Rough Guide: The Music of Japan

Amazon.com
The inimitable travel mavens at Rough Guides are not offering your average travel fare, and their counterparts in music are also looking for the unusual and the undercovered. This guide to Japanese music sidesteps the obvious shakuachis, kodo drums, and No theater music in favor of taiko-rap, ondo-funk, Okinawa-pop, and some forms yet to be hyphenated, let alone explained. It runs the gamut, from the mediocre pop of Kawachiya Kikusuimaru (toss-off synths and drum machines) to the brilliant avant-garde biwa (lute) and accordion of Yukihiro Goto and the minimalist koto quartet Koto Vortex. Humor abounds in the Surf Champlers' weird Tokyo take on the James Bond movies' theme. Fuzzy electric blues meets Okinawa in the music of An-Chang Project, fronted by the emotive vocals of Yasuba Jun. The set has it all, great, good, bad, and awful in pretty equal amounts, but for the good and great alone it's worth the price, and the bad and awful are certainly enlightening and entertaining. --Louis Gibson

Rough Guide: The Music of Japan,Various Artists,World Music Network,Asian,Asian Folk,Asian Pop,Int'l & World Music,Japan,Japanese,Japanese Pop,Japanese Rock,Okinawa,Pop,Traditional Japanese,World Music,Worldbeat

Rough Guide to Okinawa
Average customer rating:

COOL SONGS REALLY CATCHY

COOL SONGS REALLY CATCHY

Asian Island Music

Great

it runs the gamut...that's for sure

Rough Guide to Okinawa
Various Artists
Manufacturer: World Music Network
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Japan | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music
General | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music
General | International | Styles | Music
General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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ASIN: B00005KIZ6
Release Date: 2001-07-10

Tracks:

Koko Kuduchi - Rinsho Kadekaru
Shimajima Kaisha - Chieko Iha & Four Sisters
Chon Chon Kijimuna - Takashi Hirayasu/Bob Brozman
Itta Anma Makaiga - Karabato - Shisars
Uranami Bushi - Misako Ohshiro
Jidai No Nagare - Rinji Kadekaru
Iwai Bushi - Sarabandge
Warabi Gami - Misako Koja
Koinaa Yunta - Tetsuhiro Daiku
Go-Go Chinbora - Akanars
Ikunnya Kana-Yoisura - Rikki
Akai Ura - Yasukatsu Ohshima
Tinsagu Nu Hana Dub - Ryukyu Underground
Jin Jin - Donto
Tida Akara, Nami Kirara - The Boom
Naritai Bushi - Seijin Noborikawa
Umkaji - Nenes
Toshin Doi - The Surf Champlers

Customer Reviews:

COOL SONGS REALLY CATCHY.......2005-02-14

I LOVE THIS CD!!! Especially the nostalgic songs, it makes me feel as if im right there in the Okinawa Islands. and the sounds of the Sanshin (Okinawan lute) VERY LOVELY. I recommend this CD to anyone who is a World Music or East Asian Music Freak (like me!)

COOL SONGS REALLY CATCHY.......2005-02-14

Asian Island Music.......2004-05-23

Lovely Asian music with a certain island flavour. Like the rest of the Rough Guide series, this CD covers a good spectrum of music, from traditional to various pop styles. Typical instruments used in Okinawan music are the sanshin (a kind of banjo), castanets, recorders, flutes, guitars and taiko drums playing shuffling syncopated rythms. Featured are such diverse talents as Ryukyu Underground, with their ambient drum'n'bass / reggae dub stylings, the Dick Dale influenced Surf Champlers, folk music legends Rinsho Kadekaru and Tetsuhiro Daiku, the wacky pop of Donto and Shisars with their meddley of musical styles pushing Okinawan music to the outer limits. Every song has something to offer to fans of Eastern music, because island music is by nature full of many exotic influences, blown in by all the trade winds. The voices of all the women, from Chieko Iha to Nenes, are beautiful. I'll risk losing my reputation as an objective reviewer by saying that the song "Shimajima Kaisha" by the group Four Sisters, always brings tears to my eyes. Recorders sounding like the warm trade winds, a rolling beat like the waves and sweetly tragic female vocals like cries over the sundering Sea.
To round off a nice package,the liner notes by music guru Paul Fisher are excellent.

Great.......2003-12-20

This is great it gives a good account of Okinawan music. It is so awsome a must for everyone who is into world music.

it runs the gamut...that's for sure.......2002-11-20

As is the case with all Rough Guide CDs, The Music of Okinawa is a mixed bag of stuff: traditional, pop, modern, fusion, etc. That can be both good and bad. I think it is good in that it gives the listener a good way to explore a lot of turf in a short amount of time with minimal investment. In that sense, they are virtually all 5 star CDs. After a while though, after the "exploration" has worn off and you have a CD to listen to, some of the music is good and some of it bad (or perhaps I should say, some of it suits your tastes, while some it doesn't.)

That being said, there is some top notch music on this CD and some that I just don't find too appealing. The CD opens brilliantly with Rinsho Kadekaru's "Koko Kuduchi," a beautiful tune on played on the sanshin and sung by Kadekaru and guest vocalist Seijin Noborikawa. I will definately want to hear more from this guy.

The second track is also a big winner. Cheiko Iha & Four Sisters performing "Shimajima Kaisha." It surprised me that I like this one. It is a very sweet sounding tune that I usually don't go for, but the performance it excellent.

Other highlights include Takashi Hirayasu & Bob Brozman's "Chon Chon Kijimuna" a tune fusing Okinawan music with guitar. The results could have been disastrous, but this is great. The boppy pop of Akanars' "Go-Go Chinbora" is a ton of fun. Rikki has an amazing voice and the song is a powerful one...definately another person to check out more from. Yasukatsu Ohshima's "Akai Ura" is brilliant as well, a lilting tune with backing chorus. Donto's "Jin Jin" will have you bouncing off the wall. It reminds me a little of the Boredoms, but doing traditional music! Seijin Noborikawa appears later on the compilation his own with a bouncy, joyous tune called "Naritai Bushi." The Suf Champlers close the disc out with some fun Okinawan surf rock.

Tracks:

Makura - Takeharu Kunimoto
Kakin Ondo - Kawachiya Kikusuimaru
Fukko Bushi - Soul Flower Mononoke Summit
Nikata Bushi - Michihiro Sato
Takio's Soran Bushi - Takio Ito & Takio Band
Amagoi Bushi - Yasuba Jun & An-Chang Project
Mangetsu No Yube - Takashi Hirayasu
Hiyami Kachi Bushi - Ayame Band
Moji Banana No Tatakiuri - Tadayoshi Ikawa
Utuwaskarap - Oki
Nyorai Shizune - Shozan Tanabe
Ubue - Yukihiro Goto
Asadoya Yunta - Tetsuhiro Daiku
James Bond Theme - The Surf Champlers
Haisai Ojisan - Makoto Kubota & The Sunset Gang
Agari Jo - Yasuko Yoshida
Ho Na Mi (Excerpt) - Koto Vortex
Utage (Excerpt) - Eitetsu Hayashi
Shi Chome - Cicala Mvta

Amazon.com

The inimitable travel mavens at Rough Guides are not offering your average travel fare, and their counterparts in music are also looking for the unusual and the undercovered. This guide to Japanese music sidesteps the obvious shakuachis, kodo drums, and No theater music in favor of taiko-rap, ondo-funk, Okinawa-pop, and some forms yet to be hyphenated, let alone explained. It runs the gamut, from the mediocre pop of Kawachiya Kikusuimaru (toss-off synths and drum machines) to the brilliant avant-garde biwa (lute) and accordion of Yukihiro Goto and the minimalist koto quartet Koto Vortex. Humor abounds in the Surf Champlers' weird Tokyo take on the James Bond movies' theme. Fuzzy electric blues meets Okinawa in the music of An-Chang Project, fronted by the emotive vocals of Yasuba Jun. The set has it all, great, good, bad, and awful in pretty equal amounts, but for the good and great alone it's worth the price, and the bad and awful are certainly enlightening and entertaining. --Louis Gibson

Customer Reviews:

An Intriguing Musical Box of Rocks.......2006-06-25

Well, this CD certainly offers the listener an eclectic mix of Japanese music. It's hard not to like it for that reason alone. One strength of the album is that it includes the kind of music you'll never hear on any other compilation. Both traditional classical music and modern pop music are largely eschewed; instead, most of the tracks are what one might call contemporary folk music--urban satirical songs and sales-pitch ditties, country shamisen music from the Northeast, and lots of music from Okinawa, and such. Pretty much all of it is more or less interesting, though to assume that this is a representative sample of Japanese music would be way off. And never listen to this CD if you want a consistent mood...this stuff is all over the place.

As much as I've enjoyed the variety and oddity of this CD many a time, a few things about it do annoy me. First, music from Okinawa seems too over-represented. Don't get me wrong, the Okinawan tracks on this CD are great, but since there's a Rough Guide CD for "The Music of Okinawa" they seem a bit redundant here, and their lively tropical mood is very, very different from mainland Japanese music (Okinawa was an independent kingdom for centuries, after all). Second of all, while the liner notes are in general pretty good, it would've been nice if a translation of the lyrics for those songs with vocals had been included--much of the point of some of the songs resides in the wit and humor of their lyrics, and this is pretty much lost on you unless your Japanese listening comprehension is truly exceptional. Finally, a couple of the tracks are excerpts, and I'd really rather hear the whole thing when it comes right down to it.

Such nitpicks aside, though, this is an unusual collection of Japanese music that never gets boring. Some are gems, some are diamonds in the rough, and some are just pebbles--yet all have a distinctive charm.

there is so much more to Japan.......2006-01-04

If this is representative of what is popular in Japan, there you have it, but I think it's missing so much and gives a false (small) impression of the amazing diversity and complexity in the Japanese music scene. Alternating between Taiko drums, cute westernized pop songs, a little shamisen and shakuhachi I find it lacks anything from the explosion of new innovative music from the Tokyo scene or even any Kabuki or Koto music. A little disapointing because I have come to expact great things from this series. Kudos and 1/2 star for the fun liner notes!

why no gagaku? .......2005-11-29

This collection is seemingly all embracing but actually it only scratches the surface.The highly distinctive and alluring 'Gagaku'(ancient Japanese court and dance music)is oddly absent.....i can't begin to imagine why.This music (violent yet poised) is quite unlike anything i've encountered and ought to have been represented.However,this warts and all portrait of Japanese music is full of surprises and there's plenty to enjoy.

just great.......2005-09-20

as a fan of japan brings this music back a lot of memories and feelings at my time in japan. i think this compelation is something for people which want to become behind the clichees of japan and see what japan really is
its like walking all over the country from okinawa to hokkaido, everything is there.
the best for beginners who interrested in people, land and music.
it blows your mind, when you open hearted.

Catchy Japanese Folk Music.......2002-04-21

I just bought this CD and I love it!!
At first it took some listening to really get into, but after a while I couldn't stop playing it over and over again!
It's really great for anyone who likes Japanese music and doesn't want to hear soft tunes, but very catchy,fast and mellow folk with an unusual beat!
Try it out, it's amazingly different than anything I've ever heard!

Average customer rating:

Excellent overview, well worth getting!
rough bop

A Guide to the Rough Guides
Various Artists
Manufacturer: World Music Network
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005B9RF
Release Date: 2001-10-08

Tracks:

Get Together - Tony Allen
Loi - Koffi Olomide
Mahanhela - Mabulu
Joe Le Taxi - Sharleene Boodram
Jaro - Impact All Stars
En Guantanamo - Septeto Nacional Ignacio Pineiro
Mabarane - Sheer All Stars
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James Bond Theme - The Surf Champlers
Griogal Cridhe - Mac-talla
Maggio - Riccardo Tesi/Banditaliana
Antin Mikko - JPP
Bassa - Momo Wandel Soumah
Salimata - Ifang Bondi
Que Pena - Samuelito Almonte Y Su Conjunto Tipico
The Secrets Of The Life Tree - Kroke

Customer Reviews:

Excellent overview, well worth getting!.......2007-02-04

This was our introduction to the series, and our favorite. It interested us in the rest of the collection. Fantastic set of songs.

rough bop.......2001-06-12

not as good as told by others, but in there own right they are unique and very tight! They would be nice if they did a live cd also? Noboby can touch be-bop delux! More breaks!