Shugo Tokumaru

It's been almost exactly a year since I've written in here. I've thought about it from time to time and there are a few drafts and ideas, but haven't had a "burst" of inspiration to write in here for what feels like years.

   It was around 11pm on Christmas eve and I was craving something new musically. I wasn't sure if I just needed a new band to hear, or a new song was about to come out. I think in my head I wanted to hear/write something that sounded really wide, lots of feedback, sounds you've never heard, maybe a healthy dose of heavy and obscure. Scanned through my music for a while and tried to do the whole "bands you might like" thing from bands I thought were a good start to what I needed. Tried making music on my own for a while, thinking maybe I'd get close. While very much unsuccessfully feeling around in the dark on a few instruments, I came upstairs to take a shit. I put on an interview I've seen 230 times and after it, it went straight into this bizarre band. I honestly thought it was an ad at first.
  

   The music was immediately goofy to me and I laughed, but after 10 or so seconds I was completely frozen. It was strangely familiar, but it was like seeing colors I had never seen before for my ears. It was exactly what I needed, but didn't have a single thing on my stupid "check list" that I thought I wanted to hear. There wasn't anything even remotely heavy, atmospheric, or really that obscure about it.  

 
   It was fantastic. It seemed to so casually take you on these fast paced, vividly colorful, layered and magnetic twists and turns that just seemed to keep unraveling. Strange time signatures, lyrics in Japanese, instruments I've never heard of, and song arrangements I would've never dreamed up. The music was wildly entertaining like a sweet dessert, yet enough complexity and depth that felt like a main course. They even had a puppet playing a handmade tambourine. It seemed like these guys have been listening to/making this music for 300 years, rather than just simply buying a bunch of stupid shit at a dollar store and writing pop songs. 

    This is the first album and so far only album of his I've checked out. Yep. Not theirs, his. After an entire night of this album on loop, I learned that the band name is also the name of the person who writes, plays, and records all the music you hear on the records. Really kicked things up yet another notch finding that out. I can't wait to listen to all the rest of his albums in the days to come.

 To me, my musical taste isn't really that different from anything else I permanently gravitate towards in life. "Shocking" comedians are funny for a little bit, super spicy food has its place, and off the wall music can be inspiring. Finding anything in life that checks all the boxes with just the right ingredients required not just to get your attention, but holds your attention? Hold onto friendships, writers, bands.. anything like that.

-Novak