THE SECRETS OF SHADOWS

Incantation (Wilkes)

Tomorrow Never Knows (Lennon/McCartney)
Arranged by Wilkes/Fordham
The spoken introduction translates as “It is a moment of mystery, it is a moment of Zen.” These two lines
are borrowed from Junichiro Tanizaki’s fascinating book on Japanese culture and aesthetics,

In Praise of Shadows. I found John Lennon’s lyrics to this Revolver-era song to be evocative of the mystery
and Zen to which Mr. Tanizaki refers. Another reason [ wanted to cover this song was its sonic quilt
quality (which was so revolutionary in 1966). I knew it would be a great vehicle to be ornamented with
Japanese and other Asian instrumentation, such as electronic samples of the koto (Japanese string
instrument), sho (Japanese mouth organ), taiko drums, oriental bells, and the wonderful huge gongs heard
in the introduction. These Eastern sounds are combined with some very modern instrumentation such as
electric guitar, drum kit, and synths.

Kyoto Song (Wilkes)
Vocal sample from “Watanji,” by Gaia Dance.

This song begins with a koto part, playing an eighth note line based on the okinawa-onkai (scale). It is
then accompanied by a melody (orchestrated on oriental bells) I heard inwardly while touring Kyoto’s
Kiyomizu Temple. The song is then developed in a minimalist style, utilizing interlocking melodies and
rthythmic patterns.

Shinkansen (Wilkes/Fordham)

Train travel is a major force in Japanese life. | wanted to create a piece of music that captured the feel of
the Japanese bullet train zipping across the countryside. Inspired by Western composers Steve Reich and
Tangerine Dream, I set about writing a piece of music built on six different interlocking melodic patterns.
The melodic patterns are very simple and based on the Japanese minyo-onkai, also known as the
Japanese folk scale.

Personal Hurricane (Ewing/Fordham/Wilkes)

With a tip of the hat to Paul Simon’s Graceland, this is an attempt to cast a dr. carrot pop song in an
unusual world music setting. The orchestration here, of course, is not South African but Asian.

Tokyo Hip-Hop (Wilkes)
Vocal arrangement by Wilkes/Matsuoka. Based on a text by Junichiro Tanizaki.

In an effort to convey Japan’s urban side, I took a bit of an artistic leap and borrowed an urban musical
form from the other side of the world: rap. After creating the groove heard here, I wrote two melodies
based on the okinawa-onkai. The interlude and “O Edo Sukeroku Taiko” features a taiko cadence I learned
while studying with Seido Kobayashi. We fashioned the lyrics from the aforementioned text by Junichiro
Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows. We have arranged the lyrics to evoke the feelings of mystery and wonder a
Westerner might feel upon first seeing the incredible neon of Tokyo at night.

Sado (Wilkes/Fordham)

Obviously, this music was inspired by my trip to Japan’s largest non-mainland island. The introduction was
inspired by a Shinto ritual I observed in Fukuoka. At certain points during this rite, a woman would sit at
an old six-string koto and play the pentatonic scale heard here. On the CD, I am performing a variation on
the melody she played, triggering a koto sound from my electronic drum pads.

Hourglass (Wilkes)

I call this the “rockgamelan.” My idea was to create a rock groove and slowly build a gamelan orchestra on
top of it. The scale heard here (played by the “orchestra”) is similar to the Balinese slendro scale.

Kami-Gami (Wilkes)
Shinto is the native religion of Japan. It is referred to as the “kami-way.” Kami means sacred spirit. Kami-
gami is the plural of this concept. In mythological terms, kami-gami refers to the first gods or spirits from
which the Japanese people and culture came.