Listen Up
Snowbyrd
Ken ShimamotoLoyalty to home and love for departed friends are themes that resonate at my house, which is what motivated me to repeatedly spin this disc by a San Antonio outfit I’d never heard before.
Linda Oh Trio
Ken ShimamotoOn the cover of her debut CD, Malaysian-born, Australian-bred bassist Linda Oh appears as a graphic novel heroine, silhouetted against a full moon, gazing out over the rooftops of her adopted home, New York City. Her performanc...
Ben Perowsky
Ken ShimamotoBen Perowsky is a New York-based jazz drummer who’s worked with underground godfather John Zorn, film noir-inspired indie rockers Elysian Fields, and the experimental/soul hybrid group Joan As Police Woman. His early-R...
Steven Wilson
Justin Press As if being Porcupine Tree’s mastermind wasn’t heady enough, vocalist and guitarist Steven Wilson sets out to go even deeper into the underground with his solo debut. For his day job, he appropriates the progr...
Tyshawn Sorey
Ken Shimamoto Tyshawn Sorey’s a drummer best known for his work with pianist Vijay Iyer. He’s a trap-kicker of force and intelligence who effortlessly dominates the cooperative trio Fieldwork’s last album, Door. But t...
NOFX
Steve StewardWhat were you doing 25 years ago? Most people who listen to NOFX today were probably A.) sitting in the corner in preschool, B.) giving their moms stretchmarks, or C.) showing up as a + on their dad’s girlfriend’s p...
Dennis Gonzalez
Ken ShimamotoThis latest outing from the prolific Dallas-based trumpeter – his second for L.A.’s Furthermore Recordings – features an all-star cast of musicians. Besides his longtime collaborator, drummer Michael T.A. Thom...
Seabrook Power Plant
Ken ShimamotoThe words “banjo” and “avant-garde” aren’t exactly strangers. You need think only of Eugene Chadbourne and Mark Growden’s uses of the rustic instrument in distinctively mind-bending contexts....
Mick Medew & the Rumours
Ken ShimamotoAmong Australian rock ‘n’ rollers, Mick Medew is a name to conjure with. Starting in 1981, he fronted the Screaming Tribesmen, a band that hit big Down Under and even got a shot at U.S. MTV with 1987′s Bones a...
Chris Potter Underground
Ken ShimamotoSouth Carolina-born tenor saxophonist Chris Potter emerged in the early ’90s, apprenticed under Charlie Parker’s trumpeter Red Rodney, gained visibility as a sideman with the reunited Steely Dan (he appeared on thei...