【Latest news】
【Festivals】
WOMEX2021 in Porto
WOMEX2021 in Porto（Portugal）Archives
Official Showcase（Live footage）
SAMA : Seattle Sacred Music & Art（Radio,footage/USA）
A Pallet of Sound Colours （Radio/Greece）
Hudba sveta_FM (Music of the World)（Radio/Slovakia）
World's Largest World Music Expo WOMEX2021
Selected as an official showcase
Held at the end of October in Porto, Portugal
Official site
Music From Okinawa Article Link
"A brilliant feat to regain the lost 20 years of Okinawan music in the world music scene."
【Interview】
Interviewed by an artistic project USUAL PETS podcast by Richard Gilbert and Jeff Cairns.
The interview about music, creations, etc., and poetry + music collaborated by three of them was released.
Songlines Magazine
No.130, August / September 2017
Interview with music journalist John Potter
My Instrument 2017/8/28
Mutsumi Aragaki & her sanshin
John Potter speaks to the Japanese sanshin player and singer about her connection with this most Okinawan of
instruments
Far Side Radio
Paul Fisher, Resonance FM, London, UK
2019/10/2 Guest
I've been following the career of Okinawan musician Mutsumi Aragaki for several years now. It's been inspiring to hear her develop her music with such a passion, open mindedness and bravery, in developing Okinawan traditional music, respecting the past masters, yet taking the music in totally new directions. It was therefore an honour and a pleasure to welcome her to the Resonance Studio. She enchanted us with her live studio performance, and listening to a track from her forthcoming and long anticipated solo album. Also featured music featuring her collaborator while in London, Mina, a track for October by the Boom, and the legend that was Hibari Misora.
【Media】
BBC Music Magazine
Album "Another World Of Okinawan Music" was selected as one of
"the best world music recordings released in 2021 so far".
CD review was published in Songlines Magazine, Asia Reviews.
No.165, March 2021
Official site
"ANOTHER WORLD OF OKINAWAN MUSIC"
★★★★
Deep electro-acoustic vibes
On her debut, Okinawan musician Mutsumi reimagines the soundscapes of her native island as an electro-acoustic experience. Having studied with some of the masters of Okinawan traditional music, Mutsumi has sought to combine her vocals and sanshin (lute) with electronic soundscapes and audio-visuals, creating a reflection of local culture that operates both internally and externally. Brief spoken passages (described as an ‘Entrance’ and ‘Exit’), serve as bookends that set a contemplative and immersive tone, the album leisurely shifts between scenes of musical and textural ambience.
Mutsumi achieves this with various samples and field recordings of Okinawan life, blending natural sounds with those of local musicians and festivities. While the album is at its most striking when Mutsumi's voice and sanshin are at the forefront, her beautifully melismatic vocals are a particular highlight; these moments of ambiguity serve to cut to the heart of the album's core themes of place and growth. Innovative and avant-garde, Mutsumi has succeeded in creating a work that upends conventional notions of Okinawan music, while being a cerebral work of art in its own right. The physical edition also comes with a DVD containing additional soundscapes, art and archive footage.
Charlie Cawood
TRACK TO TRY Chijuyaa
Songlines Magazine, Power of Okinawa , Okinawa Times, Ryukyu Shimpo, etc.
2020-2021
Article about the release of the CD “ANOTHER WORLD OF OKINAWAN MUSIC” and the album release live
Okinawa Times
2019
Articles about Nippon Connection 2019 Japanese Film Festival
Contribution
2019
Contribution to the use of Okinawa's archived video and experience at Nippon Connection
【Results】
Be. Okinawa X Photograph by Sato Kenji Music by Aragaki Mutsumi
2020/12
Organizer: the Okinawa Prefecture Convention Bureau
A video of attracting tourists from the Okinawa Prefecture Convention Bureau by photographer Sato Kenji. Please enjoy the magnificent and divine world view of Okinawa’s nature with Sato's artistic images and Chijuyaa from her album ANOTHER WORLD OF OKINAWAN MUSIC.
video link event details event report
>Sato is in charge of editing this video. He was also particular about using the music of Aragaki Mutsumi, an artist from Okinawa.
“From the beginning, I wanted to use the Okinawan traditional folk song, but the one which sounds rather than classical but contemporary, and which would match the image of Okinawa from my own perspective. I searched and found Aragaki san’s track."
Online lecture on Okinawan music at Musics Of Japan @ Keio University (closed)
2020
She was in charge of online lectures (live music, discussion / in English) about Okinawan music.
* We are accepting lecture requests (Japanese / English) about Okinawan music at any time. Please feel free to contact us.
Participated in ASIA MUSIC SUMMIT as a musician panelist
2020
She participated online as a musician panelist in ASIA MUSIC SUMMIT, a roots music conference sponsored by MusiConnect Asia in partnership with GLOBAL TORONTO, Music Conference + Showcase in Toronto, Canada.
MusiConnect Asia: https://www.facebook.com/musiconnectasia/
GLOBAL TORONTO: https://www.globaltoronto.org
Original song nominated at RADIO SAKAMOTO
2017
The original song "Spinnin'Around?" Was nominated at the audition corner of Sakamoto Ryuichi's radio program RADIO SAKAMOTO.
Official website
Her original song "Too Much Love" adopted as an insert song for the stage "The Drumming"
2016
Organizer: Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa Prefectural Cultural Promotion Association
Official site
For Music From Okinawa's compilation CD for introducing Okinawan music at Womex (one of the largest world music expos), her 3 tracks were selected.