"Campus Ometo Best!"
Various Artists
(Respect Records) 2005
This compilation from the unique Okinawan specialty label Respect Records is the perfect overview of all the phenomenal Okinawan music released over the years at another specialty label Campus Records. Fans of Okinawan folk music may have many of these musicians' songs already, but this double CD release of 33 tunes from the cream of Okinawa's crop will surely hold many new musicians as well. For people new to Okinawan folk music, this is the perfect introduction.
Campus Records has been around since 1970, recording the music of Okinawa's many performers. The music they have captured is amazing. The songs feel like they come from some mythical world, where the gods and goddesses dance and sing all day. Whether you believe in mythic lands or not, the music opens up another realm of sound from another time and place. The instruments are all traditional ones, and the feeling has an ancient beauty and grace.
Most songs have that body-twisting, hard-stepping festival rhythm to them. The lead singer is always answered by a chorus of voices, while the flute, hand drums and various stringed instruments keep their own very un-modern beat. The strings in particular hum and throb with an earthiness that is delicate as a paper-cut and assertive as a folded-paper lightning bolt hanging at a Shinto shrine.
The voices of the singers are especially mesmerizing. Both young and old singers are featured, their voices clear and direct in the high-quality recording. Without comprehending a word, one still feels like they are old friends come to give advice, celebration and consolation. The melodies and tones are very different from what one usually hears in other vocal music, sharing more with Chinese opera than with the world of J-pop. It's easy to understand why Okinawa has the highest life expectancy of any area in the world. The emotional core of the songs is vibrant with life.
The selection of tunes plays well all through, with no weird computer beats or gimmicks in the middle of the play list. The purely acoustic numbers are placed at the beginning of the mix, with a few updated numbers coming in at the end of each CD. Those numbers, though, show that the tradition of Okinawan music is still alive, well, and thriving. Whatever kind of music one prefers, this compilation is fascinating fun and a genuine historical treasure.