Electric Samurai - Tomoyasu Hotei

I figured I would start to comment a bit on what I am listening to music wise. This is occasioned by my actually venturing out a bit to something I thought would be good, and it actually BEING good!:)

I heard the music of Tomoyasu Hotei last year sometime. I liked what I had heard, which was basically a piece called “Battle Without Honor Or Humanity”. I heard this song on the trailer to Kill Bill Vol. 1, and searched to find out what it was, and found this guy. You can hear an MP3 of “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” in my profile audio clip.

Anyway, I searched his name the other day in iTunes, and up came his CD “Electric Samurai”. So… I listened to the preview clips… and liked it, and went ahead with the download.

This guy is GREAT. He is an electric guitarist and electric music arranger. The CD starts with “Battle” and them moves into similar songs, with names like "Jingi", "Katana Groove", "Frozen Memories", all dancing between hard rock, and atmospheric techno rock. Some are flat out heavy metal. I would describe him as a cross between heavy metal and techno, but he is more than that. He actually does a great arrangement of Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. It pays homage, but it is different and cool. The songs are complex, different, yet similar, and really, really cool. He works in other versions of “Battle” at various points, showcasing what he can do. He sounds like a very good guitarist, and a very good arranger. This is a techno album for rock guitar lovers, and a rock album for techno lovers:)

Anyway, check him out. Electric Samurai is listed on Amazon, You can also download from iTunes and probably any other music service.
Also, you can see a music video of him performing here.