Kizaki Ondo

2018 release. Kizaki Ondo is a folk song from Nitta Kizaki town in Gunma, north of Tokyo. Played annually by local performers at the Bon-Odori traditional summer dance festival, it features unabashed lyrics about prostitution along with a rhythmic drive sure to appeal to fans of contemporary electronic genres as well as aficionados of traditional music. The first track is a wildly echoing vocal version recorded in 1980, redolent of humid summer nights; the second track, recorded in 1981, is an instrumental version, both by the Kizaki Ondo Preservation Society. The other two tracks are extensions of tradition, with Tokyo-based producer Clark Naito' s 2018 revisions of Kizaki Ondo providing trap-inspired interpretations, with a vocal version using the original lyrics, along with a sweet instrumental take. This release is the third edition of the EM Records Japanese folklore series, directed by Riyo Mountains.