Bright Whites

I love Kishi Bashi. How did this happen? Who is he? Well, let me geek out for a bit and tell you!

I first saw him as a member of of Montreal (lower case o). They had a really big touring band, and he was in the back playing violin and various other instruments at the last few shows I went to. oM posted on Facebook/Twitter that he was doing a Kickstarter for his first solo album, and I was like heck yeah I can get behind that. I didn't even bother listening to the EP he had put out, I just donated some money and picked a cool reward and kind of forgot about it. I got some emails with videos he posted of some of his new songs, but I kind of ignored them for awhile. Right before his record came out, I watched the videos and was like "Whoa, wait a sec, these are really good!" and I got pretty excited for his record, 151a. He ended up being funded way over his goal which is really awesome to see that kind of support - over $20,000.

My Kickstarter reward package showed up and I opened it and was pretty blown away. I got a bunch of autographed things in it, including a signed white vinyl, and my name was in the credits - super cool!

I didn't listen to the record right away because I had a bunch of stuff going on, and I think I forgot about it for a little bit. I put the album on my computer and iPod and listened to it a bit distractedly a few times, not enough to really get a feel for it. of Montreal was about to go on tour, and the opener was none other than Kishi Bashi! They had a new album out at about the same time, so I had spent a lot of time listening to that instead of Kishi Bashi but once I saw that, I had 151a on repeat for a little bit and was really getting into it - so catchy and fun, and really really musically well done. Definitely spent more time listening to oM to get pumped for the shows (yes, shows, I went to 3 shows that tour...) as they got closer, though, so my love for Kishi Bashi hadn't fully bloomed yet.

Show time. He came out, and it was literally just him and a violin. Well and a couple loop pedals. I honestly wasn't expecting a ton, and the people around me had no clue who he even was. He talked a bit, played a few songs that were super pretty, and the crowd was kind of into it. Then he started using his loop pedals, and beat boxing into his loop pedals, and the crowd just went nuts. Everybody was dancing and having fun and really enjoyed his set. I'll admit I was definitely dancing and he was just all around great and fun and super grateful.

I went to their show the next night in Seattle, and again in DC a few weeks later. At the DC show we missed him opening, but as we were walking in he was standing right there talking to fans and I was too shocked/starstruck to say anything or tell my friend to stop and explain what was happening.

His shows were great. I listened to 151a a ton afterwards and couldn't help dancing a bit on the plane back from DC. They were just so good and fun and innovative in the fact his main instrument is a violin (played like a guitar during half the show) and loop pedals. Sometimes at work when it was slow I'd put my iPod on, and for like a month straight it was 151a, and Amee (http://ameereviewstheuniverse.blogspot.com/) would get so annoyed and pick on me/it every time the song Bright Whites came on, which opens with a a few Japanese lines repeated over and over. She'd pretend she was singing along with it in a kind of ear piercing range (KEE YA KEE YA!) and I'd get the hint and try to only play it when she wasn't there.

Everything I heard of Kishi Bashi I loved, and I got pretty obsessed trying to find other stuff. I got his EP and some Kickstarter only songs. I saw part of his MFNW show at Doug Fir, and saw him at Holocene a few months ago. Again, really great. At the Holocene show he did a few covers - Enya and The Shins - which were SO GOOD and so cool to hear as a "violin" version. He played at Willamette a few months back but I had to work so I missed him and I'm still bummed about that.

Holocene show and YES he's wearing a silver sequined bow-tie and suspenders. 

Kishi Bashi has some really awesome music. I've "forced" other people to listen to him, and they've really liked him, too. There are a few other reasons I think he's so awesome, though. He tweeted/instagrammed about some stamp cards he(/his dad?) made over the winter and they were super nice. He recorded a Christmas single (It's Christmas, But It's Not White Here in Our Town) on a snowflake shaped white flexi (WHAT) through Joyful Noise.

Pic fron Joyful Noise

It was a limited edition, so I jumped on getting one. It was a "name your own price" thing with some proceeds going to charity, and some of the higher paying people would get some special stuff, so I was like that's cool, I'll pay a little more than I normally would. It showed up, I got a button, it was beautiful. Nothing extra, so I assumed I wasn't in the "top tier" of donations. No biggie. BUT WAIT. A few weeks later, around New Years, I get this familiar looking postcard in my mailbox - one of the stamp cards he posted about earlier!

Happy early birthday TO ME!

It got wet and smeared a bit (woo hoo Oregon winters!) but how cool?! It's hanging on my fridge right now, you better believe it! While he was on tour, he would tweet sometimes about the "Kishi Bashi Hotline" being open, which was just a google voice number he had I think, and to call or text him cuz they were bored on the road. I always missed it/was too nervous, but one night he tweeted his number and said to text him with Spring Break pictures and he'd call a few people back. I obviously had nothing good so I texted him a picture of a waterfall at Silver Falls. I didn't hear anything back so I was like ho hum what did I expect. So about an hour after I texted him, my phone buzzes and I had totally forgotten about him. Lo and behold, this is what I saw when I picked up my phone (and YES I added him to my contacts, duh)

His most recent tour, he posted he was going to be snap chatting with anyone that wanted to, so obviously I added him. Most of his involved tequila. It was pretty cool to get snap chats from him, and to send him some and know he had opened them.



I love Kishi Bashi. His music is super unique and fun, and he connects with fans in cool ways. This is a song off of 151a, and the video is such a cool concept (featuring common idioms you can hunt and search for, like "Bees Knees"). Plus it's got some of Montreal member appearances in it :) Enjoy!