Prism

This album was a great find! I love it. I'd never heard of the Yoshida Brothers before, but they popped up on my Pandora Trip-Hop station with the "End of the World" track. Which is an amazing song. Upon further research, I was super-surprised to find out that I was listening to a duo of traditional Japanese Tsugaru shamisen virtuosos. This album is not available for download here on amazon (what a shame!), so I ordered the CD on the strength of the "End of the World Track", but I didn't really know what to expect. I was delightfully surprised when the first track was a cover of Radiohead's The National Anthem.I am not a purist of this genre like the other reviewers here seem to be, I simply love good non-lyrical music. My favorite genre is trip-hop, and there is a lot here for a trip-hop fan to gravitate towards. "Seven" "Red Bird" and especially "The End of the World" conjure up comparisons to Portishead's Dummy. "Hujin" sounds like Japanese Dueling Shamisen! The Yoshida Brothers have created a wonderful musical gem that is steeped in the tradition of the shamisen, yet creative enough to fully modernize and bring this traditional Japanese instrument into the 21st century and to a worldwide audience.I look forward to exploring the rest of the Yoshida Brother's catalog. Prism is a truly innovative and creative delight!

Haven't listened much lately, but it was good for a season.

SO,SO

A cornerstone for aggressive studying and moving meditation. Love Yoshida Brothers!

I love the way the brothers play the shamisen & enjoyed this album for that & the awsome percussion. But as with all bands, the more well known they get the more spit & polish they get. I like the raw, hard driving sounds, not the orchestra effect. Some great cuts & glad i have it.

This album was our introduction to the Yoshida Brothers. I'm not a music expert in any way, nonetheless I really enjoy listening to Yoshida music. Their instrumentation is superb and the overall sound gives us that wonderful "Nippon" feeling. The Yoshida Brother's technique seems precise and is very musical. This is wonderful contemporary music with very traditional instruments. Ichi-ban!

"Prism" seems the perfect name for this CD by the Yoshida Brothers, both experts on the shamisen, as they use a traditional Japanese instrument to interpret modern music. The percussion and bass foil the strings (there are also guitars) and keyboards add a triple Z smooth jazz vibe. The vocal tracks tilt the recording even more into the light jazz area.Overall, the CD sounds brittle and bright, and everyone is trying too hard to crystalize something special, a fusion of funk, jazz, rock, and folk that never approaches the best elements of either. The brothers play with both abandon and finesse, but I just cannot summon much more than a lukewarm endorsement for this amalgam.