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We first met Japanese musician and performance artist Eiichi Shimasaki at a festival on the remote Hebridean island of Eigg. He'd roped an audience member into holding his steel pan aloft like a Roman statue, and played the pan by throwing ping pong balls in from his vantage point on stage. Of course, we invited Eiichi to perform on our NTS show, which he duly obliged, although - unlike at Eigg - he didn't arrive at the gig walking on orange stilts. Eiichi's manic, mischievous stage alter-ego ICHI has since found the perfect backing band, in Bristol jazz rock supergroup The Evil Usses. This first joint effort captures a rare sonic alchemy - reminding us in turns of Polar Bear, Connan Mockasin, and Rhubarb and Custard. 👹 "What happens when you take stop-start, prog-jazz weirdos Evil Usses and mix them with someone even stranger? Well, ICHI's DIY dada-pop genius isn't going to make things more normal is it? Witness new combo Ichigo Evil knock at the doors of perception with dayglo skronk and one stringed fiddles. For fans of: Black Midi & Damo Suzuki, Melt Yourself Down, Cornelius" - Headfirst Bristol Staff Picks credits Eiichi Shimasaki Leon Boydon Conrad Singh Dan Truen Lorenzo Prati