The Quietus premiere intimate session with OKI captured in Utrecht by Vincent Moon

Recordings

The Quietus have premiered an intimate session with OKI captured live in Utrecht by Vincent Moon during Le Guess Who? 2022, along with a Q&A with the artist. OKI performs 'Muysoka hanene' and 'Tonkori Monimahpo-Yaykatekar (Medley)' in the garden of Grand Hotel Karel V in Utrecht. Watch the session and read the Q&A here via The Quietus.

Oki Kano, or OKI, is one of the few surviving players of the tonkori: a five-string harp, performed by the indigenous Japanese Ainu people. Kano revives and reinvents Ainu folklore, meshing it with international influences as varied as dub, Irish folk, throat singing, African drumming, and music from Central Asia. For this session, he is joined by Rekpo Kano (voice) and his son Manaw (voice, percussion).

"I was surprised that songs I wrote more than 20 years ago are now of interest to music lovers in other countries. For a long time it felt like my music didn’t have a home yet the popularity of the songs now made me realise that they were just ahead of their time. My record label Mais Um categorised my music as folk music - when I made these songs I just wanted to make music like Lee Perry. The standout memory for us this year was the European tour. We enjoyed it a lot" - OKI

Images & sounds by Vincent Moon
Produced by Lewis Robinson for Mais Um Discos
Filmed at the Grand Hotel Karel V
Petites Planètes | CC by-nc-sa