He sent us a copy of his 2008 album Electronic Secret, a 10-part suite of electronic instrumentals that he describes as “Nice chill Electronic music with a touch of Jean Michel Jarre, Kitaro, Vangelis ….”

In other words – his music is inspired by the late 70’s-early 80’s golden age of synth music.

Of the influences that Henriksen notes, the most obvious is Jarre. Henriksen’s obvious affection for Jarre’s music may excite some and turn off others, but, for fans of classic synth music, Electronic Secret deserves attention on its own merits.

The album is made up of 10 songs in a continuous mix. The songs are melodically focused, with simple themes that are repeated with various instrumental combinations. Henriksen creates interest through tasteful arrangements and his choice of sounds, rather than from fiery solos.

Here’s a video of Glenn and his daughter Iselin performing Part 10 of Electronic Secret, in concert in 2008:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Electronic Secret has limited distribution as a CD – but you can get Henriksen’s album at Amazon, via the link above, as MP3s.

In this video, new age artist Kitaro explains how and why he uses the synthesizer as he does. He also offers some criticism about the “wrong” use of that instrument.

For over nearly thirty years, Kitano has been creating relaxing new age music, using a combination of synthesizers and traditional instruments. On Reinterpretations, the artists take several approaches to reworking Kitaro’s music. Some of the artists take a remix approach, changing the mix or adding instruments to help bring Kitaro’s music to a new audience. Other artists use Kitaro’s music as a jumping off point, and create tracks that sound more like collaborations than remixes.

The CD includes twelve tracks, including tracks reworked by DJ Peas, Appoggee, Turbotit, Timmy the Terror, Inside the Sun, Audio Moe, Occidental and Stephen Hauptfeur. Kitaro fans will be happy to know that the artists stick close to the mood of the originals, with most of the remixes taking Kitaro’s new age tracks and giving them more of a chill-out vibe.

What’s most interesting about Reinterpretations is how the original Kitaro songs bring a cohesiveness to the compilation, even though each electronica artist brings a different voice to their remixes. Some tracks sound more like remixes, like Audio Moe’s Crystal Tears, Timmy the Terror’s Shizuku 2.0 or Inside the Sun’s Theme from Silk Road. Others seem more tangentially related to Kitaro’s music, like Peas’ Beat Break or Low Pass Dub. Nevertheless, the album flows together well, and the result is an interesting collection of chilled-out tracks.

The relatively conservative approach taken by the artists on Reinterpretations helps the CD feel coherent, but also means that listeners wanting more challenging or innovative reworkings will be disappointed.

Reinterpretations is a must for Kitaro fans, because the tracks take Kitaro’s music into new territory, and they have a relaxing vibe not far from the original tracks. The CD should also appeal to fans of downtempo or chilled out electronica. It can be enjoyed without any knowledge of Kitaro, and may help introduce a younger generation to his music.

• Crystal Tears – Audiomoe
• Michi – Turbotito
• Theme from Silk Road – Inside the Sun
• Beat Break – Peas
• Shizuku 2.0 – Timmy the Terror
• Kuu – Appogee
• Tienshan – Occidental
• Shizuku – Inside the Sun
• Low Pass Dub – Peas
• Mercury – Inside the Sun
• Fairy of Water – Occidental
• Cocoro – Stephen Hauptfuhr

For over nearly thirty years, the electronic music of Kitano has cast its spell on listeners around the world. As a composer and multi-instrumentalist, Kitaro has reached millions of people on every continent with his recordings.

Kitaro’s music is a reflection of his reverence for nature and for the world as humanity’s natural habitat. “Nature inspires me,” he says. “To me, some songs are like clouds, some are like water.”

The beauty of nature was part of Kitaro’s earliest days. He was born into a Buddhist/Shintoist farming family in Toyohashi Prefecture in Central Japan in 1953. His rural youth gave him an early feel for the simplicity and grandeur of nature. “I found a place in nature when I was very young,” he recalls. “And spirituality, I was always a universalist in my outlook.”

In high school, he discovered the electric guitar. Self-taught, Kitaro fell in love with American rhythm and blues. Kitaro says, “I love classical music, which is like pictures, and rock music, to me, means power and energy. We have music so we can feel the Universe.”

He formed the rock group Albatross, which featured his early poetry set to music, with some school friends. In the early 1970’s, he recorded with a group called The Far East Family Band, and switched from guitar to keyboards. He recalls, “I had switched over to keyboards and we were doing a rough form of the kind of impressionistic music that I would later start playing.”

“I remember when I first created the wave sound. I could create an ocean, a winter coastline, a summer beach.” The Japanese became fascinated by Kitaro’s music and the critics referred to it as ’sound pictures’ and ‘mind music.’ In 1980, he created the music to Silk Road, an hour-long documentary about the overland trade route from Europe to Japan. The Japanese National Television program was so well received that it evolved into a series that ran on Japanese television for five years.

For many years, a small and devoted audience in America, through albums imported from Japan and Europe, knew Kitaro. By 1985, that audience widened considerably when Geffen Records simultaneously released a number of Kitaro compilations.

In 1986, came Tenku. The title, which means “Heavenly Sky,” reflects the open air environment of Kitaro’s home studio, a 200-year old farmhouse in the Japanese Alps, where the album was made. On the opening track, a child’s laughter is heard. The album’s theme concerns images and impressions of childhood.

In the fall of 1987, The Light of the Spirit was released, co-produced with Grateful Dead Percussionists Mickey Hart, a long time Kitaro admirer. Thematically, the CD includes Kitaro’s vision of life, death and rebirth, and continues his musical exploration of the life cycle that started with Tenku. Kitaro earned his first Grammy nomination for “The Field” in the category of best new age performance.

Later that year, Kitaro toured the U.S. and played to sold-out venues in many cites, including New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Atlanta and was often required to add a second night to satisfy demand.

In 1992, Kitaro became even more accessible to pop culture in the U.S. by a collaborating with Yes’ Jon Anderson for the Dream album. And later that year, was enlisted to score the music for Oliver Stone’s final chapter in his epic trilogy about the Vietnam War, Heaven and Earth. The soundtrack to this critically acclaimed feature earned Kitaro a Golden Globe Award.

In the following years, Kitaro earned a number of Grammy Nominations for Mandala, An Enchanted Evening and Gaia Onbashira. The accolades were made official when after an amazing six nominations, Kitaro captured the prestigious Grammy Award in the ‘Best New Age Album’ category for Thinking of You. Kitaro notes, “The Grammy Award was always an incredible dream and to actually win was truly a dream come true.”

In 2001, Kitaro was commissioned to record the accompanying soundtrack to the NHK special, Messages from the Past and inspired the music for Kitaro’s seventh Grammy Nominated album, Ancient.

An Ancient Journey takes the listener on a trip, which began with his previous release, Ancient. Merging the finest of Eastern and Western culture, Kitaro invites you to experience the life and spirit of the world’s ancient people.

Kitaro has noted that his purpose with his music is to calm the inner person: “The wars of the world don’t come from outer space. People create them, people who have a war within themselves. I want to create music that eases that war within.”

Kitaro Releases

• 1976 – Silk Road 1
• 1976 – Oasis
• 1977 – Silk Road 2
• 1977 – Silk Road Suite
• 1978 – Astral Voyage
• 1978 – Kitaro in Person
• 1979 – Full Moon Story
• 1979 – Ki
• 1980 – India
• 1980 – Tunkuang
• 1980 – In Person Digital
• 1981 – Best of Kitaro
• 1981 – World of Kitaro
• 1982 – Millenia
• 1983 – Silver Cloud
• 1984 – Asia
• 1986 – Toward the West
• 1986 – Tenku
• 1987 – Light of the Spirit
• 1990 – Kojiki
• 1991 – Live in America
• 1992 – Dream
• 1993 – Heaven & Earth
• 1994 – Mandala
• 1995 – An Enchanted Evening
• 1996 – World of Music series
• 1996 – Peace on Earth
• 1997 – Cirque Ingenieux
• 1998 – Gaia -Onbashira
• 1998 – Soong Sisters
• 1999 – Thinking of You
• 2000 – Ancient
• 2001 – Ancient Journey
• 2002 – Daylight, Moonlight
• 2003 – Best of Silk Road
• 2003 – Sacred Journey of Ku-kai

Kitaro Links

• Official Kitaro Site
• Kitaro Music – Fan site and online store

McEvilley, who has produced and written songs for Hollywood Records, Miramax, ABC and many others, started work on this latest album last year after co-scoring a Japanese anime, Ninja Scroll, with Kitaro. Recognizing that Kitaro is one of the pioneers of electronic chill-out music, McEvilley decided to produce a full-length CD that would incorporate samples from Kitaro’s music into new, beat heavy, electronica tracks.

Peas started DJing in the mid-nineties at some of South Beach’s (Miami) hottest clubs including: Chaos’ millennium party, Nikki Beach Club, Pearl, Rumi, Touch, and Automatic Slim’s. He also toured as a drummer for several years with the reggae band, Inna Sense. When performing, McEvilley integrates live drums and keyboard into his DJ performance.

People in northern California will be able to catch him at this year’ seventh annual Earthdance event on September 18, 2004.

Established in 1994, Los Angeles-based Domo Music Group, is guided by founder Eiichi Naito’s mission, “To provide a home for both the creators and aficionados of quality music beyond the borders of categorization.” Staying true to this mission, this month Domo is launching its new imprint, Kanpai Records (www.kanpairecords.com). This new label will focus on electronic and indie rock hybrids – plus everything in between. “We want to put out music that encompasses the best of all worlds… nothing too genre specific, but rather the gray space in between,” says Michelle Ogata, Kanpai’s Marketing Director. Kanpai’s first three albums are due for release in Fall 2004 and include Filters by Peas, Unconscious Ruckus by Appogee, and Reinterpretations by various artists.