Who

In conversations about Japanese experimental music, the name Kazmi Kubo is woefully—but understandably—rarely mentioned. The guitarist and composer first lent her talents to the indie pop duo Nelories, earning some minor success in Japan and abroad. They even saw some play on John Peel’s radio show. Nelories had a modest run from the early to mid ‘90s, but Kubo’s career would have a brief second act. With a new group of multi-instrumentalists in tow, Kubo would put her pop songwriting chops to use, but tangle them up with noise, samples, and weird wobbly grooves. The resulting output would act as an interesting link between Japan’s indie rock and experimental scenes. The song “Preach” would live on even after Kubo bowed out of the scene, with renditions appearing on albums by her collaborators: Asa-Chang & Junray’s Hana in 2001 and Otomo Yoshihide’s Dreams the following year. The title, Who, ultimately poses an appropriate question—one you’ll hopefully be curious to find the answer to.