"Shiosai RADIO" is a playlist curated by musicians and DJs, featuring songs related to the ocean.

Volume 10 features NGS, also known as Botsu, a member of the hip-hop trio "Dos Monos," who is active in a wide range of fields as a rapper, trackmaker, and videographer. Botsu, who says that the American band The Beach Boys is his "favorite," is also known as a lover of vintage pop music. He has selected songs for us under the title "The Sea as a Place to Cross."

Unraveling the history and background of sea music

—I think Mr. Botsu is from Tokyo, right?

I was born in Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which faces Nanao Bay on the Sea of Japan side. As soon as I left my house, I could see the sea, and my grandfather's company and storage shed were also located in front of the sea. That was my formative experience, and I feel like my impression of the sea was determined at that point.

What kind of sea is it?

It's not a sandy beach, but a rocky area, and the sea gets deep very quickly from the shore. In terms of color, it's a dark, murky blue. I still find the sea at night particularly frightening. Back in the day, I even wondered if the "Umibozu" (sea monster) that Shigeru Mizuki depicted in his yokai paintings might actually exist.

I thought Mr. Botsu was from Tokyo.

By the time I was in elementary school, I had completely moved to Tokyo, so after that I rarely went to the beach, and the sea became something I only "fantasized about." That's how I came to like The Beach Boys (the masters of surf music), and I even studied abroad at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) during my university years.

Is UCLA located near the ocean?

The famous Santa Monica beach was nearby, and I occasionally took the bus there. There was an amusement park on the pier, and families with children were there, and I thought, "This is the Pacific Ocean just like The Beach Boys sing about (bright and vast)." The ocean on the West Coast wasn't much different from what I had imagined. I was surprised by how big the waves were, much bigger than anything I'd ever seen at Japanese beaches.

—Based on your own experiences and your reading of Jacques Attali's "The History of the Sea" (President Inc.), you have selected songs for this playlist that focuses on the "meaning" of the sea, titled "The Sea as a Place to Cross."

Initially, I considered selecting songs based on the "image" of water and the sea. However, I remembered this book ("The History of the Sea") and decided to approach it from the "meaning" side, focusing on the lyrics and the background of the music. I also selected songs that depict music and people crossing the sea. I started with Charles Trenet's "La mer" (English title "Beyond The Sea") in French, and ended with Stevie Wonder's English version of the same song. The original French lyrics end with a description of the sea as something beautiful and unchanging, and don't particularly portray the sea as something to "cross." When new English lyrics were added in America, the word "beyond" was added, and the themes became love and voyage. Stevie's version also has a very quintessential beachy feel.

The second song is "Here, There And Everywhere" by The Beatles.

This song was chosen specifically because of the third track, The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." Paul McCartney has publicly acknowledged the influence of this song, and these two songs are often discussed together, so I think they have the greatest dynamism in pop music, with sounds that seem to cross the ocean. The Beatles' "Revolver" and The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" (which contain these songs) are also often discussed in contrast to each other.

—So there was a resonance between the West Coast of America and Liverpool, England. The next two artists, Gilberto Gil (track 4) and Caetano Veloso (track 11), are both people who fled Brazil to England.

The two were key members of the Tropicália art movement that emerged in the late 1960s. Tropicália radically mixed the characteristics of traditional Brazilian music with foreign cultures such as rock music, including The Beatles, and it seems that this kind of expression was inconvenient for the conservative military regime. They were arrested under the pretext of cracking down on anti-establishment movements and had no choice but to flee abroad.

—Was Gilberto Gil already in exile in the UK when this song was released?

This was before I went to England. This is the sea as seen from Brazil. The beginning of the song includes the sound of waves and the sounds of a crowd, and towards the end, the lyrics include words like "sandy beach" and "edge of the sea." (Track 11) Caetano Veloso was recorded in London and is a song that depicts the loneliness of London.

Next up is Sun Ra's "Yucatan I." This song is by a jazz musician who often creates space-related works based on a broad historical perspective.

This selection is from the album 'Atlantis,' which is unusual in that it's themed around sea mythology. The sound evokes the image of "rowing a boat." One of the reasons I chose this song was to transition into the next track, Drexciya's "Aqua Worm Hole."

—They're a Detroit techno producer (duo). The title of the album this song is on is "Journey to the Deep Sea Dweller III," which literally translates to "Journey to the Deep Sea Dweller 3."

Drexciya has a backstory. It's a mythical fantasy where, on a slave ship sailing from Africa to America, traders throw pregnant women and babies into the sea. Those children evolved into underwater beings and survived as "Drexciya." When dealing with the theme of the sea as a place to cross, I wanted to consider cases where people couldn't cross the sea, so I chose this song.

—The sound continues with techno. Next up is "Firecracker" by YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA. It's a cover of a representative song from "exotica," a genre mainly used by Americans to express their longing for the tropics.

Martin Denny, who composed the original song, seemed to have fantasized about various regions, not just tropical areas, but also the Orient and Africa, when he wrote his music. I chose this song because it was being covered by someone from Japan, the country that was the subject of his imagination. It's interesting that it crossed the ocean and became a hit in America. I hadn't chosen any Asian songs up until this point, so I was also conscious of creating some balance.

Next up is The Congos from Jamaica. The album this song is on, 'Heart of the Congos,' has "Fisherman" as the first track, but I've chosen the second track, "Congoman."

"Fisherman" is a more straightforward representation of the "sea," but "Congoman" has percussion that sounds almost like a rhythm box, so I chose this one, following the lineage from Drexciya and YMO. This song is Jamaican music, but historically it's also the music of African immigrants. Also, I felt that many of the songs on this album evoke the image of rowing a boat.

—Does the overall playlist evoke a strong image of rowing a boat?

Yes, that's right. The theme is crossing the sea, so I thought it might be the sound or rhythm of rowing a boat. The next song, Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," also sounds like rowing to me. The lyrics are about Vikings (pirates) crossing rough seas, and the guitar and drum riff "don-do-do-da-do-do, don-do-do-da-do-do" is repeated. I thought that must be the rhythm of rowing a boat.

And next up is Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross".

I chose this instrumental track to provide a short break. Albatrosses have long been considered a symbol of good fortune for sailors. Sonically, I think it evokes images of the sea and docks.

-Next is Celia Cruz “Cuando Salí De Cuba”.

This song is also about exile. It's not an original Celia Cruz song, but the lyrics are something like, "When I left Cuba, I abandoned love and buried my heart in the earth."

—Looking at it again, there are a lot of songs set in the Atlantic Ocean. And next up is another Jamaican reggae song, Sister Nancy's "Transport Connection".

The lyrics aren't about sea transport, but about cars, and they depict a positive image of spreading to different parts of the world, like driving this foreign car in England and this foreign car in New York. I chose this song here with the intention of leading into the next song, "Police."

—The Police “Reggatta de Blanc”. In Japanese, it's titled “Shiroi Regatta” (White Regatta).

This is a song where white British musicians incorporated reggae elements and expressed them within their own rock field. I think there are various ways to incorporate reggae, but The Police use it in a way that dilutes the elements considerably, which I think is unique. It gives the impression that they incorporated it thoughtfully rather than being influenced by direct interaction. Sting (the frontman of The Police) was conscious of the music of what was called the "Third World" region, even up until his solo career.

—From there, we move on to Yumi Matsutoya (Yuming) (Yumi Arai, "Close Your Eyes").

I heard that Yumi Matsutoya created this song in response to a request from a female high school student on Narushima Island in Nagasaki Prefecture who sent a request to a radio program asking for a school song for their school. Apparently, in this region, many young people leave the island to go to college or work after graduating from high school. Compared to the songs I've mentioned so far, this is on a smaller scale, but it's also a story that transcends the ocean. I chose this song because I wanted to include one that is on a more personal level.

Randy Newman's "Sail Away" is a song written from the perspective of a slave trader on a slave ship. He tells the slaves that "America is wonderful."

It makes you wonder what kind of feelings Randy Newman had when he created this song. It's a beautiful song, and you can't help but think it's beautiful, but the lyrics are intense. I included this song as a form of self-reflection. I tried to choose "sea songs" from all over the world, including Asia, but when it comes to pop music, the selection inevitably ends up being centered on America and English-speaking countries. As this song shows, "crossing the ocean to America" doesn't always have a positive meaning. The other day, I had the opportunity to talk with Megumi Wakabayashi (an editor), and she told me about the lyrics of "Sail Away," which made me realize again that "we can't just look at America." It's amazing that Randy Newman can express himself like this from within America.

—We hope you all enjoy the playlist, along with the rhythm that feels like rowing a boat. Thank you for today!

TRACKLIST

Charles Trenet – La mer
The Beatles – Here, There And Everywhere
The Beach Boys – God Only Knows
Gilberto Gil – Luzia Luluza
Sun Ra – Yucatan I
Drexciya – Aqua Worm Hole
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA – Firecracker
The Congos – Congoman
Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
Fleetwood Mac – Albatross
Caetano Veloso – London London
Celia Cruz – Cuando Salí De Cuba
Sister Nancy – Transport Connection
The Police – Regatta de Blanc
Yumi Arai - Close Your Eyes
Randy Newman – Sail Away
Charles Lloyd – The Water Is Wide
Stevie Wonder – Beyond The Sea

Profile

Death aka NGS | Rejected AKA NGS

Rapper/producer/filmmaker. Member of Dos Monos and 5 Star Cowboy.
His latest release is the collaborative album "5 Star Cowboy Deluxe" with bringlife and PICNIC YOU.

IG: @botsu_ngs

Interview and text by Hanazawa Ou
Illustration by Oki Masahide