2011
安里屋ユンタオーバードライブ Asadoya Yunta Overdrive (Okinawa)
Here’s a new bonus track we’ve added to the album ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes – our version of a traditional shima uta (island song) from 沖縄 (Okinawa).
Dave Black – sanshin, harmonica, field recordings
Nat da Hatt – acoustic & electric guitars, electronics
Cylvi Manthyng – shakuhachi
As you can hear, the music of Okinawa is quite distinct from that of mainland Japan.
Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2013
“This is something that he has to do, that he will do, come fame or oblivion” –Chris Knox
The second volume of fiffdimension’s best-of compilations, a sequel to Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 , sees increasingly wide-ranging experimentation and exploration both sonically and geographically, from New Zealand and beyond to Australia and East Asia.
Featuring tracks from the albums
Ascension Band: Evolution (2005)
After Maths & Sciences (2006)
South Island Sessions (2006)
First Time Around: East Asia (2008)
The Winter: 2011 (2011)
The Winter: Flying Visit (2012)
Dave Black & Nat da Hatt: 日本の山 (2013)
+ previously unreleased tracks
The Winter: 2011
Okinawa, Japan 沖縄日本
ハイサイ! イチャリバ チョデ! よろしく おねがいします。 きょ-ねん 那覇市に すんでいました と にほんご ちょっと べんきょしました。
In 2011-2012 I lived in Naha (那覇市), the main city of Okinawa Prefecture (沖縄県) in Japan (日本).
The Ryukyu Islands are a whole other world from mainland Japan – there’s no Mt Fuji, samurai, sumo wrestling, geisha or shinkansen. They have a different culture, food, climate and music – more tropical and laidback, the Hawaii of northeast Asia, with jungle, sugar cane, beautiful sea and coral – umi to sango wa totemo kirei desu ne – and wonderful people and tragic history.
The soundtracks to these videos are snippets of live Okinawan music I recorded there, such as eisa drum dancing and shima uta island songs. Spot me on sanshin (traditional 3-stringed banjo) and harmonica in the Iriomote one, and having a drumming lesson in Ishigaki – the two Yaeyama Islands, in the remote southwesternmost corner of Japan.
Special thanks to the staff and students of Naha Kokusai and Naha Kogyo senior high schools – Nifei daebiru!
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