"This is a recommended download for ALL fans of Silent Hill's music. It's got a fresh and moody soundscape resonating with either [ethereal] and melodic ambience or driving guitar riffs, and captivating drums that would impress even [Akira] Yamaoka himself." – Fungo of Twin Perfect, SilentHillMedia.net

"A very refreshing artist. His mixture of rock and atmospheric music is very unique. 'surreal, so real' is a fantastic example of his style, mixing traditional [Okinawan] music elements with timeless rock music, and even techno flavors. The result is very special, an eerie sound-scape with clearly defined melodic passages that act like puzzle pieces in a story." – Rasec [Britain]

“You can hear that you put a lot of time in it and really put attention to the different layers and creating opposites. It’s dreamy but also raw reality! … Together with the story behind the EP, it makes this EP very interesting to listen to!” – ɱiɣuki ɖɑɣ [Netherlands]

**********

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS & PRODUCTION CREDITS:

the title for "Uchina noir: The Cocktail Party" was taken from
Tatsuhiro Oshiro’s 1967 novella of the same name

synopses written with assistance from Andor Czigeledi
artwork model: Terumi Shimazu

infinite thank you’s to those who’ve assisted me with this project:
Maggie Peng, Andor Czigeledi, Noah Golderg, Jo-Ann Irvin, Michael Daugherty, Miyuki Day, Jason Michael [Dah2]

all tracks written, performed, and recorded by
Joseph Yoshimasu Kamiya
in loving memory of Auntie Irene Ike [1962 ~ 2008]
and Grandma Yoshiko Kamiya [1915 ~ 2012]

“UCHINA NOIR” BACKGROUND:

“…had the [Japanese] military regarded non-combatants as coming under their protection, evacuations [of Okinawan civilians] would have been unnecessary and the collective self-killings that took place in the Kerama Islands, Iejima, Yomitan, and Mabuni would never have been carried out. In reality, non-combatants were far from being protected by the military. Instead, they found themselves in a situation where they were attacked by tigers at the front gate (the enemy troops) and wolves at the back gate (their own troops).” – Masahide Ota, Re-examining the History of the Battle of Okinawa (1985)

contact me: josephkamiya@gmail.com