Nav Katze -- Yuunagi（夕なぎ）

I was working part-time as a student assistant at University of Toronto's International Student Centre back in the late 1980s which meant that I took care of the facilities once or twice a week at night when the regular day staff went home. It was a nice gig, too, for the most part since some nice university clubs came in regularly to use the various rooms at the ISC. Plus, a few of my friends would come by and keep me company from time to time and after I close up, we may even walk down to Chinatown for a late-night dinner.

One of the regular groups that came on Tuesdays was the U of T chapter of the Society of Creative Anachronism. I hadn't really known what they were all about but on a weekly basis, the friendly members signed off on one of the larger rooms on the ground floor and I could often hear some medieval music going on with what sounded like dancing from the rhythmic footsteps. As it turns out, the SCA is a group dedicated to life in the Middle Ages without all of the horrible diseases and violence. Nice men and women, they all were.

For some reason, when I listen to this song by (at-the-time) trio Nav Katze, I get reminded of the SCA. Perhaps "Yuunagi" (Evening Sun) strikes me as having this somewhat medieval vibe woven into its tapestry although it is obviously contemporary; I think it's partially because of that instrument which starts things off, but the whole tone throughout the song seems to be fitting for a pleasant adventure in the forest. Moreover, the music definitely stands out from the Japanese pop at the time so that I also think of the band PSY-S when I hear "Yuunagi" although PSY-S is more in the technopop realm.

"Yuunagi" served as Nav Katze's debut single from August 1987 and was also a track on the group's 2nd album "OyZaC" which came out a month later. I've already written about one of their later songs, "Nagori no Bara"（名残りの薔薇）, so you may additionally want to give that one a try for comparison.