Though many players adhere to the traditional Tsugaru-shamisen repertoire — a complex, improvisational style popularized in northern Japan — others have stretched the instrument’s boundaries.  The Yoshida Brothers are one such set of risk-takers, meshing a fast, traditional style with rock, bluegrass, and cinematic styles.

Separated by just two years, Ryōichirō and Ken’ichi Yoshida have found success in their homeland, but they’ve become just as popular in the USA, where they began touring as a duo before even doing so in Japan.  Amid the brothers’ current US tour — a trip that they take each year — they spoke to ALARM about what is “proper” for the shamisen, being seen as a novelty, and the differences in US and Japanese audiences.

(Answers translated by Tatsuya Hayashi)

What do you accomplish together with two shamisens that you could not with just one?

We have more variety of music by playing two.  Basically, a shamisen is a unison instrument, so by using two shamisens, we can divide the parts into two.  …  Sometimes one plays lower and one plays higher.  We can sometimes harmonize, but sometimes one plays a rhythm part and one plays the melody.

Have you encountered people who view your music as a gimmick or novelty?  How would you respond to that?

Sometimes it is good for us, because the shamisen has a lot of potential for many genres of music, and that’s our mission – to show the potential of the instrument.  There might be [criticism], but we don’t really care. (Laughs) The main thing is that we enjoy the music, and we want our audience to enjoy the music.

I interviewed an American shamisen player, Kevin Kmetz, who has a band called God of Shamisen.  The band combines Tsugaru-jamisen with heavy metal and dozens of other styles, and he talked about traditional shamisen masters being upset at what he does.  Have you encountered the same type of anger or opposition?

Heavy metal is going a little far.  (Laughs)  Some people think that our music is not proper for the shamisen.  In our music, we always try to leave some elements that can be performed only by shamisen.  That is something we always keep in mind, so that’s why we really don’t care what people say.

When you recorded Prism in LA, you worked with a number of great American musicians, including Matt Chamberlain and Jesca Hoop.  Who else would you like to collaborate with on future albums?

We don’t have many ideas for vocalists.  [Ken'ichi] mainly listens to jazz and respects artists like Pat Metheny and Chick Corea.  Someday in the future, [we’d love to] collaborate with them.

We haven’t done any shows with a full band yet.  So in the future, if we have a show with a full band in the States, we’d like to have [Matt Chamberlain] as the drummer.

Ken’ichi has said that eating local foods are the “only way to feel or enjoy cities.”  What food have you enjoyed in Chicago, and what do you like about playing in America?

Pizza!  More than food, we really enjoy the reaction from the audience; it’s very different and depends on the location.  It’s very different from Japan too.  We sense a freeness from the audience [in America] – clapping hands and shouting.  Tsugaru-shamisen music is very improvisational, and it’s fun to [communicate in this way] from the artist to the audience.

ALARM leaves no genre unloved in our round-up of 50 albums that didn't receive enough attention in 2009.

Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Old Money (Stones Throw, 1/27/09)

Omar Rodriguez Lopez: "Family War Funding"

The first of many releases in 2009 from prolific guitarist/composer Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Accessible and centered on rock, sounding spacey, funky, progressive, psychedelic, a little jazzy, and a little Latin.

Kevin Hufnagel: Songs for the Disappeared (self-released, 2/3/09)

Kevin Hufnagel: "Tres"

Musical themes come and go, covering swaths of Spanish and Gypsy guitar before reverting back to haunting rock melodies, on this solo acoustic album from highly technical Dysrhythmia guitarist Kevin Hufnagel.

P.O.S: Never Better (Rhymesayers, 2/3/09)

P.O.S.: "Drumroll"

Likely the year's best hip-hop album, Never Better draws on Stefon Alexander’s background in punk and rock music (he plays most of the live instrumentation on the record), making this is an album that categorically defines the indie in indie rap.

Zu: Carboniferous (Ipecac, 2/17/09)

Zu: "Ostia"

Sludgy alt-metal with complex repeated rhythms and free-jazz freakouts. Features Mike Patton on two killer tracks.

The Andreas Kapsalis & Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo: s/t (2/24/09)

The Andreas Kapsalis & Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo: "Shadow Thief"

A Balkan-influenced classical guitarist joins an ethically inspired finger-tapping guitarist for a disc of skill and beauty.

16: Bridges to Burn (Relapse, 2/24/09)

16: "Throw in the Towel"

Dubbed the "Unsane of the West Coast" by ALARM's Jamie Ludwig, 16 issued another hard-hitting riff fest in 2009 with Bridges to Burn, the band's best album to date.

Umlaut: s/t (3/10/09)

Umlaut: "Kitty Puppy"

Mr. Bungle's Bär McKinnon, multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire, issued one hell of an album for this new project — one that filters meticulous melodies and asinine vocals through the lens of a whacked-out lounge group.

Jono El Grande: Neo Dada (Rune Grammofon, 3/16/09)

Jono El Grande: "Oslo Coty Suite"

Fanciful music that's different around every turn. Art rock that weaves through theatrical, progressive, classical, and absurdist styles with influences from Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, King Crimson and Igor Stravinsky.

Kylesa: Static Tensions (Prosthetic, 3/17/09)

Kylesa: "Scapegoat"

Down-tuned dirge metal that rumbles with crust punk, sludge, metal, hardcore, and psychedelia, often laced with atmospheric samples. To date, Static Tensions is Kylesa's most powerful album.

(MF) Doom: Born Like This (Lex, 3/23/09)

Doom: "Cellz"

Dropping his “MF” prefix, the incomparable rapper and Marvel-inspired supervillain delivered another nearly impenetrable wall of rhymes and flow, dizzying listeners with his ever-shifting, slowly delivered lyrics.

The duo's new album, Prism, furthers the dynamism with a group of originals and a group of covers, the latter of which includes Radiohead's "The National Anthem."

The album is a beautiful and diverse journey, and it was included in This Week's Best Albums earlier this month. Enter now to win one of three copies of Prism, supplied by Domo Music Group.

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One entry per person. Contests are only open to ALARM newsletter subscribers. By entering your E-mail address, you are signing up for our exclusive E-mail newsletter. You can always unsubscribe if you don’t like it, and you’ll still be eligible to win any contest that you entered.

Yoshida Brothers: www.domo.com/yoshidabrothers
Domo Music Group: www.domo.com

El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez

The latest in Omar Rodriguez Lopez's ceaseless output, El Grupo Nuevo… functions as a wild Mars-Volta-meets-Hella side project, uniting key players from both outfits.

Hella beat-meister Zach Hill and synth bassist Jonathan Hischke help provide riotous rhythms with Mars Volta bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña, and Omar's long-running musical partner, Cedric Bixler Zavala, tops eight tunes with his quivering falsettos. Omar steers the ship and does his thing, but this is a much spacier and progressive release than a Mars Volta disc.

Overlapping rhythms rule much of Cryptomnesia I, the first of three albums recorded by this super-group back in 2006. The result is dynamite, and the good news is that two more albums are in the pipes despite The Mars Volta being Omar's top priority.

El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez: "They're Coming to Get You, Barbara"
El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez: \"They\'re Coming to Get You, Barbara\"

Isis: Wavering Radiant (Ipecac)

Since Oceanic changed its trajectory, sludge quintet Isis has leveled epic enhancements over its weighty creations.  Each successive album has found the group expanding its melodies, singing vocals, and effects, and Wavering Radiant adds a bit more to the well-established mixture.

Tracks like opener "Hall of the Dead" have a minor throwback effect, incorporating palm-muted triplet guitar riffs and growls that may not have been as throaty since The Red Sea EP.   But the tune also leans on organ and synthesizer, two newer elements that crop up throughout this balanced disc.

There's no significant change of direction here, but The Wavering Radiant is a greater step towards Isis' sonic self-realization.  Make sure to check out "Threshold of Transformation," the great 10-minute jam and album closer below.

Isis: "Threshold of Transformation"
Isis: \"Threshold of Transformation\"

Jon Hopkins: Insides (Domino)

It's been five years since the last full-length album from London pianist / electronic producer Jon Hopkins, a widely acclaimed crossover artist that garners comparisons to Brian Eno. In the meantime, the classically trained musician has created a more-flexible, more-organic landscape to showcase his talents, which shine on Insides.

Alternately distant and engaging, Insides is a beautiful work that scores great guest cameos. Its diverse mix keeps the sound from going stale and will ensure a broad appeal.

Jon Hopkins: "Light Through the Veins"
Jon Hopkins: \"Light Through the Veins\"

Nomo: Invisible Cities (Ubiquity)

Fusing funk, Afrobeat, electronica, jazz, and many other worldly elements, the style of interstate collective Nomo manages to sound much more fluid than it appears on paper.

Led by saxophonist Elliot Bergman, the group has promptly provided a sequel to last June's Ghost Rock with Invisible Cities.  Recorded during the Ghost Rock sessions, this disc scales back the electric-kalimba loops that flavored much of its predecessor, although a few pronounced moments remain — including the lead-in on "Crescent," which sets the table for some show-stealing fancy flutework.

Invisible Cities also incorporates Latin influences ("Waiting"), funky rock ("Patterns"), a dissonant, minimalist guitar pattern with soulful backing vocals ("Ma"), and a half-improvised requiem ("Elijah").  Bands don't often record two discs of killer material at the same time, so this compelling "sister album" may be a portent of greater things to come.

Nomo: "Patterns"
Nomo: \"Patterns\"

Yoshida Brothers: Prism (Domo)

Best known in the US for their accompaniment to Nintendo Wii commercials, these shamisen-wielding brothers present an active homage to traditional Japanese music.  Much more so than previous releases, Prism is greatly infused with other styles, tapping rock, folk, neoclassical, film scores, and more in collaboration with great guest musicians.

The disc opens with a bouncing rendition of "The National Anthem" by Radiohead, setting an energetic tone for an album that gracefully bobs and weaves.  If you're looking for a great introduction to the brothers' catalog, pick this up.

Pink Mountain: s/t (Sickroom)

Another progressive super-group — albeit with much more obscure members — Pink Mountain is an avant-gardist's wet dream.

Sam Coomes (Quasi), Kyle Bruckmann (Lozenge), Gino Robair (Splatter Trio), Scott Rosenberg (P.A.F.), and John Shiurba (Eskimo) comprise the quintet, which draws inspiration from psychedelic jams, free-jazz improvisation, prog rock, and spacey transmissions.

This self-titled disc is the group's second release, following its little-known but acclaimed album (also self-titled) for Frenetic Records.  This one is more cohesive, darker, and more progressive, and anyone into math/stoner/noise realms is sure to love it.

Read Frank Parisi's interview with Pink Mountain.

Pink Mountain: "Ditch Witch"
Pink Mountain: \"Ditch Witch\"

One Day as a Lion, the hip-hop/rock duo of Zach de la Rocha and Jon Theodore, has posted a video for its successful single, "Wild International."

The inexhaustible Zach Hill has another new project, this one with Zac Nelson.  The duo's harmonic weirdness is called Chll Pll and will be released this year on Porter Records.

Omar Rodriguez Lopez, a musician as tireless as Zach Hill (and also a collaborator with him), has finished another new album for The Mars Volta.  The album, titled Octahedron, will be released on June 19.

Hardcore punks Trash Talk have a new EP, East of Eden, that can be heard here.  The band recently began a month-long US tour with The Bronx.

Kayo Dot will record a new album this summer with engineer Randall Dunn (Secret Chiefs 3, Grails).  The group will tour in June and July and later release the album on Hydra Head.

On Tuesday in Seattle, as part of Tom Morello's Justice Tour, three-quarters of Soundgarden — Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd — played three Soundgarden songs with Morello as the second guitarist and Tad Doyle (of TAD) handling the vocals.  The vocals aren't pretty and the footage isn't great…but the whole thing is pretty awesome.

Kid Koala's Slew album is finished and looking at a late summer release.  In the meantime, he's producing an album for songwriter Terence Bernardo.

Tool will tour the US this summer, though dates are unannounced at this point.  Chicago Tribune rock critic Greg Kot has reported rumors of the band headlining Lollapalooza.

Pressing forward for another album with its original lineup, Dinosaur Jr. will release Farm on June 23 via Jagjaguwar.

Yoshida Brothers, a Japanese shamisen duo, will tour the US West Coast for a spell in May before playing a pair of dates in British Columbia.

Busdriver and Tim Fite, both peculiar performers, will perform at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on April 3.

Looking for constant updates about the Faith No More reunion?  Check out this handy blog.

Greenleaf Music is now streaming its entire front-line catalog at its online store.