This is pretty cool. Pitom, a band I’ve raved about at length here and here, has released a new single (and video) in honor of Yom Kippur. The song is entitled “Ki Anu Amekha” and the official video is below:
Here is a snippet from the recent review of Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes:
It is, then, with satisfaction and gratitude that I confirm Pitom’s Yoshie Fruchter as the type of artist you love to praise, because he makes it easy.
Pitom’s sophomore effort is entitled Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes. If that sounds a bit heavy, consider that the album is an attempt to grapple, in musical terms, with Yom Kippur (the Jewish day of repentance). Fruchter is an observant Jew, which makes the subject matter and the tone of the proceedings easier to understand. He also has described Pitom’s music as “punkassjewjazz” which should give you an idea of how serious he is about not taking himself too seriously.
Both Pitom albums have been released by John Zorn’s Tzadik label, which features artists like Rashanim, Jamie Saft and Zorn himself, who are able to incorporate jazz and klezmer with punk energy and classical proficiency. The result is a series of recordings that span musical and cultural history, always straining past the contemporary avant-garde. In Pitom’s case, we get rock and roots with tasty smatterings of surf music, thrash and free jazz. Because the line-ups are identical (guitar, bass, drums and violin), the music inexorably recalls Starless and Bible Black-era King Crimson. Few artists, presumably, would be offended by this comparison, and while it seems accurate, Pitom has definitely established a very unique and identifiable sound of its own.
It is obvious that Fruchter is very much a student of all musical genres, so the shifting styles are never abrupt or distracting; indeed, the never-static dynamic gives the songs a restless edge. The guitar, already heavy on the first album, is heavier and a bit darker this time out. There are discernible elements that favorably recall both Mogwai’s purposeful crunch and Joe Satriani’s pyrotechnic shred-fests. Drummer Kevin Zubek and bassist Shanir Blumenkranz are at once a steadying force and the engine that keeps things moving forward and, occasionally, sideways. Violinist Jeremy Brown is much more than an accompaniment for the electric guitar; his playing is both raw and refined, sometimes on the same song. As dominant as the guitar sounds throughout, Brown is constantly embellishing and augmenting.
