'Juliet' a CD calculated to make you think and feel

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 14, 2004 by BILL REED THE GAZETTE

Title: "Juliet & th' Spirits (a Children's Opera Rehearsal)" by Josef Dlaboha Kuzma

Style: Weird pop

Personnel: Joe Kuzma (guitar, piano, vibraphone, sitar, percussion, organ, bells, delay, vacuum, drills, flutes, tapes, vocals); Veselka Kuzma (cello); Stephanie J. (vocals); Colin Oldberg (trumpet); Renee Francese (violin); Aleksa and Oksana (voices); Fraulein Burstner (trumpet); Ian Dameron (drums, percussion); Craig Haller (guitar, percussion, vocals).

What this guy is all about: Joe Kuzma is a college student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs who spends his evenings writing about music for The Independent, and spends his free time recording his music.

He has trouble thinking of music and money as being related, so he has no commercial goals to speak of.

"My intent was to make an album that was very conscious of Being," Kuzma says. "If people enjoy the album and feel something, then I hope they pass it on to somebody they love."

"Juliet" is Kuzma's third album.

How the CD happened: Without any promotion, Kuzma's CDs have found their way into hands around town. One of his fans is Adam Leech, owner of The Leechpit rock 'n' roll lifestyle store and founder of www.leechpit.com.

Leech convinced Kuzma to allow him to release the albums through the Leechpit Recording Co.

"I've listened to it a couple hundred times, and I'm still not quite sure what (Kuzma's) trying to get at. I get more each time I listen," Leech says. "He's just a weird guy. I love it."

CD vitals: 14 tracks, 36 minutes, produced by Josef Dlaboha Kuzma

Available at: The Leechpit, 708 N. Weber St., for $10

Review: Another batch of beauty has emerged from the mysterious reaches of Joe Kuzma's bedroom.

"Juliet" is more a sound collage than a collection of songs. Trumpets, spoken word, childrens' choirs, bells, singing, and atmospheric noise all swirl together to create the backdrop of this work.

It reminds me of being a kid, listening to a cheap Walkman through headphones in my bed late at night.

The music is fuzzy and distant, and the songs bleed together as I drift in and out of consciousness. By the morning, I'm not sure what I heard and what I dreamed.

As odd and atmospheric as "Juliet" is on one level, Kuzma still doesn't hide his pop sensibilities. The music is crammed with snatches of pretty melodies, sweet vocal harmonies and memorable lyrics.

At times, the interplay between the voices and the cello is achingly beautiful.

The album is sweet and charming at one moment, and creepy the next moment: "I drew a picture of my best friend dead/white lilies were all around her head."

Kuzma's ruminations on being bring to mind everything from Descartes' assertion that he exists because he has conscious thought to Heidegger's ruminations on the "dasein." Ultimately, I hear this album as life-affirming music.

The ideas are dense, but the music is light and easy.

"Juliet" undoubtedly will leave some listeners cold, but others -- like me -- will find her beguiling and addictive.

Catch 'em live: Nope.

CONTACT US: If you're releasing an album soon, let Bill Reed know at reed@gazette.com or call 636-0276.