The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan, is the first ever release to showcase the huge variety of Japanese traditional and roots music. Over 75 minutes long and profiling some the finest artists it is the perfect starting point for discovering the musical wealth of this ancient culture.
Many of the artists selected have endeavoured to update that tradition into a modern and living form. From the bright sounds of Okinawan contemporary roots music,(Ayame Band, Tetsuhiro Daiku), to the plaintive folk of Yasuko Yoshida, singer with the group Nenes. Some of the instruments may already be familiar to some; meditational shakuhachi (bamboo flute), the koto/zither (played here by the female quartet Koto Vortex), the biwa (the most ancient instrument of all), the thunderous sound of the huge taiko drums and the vibrant folk music of Tsugaru shamisen (lute).
Some are more radical than others; such as Kawachiya Kikusuimaru's club beat rendition of Kawachi Ondo, a music for the summer festival of the dead. The amazing singer, Takio Ito has pushed the borders of min'yo (folk) to such extremes, he was pushed out of the Min'yo Preservation society. Musics unknown even to most Japanese are also included, such as the beautiful sound of the Ainu, the native Japanese who occupy the northern island of Hokkaido, and the rapping banana salesmen of Kyushu, the southern island.
Occasionally the CD is shocking. Cicala Mvta play their brass band music with all the verve and energy to match any Balkan Wedding band. The uncompromising Soul Flower Mononoke Summit contribute the controversial Fukko Bushi. Performed in the streets for the victims of the recent Kobe earthquake, this song was originally popular among the ashes of the Kanto earthquake that struck Tokyo in 1923.
The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan is a comprehensive musical journey that reflects the many moods and contradictions of today's Japan. In the hi-tech urban jungle, the blazing neon of the advertising hordes sends a shimmering light over the tranquillity of the nearby temple. So it is with this compact disc; the past and present sit side by side to provide an experience that is somehow uniquely Japanese.
