Isotope

Tatsuya Yoshida has probably now supplanted James Brown as the hardest working man in show business. He leads several groups in addition to his long-standing Ruins, participates in several more, and even finds time to do some freelance drumming as well, with people like Satoko Fujii. Isotope is the latest release from Korekyojin, which consists of Yoshida on drums, Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Ground Zero) on bass, and Kido Natsuki (Bondage Fruit) on guitar. Musically, this is clearly Yoshida's baby: He wrote all the tunes, and they all bear the stamp of his patented polyrhythmic, stop-on-a-dime-and-change-direction, bouncy, funky, avant-prog fun. The songs are all fairly complex, and clearly composed pretty much all the way through. Given those parameters, you might not think this album would be as fun as it is, but that's part of Yoshida's genius. He's a precision-oriented whirling dervish of a drummer, and Mitsuru's got a big, fat, punchy bass sound and chops to spare. Natsuki may not be as well-known, but he's a damn good guitar player who nimbly plays the composed parts and gets in some nice (albeit brief) solos when the tunes give him a bit of room. The songs may be challenging to play, but they're a lot of fun to listen to, and the virtuosity of the band really becomes apparent when you realize that Isotope was recorded live (except for the first track). Yoshida/Ruins fans will eat this up, but anyone interested in punk/funk instrumentals or math rock should really check this out. Hot stuff.