Rimi Natsukawa - Tida ~Tida Kaji nu Umui~ 21 September 2002
This is Rimi Natsukawa’s debut album. The title is in 「沖縄口」, i.e. Okinawan / Northern Ryuukan; as such, every one of the songs either makes reference to Okinawa directly or indirectly in language and lyrical structure, or is a cover of a song by an Okinawan musician. Nada Sousou is easily the most famous of these. The song was originally written by Ryoko Moriyama in 1998, covered by the Okinawan band Begin in 2000 which Moriyama had joined, but it did not gain any mainstream popularity until Natsukawa’s cover in 2001. Begin guitarist Masaru Shimabukuro wrote the second song on this album, although it is one of the four songs which are not covers tracks two, four, seven, and nine. Which means seven of the tracks are, but unless you’re familiar with Okinawan artists like Kiroro, Tsuneo Fukuhara, or Parsha Club, then you probably haven’t heard the originals. The album is also notable for containing two Okinawan folk songs: tracks one and eight respectively, arranged by Seiichi Kyouda.Enjoy!