Ryukyu Underground

The Ryukyu Islands lie in the deep south of Japan. Numbering over one hundred islands, the biggest of which is Okinawa, they stretch from mainland Japan for over 700km in the East China sea, almost to Taiwan. Flocks of Japanese tourists of all ages arrive for the white sand beaches and turquoise seas. Many will also take in some music. It's difficult to escape from in the Ryukyus. The local folk music, minyo or shima uta, meaning 'island songs' is piped out in shops, restaurants and beaches. The local greats of the modern genre, Shokichi Kina, Nenes, Rinken Band, all perform at their own clubs most nights of the week, largely to Japanese tourists. Even if this passes you by, go down to a public beach at night, and it's likely you'll hear the lonely twang of the sanshin, the snake skinned banjo. Not played by a professional musician, there aren't so many of those. Just someone looking out to sea, and playing for their own enjoyment. As they've done in the Rykuyu islands for hundreds of years.

This thriving, living roots music scene is unique within Japan, but is only half the story. A high percentage of Japanese pop stars are from Okinawa. No matter the music bears few Okinawan traces. Singing and dancing is a way of life, a natural expression, lost long ago on the Japanese mainland. There is also a thriving 'indie' scene. Everything from hard core, thrash metal, punk to ska, with bands such as In-Hi, The Junky Jap Dogs, Ryukyu Free Style and Bleach. Then there's the club scene. Djs spinning the latest dance sounds in small, dark, cavernous clubs, each creating it's own special vibe. In the Ryukyus whether it be roots, rock or dance, music comes without the glitz or superficiality of the big cities, slaves to the latest trends. Instead it arises from a passionate integrity.

For centuries the Ryukyu islands have absorbed and embraced foreign cultures to create their own distinctive music. Today, it's no different. Just the influences have extended beyond those from the pure physical contact of conquerors and trading partners. For centuries these were the Japanese, Chinese and other South-East Asian countries. Since the war, this has included the Americans whose military bases still, controversially, occupy about twenty percent of the land area, and whose influence helped spawn the first wave of modern Ryukyu rock in the 1970s. Now, via mass media and technology, it's the whole world.

Mixtures, or as the Okinawans say, "champloo" have been the lifeblood of Okinawan music. Borne out of a respect to the past while not afraid to embrace the present. Ryukyu Underground operate under the same virtues. Nobody before them though has tapped into and juxtaposed world cultures and contemporary dance music into what is still a distinctly Okinawan framework. They remain steadfast to the Okinawan standpoint, but approach the music, not necessarily from a foreign, more of a world viewpoint.

Keith Gordon from the UK arrived in Okinawa in 1997. He'd come from being a soul-jazz dj in the UK and Europe, working within the Warehouse and Baleiric scenes. He was a member of One Eyed Jacks, who charted with a dance version of the theme to "Twin Peaks", and remixed records by various artists including Picnic and Fielfrauz. In Okinawa he continued to dj and founded Soul Jazz Inc.

American Jon Taylor went to Okinawa in 1998 to conduct environmental research. He'd been a record store buyer, world music radio and club dj, journalist, producer and musician, playing guitar with reggae band Murder City Players, backing legendary reggae musicians U-Roy and The Ethiopian with his groups The Subjects and Mach 5, he released techno records, combined with undercurrents of ambient, industrial and world music.

Okinawan music had seeped into their psyches before they met in 1998. Both had the notion to combine the traditional sounds around them with their own individual tastes and experiences in dance, electronic and world music. Deciding to combine these ideas was to become Ryukyu Underground.

Keith is the rhythm oriented half of the duo, some of these tracks already dancefloor tested during his dj sessions in Okinawa. Jon composes most of the melodies, and works on sound experimentation and production In this way, ambient, dub, electronica, jungle and hip-hop swim in the mix with elements of Indian, Afrobeat and Japanese traditional music. Make no mistake though, Ryukyu island music lies at the heart of what they do. Included are some of the greatest songs, some of which have been around for hundreds of years, that nearly everyone throughout the islands know intimately, word for word.

Mostly, the tracks use original recordings sampled from local labels, who in the open Okinawan spirit, were only too happy for Ryukyu Underground to transform and transport them into uncharted territory. For Tinsagu nu Hana dub, they recorded live musicians in Okinawa, something they'll probably do more of in the future. Yanbaru Birdcall is their own composition. The final cut, their remix of Snow in Okinawa is originally found on Miyazawa's latest self-titled album, who wrote and sung the biggest ever selling Okinawan influenced tune in Japan, "Shima Uta" with his group The Boom. This new version comes with vocals by Takashi Hirayasu.

The music evolved over a period of about two years, from computer direct-disk technology in Okinawa to finally being mixed in Los Angeles. Already they have created a buzz in Japan and Okinawa with musicians, djs and club goers, where this CD is also released.

Now, it's a global Asian sound to the world. Direct from the Ryukyu Underground.