Ryukyu Underground: Kajimaya

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I guess it is inevitable that within the "Global Grooves" scene, certain styles and regions come in and out of fashion. A few years ago, we were deep into the Brazilian Baile Funk phase and right now, we seem to still be in the throes of Balkan mania. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, it's just the way things go. It is however, refreshing to occasionally hear something completely new that bucks the trends and strikes out into unique territories. Such is the case with the music of Ryukyu Underground who turn to the traditional music of Okinawa as a launching point for their very own kind of "global fusion".

Ryukyu Underground are Jon Taylor and Keith Gordon, an American and a Brit who met in Okinawa, Japan in 1998. Taylor was part of the electronic group The Subjects who released a number of 12” singles in the late 80s and early 90s and also played lead guitar for touring reggae acts such as U-Roy and the Ethiopians. UK-born DJ Gordon has been spinning across the globe for a while, and had a major dance hit in Denmark in the mid 90s. As Ryukyu Underground they work with Okinawan traditional musicians such as singer Mika Uchizato and multi-instrumentalist Toru Yonaha to produce a trippy, groove-based Okinawan-dub fusion. Umui is their 4th album. Big in Japan, and embraced by the Asian Massive, they’ve had tracks remixed by the likes of Bill Laswell, Junkie XL, Karsh Kale and Da Lata, and done remixes for MIDIval Punditz, Karsh, and a host of Japanese artists. Their tracks have been feature on 3 Buddha Bar compilations, used by the BBC, NPR, and Pacific Radio, and they also compose music for documentary films.
Check out their site for more info.




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