eleki bushi (10. 637)

Via Clive Thompson’s weekly Linkfest (lots more to check out there), we are introduced to the musical stylings of the Japanese surf-rock legend Takeshi Terauchi (寺内タケシ) with a new anthology collection featuring among other tracks his instrumental group Blue Jeans performing the eponymous song from their 1972 album Rashōmon (see previously here and here). A fusion of American rockbilly and traditional influences, playing his guitar like a shamisen, Terauchi, despite some of the adverse reactions from the older generations and reputation as a radical, was able to show that these folkways weren’t so different and dedicate his legacy to his mentor and mother, Hatsushige, a music teacher that fostered his creativity.