Kishi Bashi, Pip the Pansy
Majestic Theatre 115 King St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Max Ritter
Kishi Bashi
Omoiyara, the May release from violinist Kaoru Ishibashi, aka Kishi Bashi, is named for a Japanese word that loosely translates to something between compassion and empathy. Based on Ishibashi’s investigation into the wave of World War II xenophobia that led the U.S. government to put Japanese and Japanese American people in concentration camps, Omoiyara manages to be beautiful and uplifting, a testament to Kishi Bashi’s sound and spirit. It’s a delightful mix of indie pop filled out with symphonic sounds in the vein of Sufjan Stevens (minus the obvious Christian influences). Indie cred check: Ishibashi played with of Montreal and fronted the aughties Brooklyn post-rock pop band Jupiter One.
press release: Kishi Bashi shared an animated video directed by Julia and Mike McCoy for his song “Violin Tsunami,” off his acclaimed new album Omoiyari.
"Violin Tsunami" by Kishi Bashi
“The inspiration for the song that came from a violin that was gifted to me called ‘Tsunami.’ The luthier, who is Japanese-Brazilian and an ordained buddhist priest, told me he embodied his prayers for the victims and survivors of the Fukushima tsunami tragedy into the making of the instrument,” explains Kishi Bashi. “I immediately began to play it and was inspired to create a piece of music about the injustice of the Japanese-American Incarceration of WWII. In the video, the spirits are ultimately transformed into a peaceful bed of lanterns that embody the spirit of healing and the transmission of memory.” Released on May 31st via Joyful Noise Recordings, Omoiyari has been earning glowing press from outlets including The New York Times, NPR’s All Things Considered, NPR Music (‘First Listen,’ ‘New Music Friday’), Noisey, Smithsonian Magazine, Paste and Exclaim!.
In June he is touring the U.S. on a sold-out run of intimate shows, but Kishi Bashi has also announced an extensive fall North American headline tour.
Channeling the hard-learned lessons of history, and reckoning with the country’s past internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, Omoiyari is an uncompromising musical statement on the turbulent socio-political atmosphere of present-day America. “I was shocked when I saw white supremacy really starting to show its teeth again in America,” Kishi Bashi says. “My parents are immigrants, they came to the United States from Japan post–World War II. As a minority I felt very insecure for the first time in my adult life in this country. I think that was the real trigger for this project.” Kishi Bashi recognized parallels between the current U.S. administration’s constant talk of walls and bans, and the xenophobic anxieties that led to the forced internment of Japanese-Americans in the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor. So he immersed himself in that period, visiting former prison sites and listening to the stories of survivors, while developing musical concepts along the way. The unique creative process behind Omoiyari will be documented in a film scheduled for release in early 2020.
“I didn’t want this project to be about history, but rather the importance of history, and the lessons we can learn,” Kishi Bashi reflects. “I gravitated toward themes of empathy, compassion, and understanding as a way to overcome fear and intolerance. But I had trouble finding an English title for the piece. Omoiyari is a Japanese word. It doesn't necessarily translate as empathy, but it refers to the idea of creating compassion towards other people by thinking about them. I think the idea of omoiyari is the single biggest thing that can help us overcome aggression and conflict.”
“the album is impressionistic, not didactic; the choruses are about loneliness and lost love, not outrage. ‘Omoiyari' grapples with heritage and assimilation, displacement and survival, mourning and coping, all tucked into its plush arrangements. It makes peace with history, but does not forget.” — The New York Times
“another sure-footed surprise from an artist who never stops seeking new ways to engage, connect and delight.” — NPR Music