Track Listing

1. Soi Soi
2. Shimajima
3. Ashibi Shongane
4. Shinkaichi
5. Tinsagu Nu Hana Dub
6. Kokusai Dori Dub
7. Yanbaru Birdcall
8. Koza Riot
9. Agarijo
10. Snow In Okinawa (Remix)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #300552 in Music
• Released on: 2002-06-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
Lying in the deep south of Japan, the Ryukyu Islands (the
biggest of which is Okinawa) have absorbed and embraced foreign cultures to
create their own distinctive music. Today it's no different, as Ryukyu
Underground transform and transport original recordings sampled from local
labels into uncharted territory, creating a dance music in what is still a
distinctly Okinawan framework. Ambient, dub, electronica, jungle, soul,
jazz and hip-hop swim in the mix with elements of Indian, Afrobeat and
Japanese traditional music. Now it's a global Asian sound to the world,
direct from the Ryukyu Underground.

The musical masterminds behind Ryukyu Underground are Keith Gordon and Jon
Taylor. Keith Gordon arrived in Okinawa from the UK, with a strong
reputation for playing open-minded DJ sets over a fifteen-year period. Jon
Taylor came to Okinawa with a wealth of music industry experience gained as
world music DJ, producer, journalist and musician (playing guitar with
legendary reggae musicians U-Roy and The Ethiopians).

The mixing of ancient and modern, organic and electronic is a difficult
balance. Ryukyu Underground has successfully updated traditional Ryukyu
Island songs, whilst maintaining their essence that is at the heart of this
unique album. Welcome to the sound of Okinawa-fusion.

Customer Reviews

Intriguing
I listened to this CD on headphones in a record store in Tokyo recently while on holiday in Japan. Stupidly I didn't buy it immediately but thought I would buy it just before leaving Japan, rather than carry it around with me. On my way home, I searched high and low for the CD in Kyoto, but it had only just been released in Japan, and wasn't yet available in Kyoto. Now I'm *eagerly* awaiting it being available on Amazon! It's an intriguing fusion of ethnic Japanese sounds with modern rhythms. Superbly recorded. Usually I don't like fusion type things because they always seem somehow watered down, but this is excellent. Ryukyu Underground have taken the (sometimes)quirky Okinawan musical heritage and injected it with a serious dose of cool. This CD has haunted me, based only on a brief listening in a record store. Gotta have it.

Utterly Fantastic
I also first heard this on headphones in Virgin in Tokyo Shinjuku back in 2002. It blew my mind. I bought it immediately. It is a fusion of expertly crafted dubbish bass lines and widely spaced beats weaving around some astonishingly beautiful Ryukyu (Okinawa) traditional songs, sung exquisitely to the accompaniament of a plucked shamisen and a few other things. Especially look for "Agarijo", it brings a tear to my eye and speaks of so much depth, sincerity and longing, while being oddly upbeat and refreshing.
Although Okinawans speak Japanese, it is a dialect and the history of the people who live there is significantly different. The artists are in fact a British guy and an American guy who were in Okinawa teaching English at the time of collaborating.

Just buy this CD. Just go ahead and buy it. If you whine and complain and say it's not enough for you then fine, call me a liar. BUT you will not be disappointed. This CD sings of oceans lapping at your feet. If you don't like that, then there's something very wrong with you.