
photo by Lauren Slusher
Although Seattle-born violin virtuoso K(aoru) Ishibashi isn’t new to indie rock — he’s recorded and toured with the likes of Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche, and of Montreal — he only just released is solo debut, 151a, this year. Using loop pedals to create multi-layered chorus of each song, Kishi Bashi will easily remind you of early Andrew Bird, Atlas Sound, and others, but with even more brilliant complexity. We’d been waiting to get him on air after first hearing 151a, and we finally got the chance during our broadcast from CMJ Union last month, when he performed four songs from the album plus a cover of what he joked was “from a Seattle band… Soundgarden,” but turned out to actually be The Shins’ “Kissing the Lipless.” Check out the videos from the session now:
Watch the full performance: