Various Artists - Longing for the Shadow: Ryūkōka Recordings, 1921-1939

Death Is Not The End

£9.45

Format: Cassette
Catalogue No.: DEATH043
Barcode: 5050580767324
Release Date: 23rd July 2021
Genre: World/Reggae (Japan)

01: Seki Taneko Akemi's Poems
02: Kusunoki Shigeo Longing for the Shadow
03: Yayoi Tanaka Sad Gull
04: Akasaka Koume Please Forgive Me
05: Ichimaru If You Go Down the Tenryū
06: Mitsuko Nemoto Cosmos Elegy
07: Ichirō Fujiyama Tokyo Daughter
08: Chiyako Sato Skyscraper
09: Yayoi Tanaka The Dream Is Short Lived
10: Ichirō Fujiyama & Masao Koga Is Sake Tears or Sighs?
11: Otomaru Yoneyama Sanri
12: Hamako Watanabe I Don't Forget
13: Akasaka Koume Asama Smoke
14: Yoshio Tabata Farewell Ship
15: Ichirō Fujiyama Farewell Youth
16: Kouta Katsutaro Stand up Tomorrow

Emerging during the early stages of the recording industry in Japan, the ryūkōka style adopted western classical, blues & jazz elements into traditional and classical Japanese music.

This collection of 1920s & 30s ryūkōka recordings follows on from the Kouta Katsutaro tape we put out a couple of years back, and further captures the hauntingly unique sound of a cultural merging that was starting to reflect itself via popular song, ahead of the widespread influence of western pop music during post-war US occupation.