The Mercury Lounge (Venue Partner)
217 E Houston St
212.260.4700
This event has passed.
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Shugo Tokumaru
- When
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Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 (10:30pm)
- Where
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Directions: F, JMZ at Essex and Delancey or F, V at 2nd Ave
- Price
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$10
- Links
A self-proclaimed master of more than 100 instruments, avant-folkie Shugo Tokumaru fuses traditional Japanese tropes with the more-precious-than-thou tweeisms of Sufjan Stevens and dissonant orchestrations of Animal Collective. Using a mélange of deftly mixed guitars, mandolins, strings, harmonicas, bike wheels, ambient atmospheres, and found sounds, Tokumaru's complex structures retain a strangely universal appeal. Recent release Exit is a far less tentative endeavor than earlier, more minimalist masterworks Night Piece and L.S.T. — a full-throttled mash of bizarre instruments and off-kilter harmonies. The singer's soft keen, meanwhile, is so stunningly emotional that his Japanese is almost an afterthought. After all, does it really matter what someone actually says when what they're saying is unequivocally clear?
