The last we heard from multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Shugo Tokumaru, he was dazzling many with his Beatles/Beach Boys-indebted pop songs and amazing all with his spectacular feat of playing 404 instruments simultaneously. No one has been able to capture the latter for YouTube scholars yet, but some say that if you wish hard enough and drink long enough, Tokumaru will appear to you in a vision as some sort of indie Vishnu, arms playing infinite banjos and tin whistles, kotos and wooden fish. I may be veering a tad too much into last night’s ether-induced dream, but it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of Tokumaru’s music. There is no denying his virtuosity with a good hundred-and-some (seriously) traditional and non-traditional Japanese instruments or his ability to pen effortlessly gorgeous pop tunes, as evidenced on his latest album, Port Entropy. Port Entropy is Tokumaru’s fourth album, his first since the exquisite 2008 set Exit, and will be available in North America via Polyvinyl on February 15 (the album was released last year in Japan on P-Vine). “Malerina,” a tasty tater from the album, can be found here.
Port Entropy tracklisting:
01. Platform
02. Tracking Elevator
03. Linne
04. Lahaha
05. Rum Hee
06. Laminate
07. River Low
08. Straw
09. Drive-Thru
10. Suisha
11. Orange
12. Malerina
• Shugo Tokumaru: http://www.shugotokumaru.com
• Polyvinyl: http://www.polyvinylrecords.com
