Search - Ryukyu Underground :: Ryukyu Underground

While Ryukyu Underground takes its name from the tropical Ryukyu Islands at the southern end of Japan, the duo is actually composed of Keith Gordon, a British DJ, and Jon Taylor, an American world music know-it-all with a background of playing reggae. The duo met through the Ryukyu Islands' vibrant club scene, drawn together by their interest in the islands' rich musical tradition. Adding their own modern spin, Gordon and Taylor sampled material from local albums and prominently featured the odd, almost tuneless sanshin (a snake-skinned banjo). They mutate the local sounds using a club-ready mix of jungle (the electronic music variety), dub, ambient, soul, and jazz. The most intriguing combination is the dub-heavy mutations that highlight the sanshin on tracks like "Tinsagu Nu Hana Dub." Club kids, however, will most likely dig the driving beats of cuts like "Yanbaru Birdcall." Like the scene in Ibiza, Ryukyu Underground offers a bit of club culture on the beach; only here, it's in the Far East. --Tad Hendrickson