Unagi

Up-and-coming San Francisco-based producer/DJ Unagi was raised in a musical household where playing several instruments was the norm. As a teen, he performed with an assortment of experimental bands, and in the mid-1990s he assembled a hip-hop super crew called Discs Of Tron (D.O.T.) that pummeled Western Massachusetts audiences with a distinct mix of 100% freestyle raps, schizophrenic live musical accompaniment, and theatrical stage shows. After the D.O.T. disintegrated, Unagi went solo first as an emcee, then as a producer/DJ. In the fall of 2003, he released his debut album, an enjoyably ramshackle instrumental collection that blurs the line between subterranean hip-hop, soul-jazz, guttural funk, and '80s synth balladry. Unagi's second instrumental LP Keepin It Eel dropped in late 2004.