goat (JP)

About

Also known as: goat (jp)

Goat (jp) are a five piece from Osaka who build music out of restraint: sparse timbres, stripped back textures, and then rhythms layered so intricately that polymeters and polyrhythms pile up on each other. It's experimental, but it's also played with ridiculous precision. Boomkat once called them "perhaps the tightest band in existence right now", which tells you how much rehearsal goes into it. The band is led by multi instrumentalist and composer Koshiro Hino, who started it in 2013 after years in the Japanese underground. The lineup runs guitar, bass, two drummers and wind instruments, with plenty of members swapping to percussion. Critics have reached for everyone from Steve Reich and Miles Davis to Autechre, Ryoji Ikeda and Meshuggah when describing them. Albums include New Games, Rhythm & Sound and Joy in Fear, the last one on Hino's own label, Nakid. The "(jp)" in the name is there so nobody mixes them up with the Greek and Swedish bands also called Goat.