ben Folds cover of the good Dr.'s "Bitches Ain't Shit." Now that's some real conversation for yo ass!
-Adam Leech, Colorado Springs Independent
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The substance of "yuzo nieto and the hand that rocks the dreidel" is eclectic. Its sound ranges from avant garde to old-timey jazz and bossa nova with hues of electronica splashed about. Yuzo Nieto's formal training as an opera singer and jazz saxophonist underscore the playful elements of poetic parody present in his lyricism. Adding to this mix of the profound and puckish, the irrepressible Avi Sherbill transforms percussion into performance art, releasing tantric tantrums on his home-made instrument, a tire-bass drum adorned with various found objects including cardboard boxes, lampshades, and soda cans. Come be a part of this musical, and visual experience and get rocked by yuzo nieto and the hand that rocks the dreidel.
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In November of 82' around the time of a massive Colorado blizzard that is still talked about today, i came out my momma in a mess of feces. Upon inhaling my first breath of air, some of my very own prenatal fecal waste that had accompanied my descension found itself in close proximity to my open mouth. i choked, to say the least, but looked death in the face and proclaimed that i would not end my nubile life in a whirl of scatological permeation.
-Yuzo
