Holy moly. Yes this limited-edition, import double LP goes for $38 bucks. But we've only got a handful, quite possibly won't ever see any more and it IS one of the only vinyl releases ever (certainly the only one currently-if-not-for-long in print) from the shamanistic psychedelic maestro that the world (well, very small portions of the world) knows as Keiji Haino, either solo or in his Fushitsusha combo. So it's got that arcane relic quality to it, y'know?
'Next' Let's Try Changing The Shape already came out on cd last year (also on Swordfish) but it's already out of print in that format, and this lp -- packaged in a 'hand-crafted', hand-numbered sleeve -- is thus also the only way to get this music, which (the important part) is pretty great. Let's revisit our review of the cd:
I know this is gonna sound dorky, but I (Allan) sometimes feel blessed to be in the presence, even via recorded media, of Keiji Haino. Yeah I'm a pretty devout fan of the 51 year old Japanese psychedelic shaman-in-black. It's a shame that outside of the realm of indie/underground/Japanophile music geeks, Haino is not better known. As far as I'm concerned, he's a 20th (now 21st) century artistic genius deserving of recognition and reverence from the wider world's institutions of high culture. Why? Well as my roommate likes to put it, his shit's just so tight. He can make harrowing, dark, cosmic, soul-bearing music out of anything: his trusty guitar and feedback, a tambourine, his own voice... But even fans like me might have found his last solo release on PSF, the all-acoustic guitar workout Hikari Yami Uchitokeaishi Kono Hibiki, tough going. But THIS new disc is one I'd wholeheartedly recommend even to the uninitiated. According to the label it "sees him developing themes on from his last PSF release." I think by that they're not referring to Hikari Yami Uchitokeaishi Kono Hibiki but to his previous PSF disc, the 'grey album' Mazu Wa Iro O Nakuso Ka. That was an incredible, hypnotic document of Haino in a gentle, ghostly mood, recording at home presumably, accompanying himself via overdubs on a 4-track, quite unlike his more typical live, over-amped, no-overdubs method. Now on 'Next' Let's Try Changing The Shape, Haino again experiments with overdubbing. However his guitar sound on this tends towards the harsher electric tones of 'classic Haino' (solo and with his band Fushitsusha), much less 'jazzy' than on Mazu Wa... the grey is gone and he's back to the blackness. The six tracks found here all feature layers of electric guitar and vocal overdubs, a multitude of Keiji's playing together. To some this may sound chaotic and confused, but careful listening will reveal the ways in which Haino has carefully constructed these pieces. On the more guitar-heavy tracks his web of sound builds and builds in density, becoming a narcotic drone not unlike some Skullflower stuff, while other tracks are based more around Haino's vocal parts -- there's one I thought was gonna be all acapella until his guitar appeared a few minutes in -- raw and repetitious, almost Reynolisan. The album ends with a final descent into the abyss, a 26 minute trip that gets so seriously spooky that you suspect the overdubbing is Haino's way of not feeling so alone... Definitely Keiji Haino (and this album) is not for everybody, but it's worth finding out if he's for you because your life will be better for it, if you find his art speaks to you the way it does to me.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
In honor of Haino's 50th birthday, in addition to his long overdue recognition on the cover of highbrow experimental music rag The Wire, PSF has issued a video document of a rare performance for voice and percussion instruments. Enigmatic and mysterious when merely only listened to, this video gives an anticipated insight to the physicality and trancendence of space experienced when witnessing Keiji Haino in full force, for seeing Haino perform in the flesh is an experience like no other. Unlike the previous video offered by PSF, an excerpt of a Fushitsusha performance (only 45 minutes of a supposed three hour set!), this offers a complete peek into the mystical genius of Keiji Haino. See Haino reduce a poor tambourine to its raw elements, tearing away at its flesh, drawing away its spirit, and exposing its corpse.
First things first -- be aware that this double disc of live pagan ritual drone from Japan's dark diminutive pyschedelic overlord Keiji Haino is a strictly limited release, just 1000 copies pressed, of which only 500 are available in the States. Of which we've got 30. It's jointly released by both the Important label and Scott Slimm's Archive -- the latter who previously brought us the so rapidly sold out that we couldn't even list it triple live cd Boris release, and also the now equally out of print live disc by Growing, and if those two are any indication, this will be long gone soon too!
Of course the music's the main attraction, but it's nice that as with Archive's other previous releases this looks great too: Beautiful, simple double cd packaging. Black on black, of course. Letterpressed printing. A cover image of Haino in an action pose, intently focused on a table-top of electronic gadgetry.
And what's Haino up to on the sonic front here? The two discs are different, the 54'27" disc one featuring electronics, percussion, and vocals; and the 46'54" disc two devoted to Haino's hurdy-gurdy playing (plus voice). Both are combinations of the lovely and the difficult in proportions to which Haino's fans are accustomed. Let's listen more closely...
Disc one, entitled "A temporary freezing of the time axis that turns at the end of this profound now": Restrained electronic whine, drone, squiggle. Simmering, dubby passages of typewritery percussion. Brief outbursts of Haino's trademark vocal exhortations. Overall, ominous and soothing both. It's an aural glimpse into a mad scientist's laboratory, experiments automatically percolating away, Professor Haino occasionally lecturing his visitors intensely...
Disc two, known as, incredibly, "That, which while enfolding this now and present perfume, speaks, 'I will use to the fullest this form bestowed upon me' and blurs into the firmament - ah, where and in what form will it next be devised": Haino's hurdy gurdy playing conjures a grating, broken drone. Like a creepy-crawling Tony Conrad. Halting rhythms, staggering back and forth, on and off, scraping and soul wrenching. But beautiful too, with moments sounding "classical", melodic. Some more of that typewritery percussion. And then there's his voice, which, when reveal'd, hovers serious and fragile over the black drone clouds roiling out of his instrument...
Further notes: this recording was mastered by James Plotkin, while the graphic design was handled by Stephen O'Malley -- thus, two members of Khanate having a hand in this release. Hmm, that gets me on a line of speculative thinking...Haino did a collaboration with Boris a while back, so why not with Khanate?? Hearing him on the mic dueting with Alan Dubin would be amazing!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We'll keep this brief, as we only have but 3 copies to disperse (we actually acquired twice that number, but already sold some in the store)! So act fast, Haino fans, if your collection is lacking this long out of print 1997 release, bearing one of the most straightforward of the Tokyo psych shaman's poetic album titles, which are often much lengthier and more cryptic.
This disc contains one long track (67'31") of wavering, haunted drone, its meditative mystery eventually enhanced by rattling, rustling percussion, abstract Eastern string strum, and hoarse, mumbled chant (a far cry from Haino's usual anguished shrieks). Sparse and ceremonial sounding, this is the calm side of Keiji, not amped up and/or abrasive like some of his other releases. Like we said, it's out of print, a "warehouse find" we unearthed from an undisclosed location, and according to the internet it now sells for up to $60! While even the most devoted Haino fans here find that a bit insane, it's certainly worth the price we're charging... to at least, and unfortunately ultimately at most, three of you, we're sure.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Keiji whoops it up on the hurdy gurdy and ends up sounding a lot like that recent, excellent Tony Conrad album. But what's up with Option's review of Haino's recent acoustic record (not this one)? 'Music writer' Paul Semel claims "this fool...makes a mess even my mother wouldn't clean up," that the album is "a piece of crap," and ends the review with "please, please, please don't buy this record." What the hell? Negative reviews are refreshing, to be sure, but all-out meanspiritedness (and zero information or insight) isn't. (catalog number PSFD-68)
The title, translated from the Japanese, means something like "Tangled up in the universe, my pain" and so of course it's the latest from Japanese musical shaman Keiji Haino of Fushitsusha. Wherein he plays the theremin. Yes, theremin, of "Good Vibrations" fame. It's almost a running joke here, about how Haino, though best known (and loved, or not) for his unique and high-volume guitar-wrangling and also his banshee-in-anguish vocalizations, can make himself, in his own way, the master of ANY instrument. He's been recorded playing acoustic guitar, tamborine, wave-drum, drum machine, hurdy-gurdy, piano, and even turntables (turing in an amazing "DJ set" on the recent Tokyo Flashback 5 compilation). We even thought of making up a Keiji Haino rap album for our April Fool's edition of this list, but then who would believe us when we reviewed this new, entirely real, album of Keiji playing the theremin? To be precise, this is Haino's "first ever all-electronic album" and it finds him using/abusing a plethora of electronic gadgetry (as depicted on the uncharacteristic color cover pic adorning this lovingly packaged cd) that include quite a few hands-off, theremin-like instruments (digital theremin, air synth, air FX) that in the live setting doubtless allow Haino to indulge his penchant for dramatic dance-like movements, waving his arms and contorting his body to conjure sounds from the ether. Probably a sight to behold. On disc, though, these are just another set of devices for processing Haino's deep sonic urges. In, or rather, near, Haino's hands, the theremin (an instrument already associated with both sci-fi and haunted house sound effects) is both spacey and scary here, to the extreme. More Merzbow than Clara Rockmore for sure. Four long tracks. Dark, fluttering, hissing blackness. Monsters inhabit the void. Beware.
The dark elf of the current Japanese noise/psych scene, Mr. Keiji Haino (from Fushitsusha, and many other projects) teams up with Eddie and Bill (they're girls, really!) from the heavy Japanese bass/drums combo COA. Previously Haino has collaborated in a
This it-had-to-happen collaboration between heavy duty Japanese psych/noise/guitar maestros Keiji Haino (Fushitsusha) and KK Null (Zeni Geva) is a swirling dark maelstrom of electric extremity. The first couple tracks, featuring Keiji Hanio's voice, and electronics from both gentlemen, kinda sounds like Keiji Haino trapped in a.. uh... cyclotron? Yeah, the electro-static charge making his bangs stand on end, and hence he's screaming in anguish amid the swoops and zips and zwooshes flashing around him, sorta like a mix of sped up tape sounds and wild sci-fi FX. Then, sudden silence... has his heart stopped? No, he's still alive. Thank God.
The third track adds some of Haino's stark percussion (a la Origin's Hesitation) plus even more murderous vocals, while on track four and five Haino switches to guitar while KK plays the drums, resulting in some skronky improv mayhem. The final two tracks are both extra-long (22 and 16 minutes, respectively) and go back to the disturbing, droning sci-fi cyclotronic soundscapes of the first few tracks, with added drums and drum machine action. It's as if these two wanted to prove that such a "clash of the titans" couldn't not result in massive (if indulgent) devastation!
Stark and beautiful sounds flow from this disc, that takes an avant garde approach to traditional Japanese music making. The duo documented here consists of Michihiro Sato on tsugaru jamisen, a three-stringed traditional folk instrument from Northern Japan, and noted psychedelic explorer Keiji Haino on nylon-string "classic guitar". We're fans of both artists, so this is a treat. The team-up isn't all that strange -- champion jamisen player Sato has a couple of previous, exciting and adventurous PSF solo discs and has also collaborated with John Zorn and slew of downtown NYC improvisers, while Haino has already appeared on a PSF release accompanying another master of the tsugaru jamisen, Chisato Yamada. Haino and Sato work together well, as Haino doesn't amp up and overpower Sato...it's quiet plucking and picking from him too (and some fuzzy strumming we liked quite a bit). It's more Sato's world, one of rustic intensity and raw, string vibrating beauty -- but near the end of the disc some vocal outbursts will certainly remind you of Haino's presence!
Even when recording entirely solo, master musician of the Tokyo psych underground Keiji Haino is capable of realizing a depth of sound that leaves all pretenders to his lordly shamanic throne gasping in his blackened cloud of cosmic dust. And fans know that he doesn't need many instruments (though he'll seemingly play anything) or the help of other musicians (though he leads several units of his own, most famously Fushitsusha, and has collaborated with an interesting array of artists including Boris, Derek Bailey, Kan Mikami, Shoji Hano, Peter Brotzmann, Coa, and members of both Masada and Ruins). So we're always interested in hearing from Haino whatever the circumstances. But this time we can't help but be slightly more intrigued than usual. That's because this new double cd is co-billed to something called Sitaar Tah! (their exclamation point, but you'll see why it's deserved). What is Sitaar Tah!? They just happened to be a twenty-piece sitar orchestra!! Damn. Just when you thought "Eastern psych" couldn't get any more Eastern psych, they come up with this. Keiji Haino + 20 sitars!! We couldn't wait to hear it. And this IS great, and beyond our imaginings of it.
Recorded live in 2004, the one-time only performance documented here definitely evokes the spirit of '70s Japanese psych drone legends the Taj Mahal Travellers. It's an organic mass of sound that finds a "oneness" despite the size of the ensemble. Keiji, not one to be out gunned, brings the drone as well with electric hurdy gurdy, electric sruthi box, electric tanbur, rhythm box, flute and voice. And, giving the proceedings an additional Tuvan touch, Fuyuki Kamakawa guests on the igil and throat singing. So there's a lot going on, but it all merges well, with sureness of purpose, a constant flow. Sitaar Tah! can't be said to dominate, their 20 sitars managing to have something of a phantom presence, their multiplicity weightless, like a mirror-within-a-mirror reflection. To the extent that this suggests a raga, it's the most abstract and eerie "raga" as you're ever going to hear, unfolding from quiet to loud, with buzzing and dynamic awe.
The 46 minute disc one's big surprise is the flute blown by Keiji. Lovely, lovely. Reminds us a bit of Akio Suzuki. A nice companion to the chorus of heavenward cries conjured by Sitaar Tah!'s string scrapings. Disc two (51 minutes) rachets up the throaty drone intensity, being more actively sitar-shrill and sounding perhaps like Haino went to India to record the soundtrack to an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. It develops a pleasantly suspensefully pulse-beat that (maybe because we were just listening to the reissue of that Basic Channel comp) weirdly enough seems to us to hint at the ambient throb of "heroin house" But it's to such things as the aforementioned Taj Mahal Travellers, and Thuja or Hala Strana, the Double Leopards, Acid Mothers Temple, and Haino's own drone group Nijimu that Animamima's eerie, immersive environment should more obviously draw comparison.
This is the second double cd set by Keiji Haino to be released by the aRCHIVE label. Last year's Reveal'd To None As Yet - An Expedience To Utterly Vanish Consciousness While Still Alive was the first. (Hmm, could it be that a whole series is in the works? we're hoping.) And you know what? Reveal'd has been probably the best-selling Haino thing we've ever had here at Aquarius. Perhaps because of the ultra-desirable, limited-edition nature of aRCHIVE releases and the always-superb packaging (in this case, a very special letterpressed, die-cut folder designed by Stephen O'Malley) with which they are so carefully presented. But also 'cause we have a lot of customers who love the psychedelic, dark drones! And Keiji Haino is the king of that realm. Sitaar Tah! now joins his court. Recommended just as much as its predecessor.
FYI: We got a limited number of these direct from the label, so if/when we run out and can still get more from a distributor, the price will unfortunately likely go up, as it did with that previous Haino 2cd
This here's the third ear-boggling duo offering from the titanic team-up of Keiji Haino (Fushitsusha) and Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), two of the most masterful and distinctive artists in the Japanese psych/prog underground, you know 'em, you love 'em (if not, you're in for some bizarre, bewildering listening if you pick up this disc - what the heck, do it!).
This time around, we'd say it's a bit more Ruins-y than their earlier efforts Until Water Grasps Flame and New Rap, perhaps because it was edited and mixed by Yoshida, in somewhat the same manner though not quite to the same extreme degree as his computer-assisted collaborations with Imahori Tsuneo. Both Haino and Yoshida are accomplished improvisers, but this process of improvising and then later composition via computer edits is not something typical of Keiji Haino's work at all, in fact normally he doesn't even do overdubs. It's a "forbidden area" according to Yoshida's Magaibutsu label website! Here's the entire, somewhat confusional description they provide:
"Yoshida studio sessions to demolish and rebuild. Haino Keiji is playing Yoshida edit, it is a forbidden area depth issues that I think works. Contemporary, piece acoustic number, hard-core and edited by extreme impossible to reproduce surprisingly pop songs... Two wide variety of music to unite and condensation. New possibilities could look at things."
Of course, Yoshida is playing as well (drums, keyboard, bass, vocals), while Haino does his thing on electric and acoustic guitar, flute, soprano laute, and vocals. And the results should appeal to fans of either/both (and for that matter, also sounds something like an Acid Mothers/Melt Banana hybrid). There's both hectic and lumbering rhythms, weird vocal warble, frantic noise, tangled blasts of no-wavey guitar, fucked up grooves, chiming math-rock complexities, spooky synth ambience, droning chant ranging from silly to sublime, and echoing psych weirdness... basically a blenderized mix of Yoshida and Haino's musical tendencies, that despite the seeming chaos, Yoshida has structured into 16 remarkably cohesive individual song identities. For instance, take a track like "Loksooidgiifj". It could easily BE a hyper Ruins track up til about the 1:50 mark, when Haino's void-treading guitar makes its atmospheric entrance, transforming the piece into a more stark percussive space. Or "Lakdddffkouwwe", an extreme example of chopped-up prog skitter, with piano and fluttery flute o'er the top.
If you liked the Yoshida/Tsuneo discs on doubtmusic, you'll definitely like this, and it's got that special Haino mystique as well. Also look out for another Haino/Yoshida duo disc, Uhrfasudhasdd, to come out on Tzadik really soon, it's apparently a continuation of these sessions, 'cause they were so into it they recorded much more than the 50 minutes found here. And no, we don't know what's with the random letter explosion alphabet soup album and song titles, that's a Yoshida thing...
No, there's no rapping on here (or, if there is, it is indeed an extremely NEW style of "rap", consisting of intense screaming in what may or may not be Japanese -- yeah how's that for a "new rap dialect"?). So no, it's not Keiji gone MC. It's the Fushitsusha guitarist (and all around Tokyo psych shaman) Keiji teamed up again with Ruins drummer (and fellow Tokyo underground music titan) Tatsuya Yoshida for a disc of presumably improvised duets featuring Yoshida's amazing octopoidal drumming and Haino's shards of guitar and agonized throat-rasps.
Each track is named after a different New York City neighborhood, and based on Haino's vocals you might think that he'd had some traumatic experiences in these places, if a track like "Lower East Side" is somehow descriptive of its namesake. A violent mugging perhaps? Maybe the NYC theme suggests that New Rap is influenced by, or an homage to, Downtown New York jazz skronk a la John Zorn, who released this on his Tzadik label. But it's also unmistakably the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from Haino and Yoshida, and in fact have heard before from 'em on their previous duo disc from a few years back Until Water Grasps Flame, and to some extent their collaborations in Knead and Sanhedolin. This strikes a good balance between the controlled spazzcore of the Ruins and the primal emotions of Haino's many projects. Harsh energy indeed!!
And here's the Tzadik-issued part II to the latest collaboration between Japanese prog/psych legends Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins) and Keiji Haino (Fushitsusha). Part I, Hauenfiomiume, came out on Yoshida's Magaibutsu label, and we highlighted it last list. The equally easy to say, remember, and spell Uhrfasudhasdd consists of 16 more tracks from the same sessions... also with crazy alphabet soup song titles. So, what we said about Hauenfiomiume pretty much applies here too. Compared to earlier Yoshida/Haino team-ups, it's more on the Ruinsy side, in part 'cause Yoshida computer-edited and mixed it, splicing and dicing their original improvs (?) into condensed, intense compositions, ranging from eerie ambience, to heavy progspazms. There's lots of quick cuts and giltched-out passages, making for manic spires of spiralling energy... For instance, on the track "Thuguigodssphiff", This Heatish percussion is punched in next to blasts of distortion and Magmoid vocal choruses. Maybe this is what a 'screwed and chopped' Koenjihyakkei would sound like! Except that most of this seems sped up, not slowed down. "Dhoidvophkjiff" could have been constructed from samples of Orthrelm and Brise-Glace.
It's the sort of insanity you expect from Yoshida in other words, everything from attention-deficit keyboard tinkling to fried synth soundz to rubbery bass riffage to howling guitar (well that's probably Haino's doing). The black-clad Haino's ability to conjure utter darkness bleeds through as well (check out the track 12, "Zhuddiposshk" for some harrowing, horrific atmospheres and creepy guttural vocal stylings, which crop up again on the ominous "Fiuijkdfgpokwom")... Basically if you're at all into either Haino or (maybe moreso) Yoshida, you'll enjoy this crazy cornucopia of their most extreme tendencies, multiplied by studio technology! Recommended.
Hey, these three must really like playing together (and WE really like 'em playing together too). 'Cause this Haino/O'Rourke/Ambarchi collaboration has turned out to be not a one-off, or even two-off; this international power trio are on their fourth full album, now, in just four years. And just getting better and better it seems. This outing again combines the colossal void-sculpting electric guitar & emotive, echoing vocal yawp of Japanese psych shaman Haino, with sturdy rhythm section backup from indie/experimental superstars Jim O'Rourke (bass) and Oren Ambarchi (drums). You can imagine the latter two doing the whole 'we're not worthy' routine in the face of Haino's overpowering black-on-black aesthetic, but actually they ARE pretty worthy, O'Rourke's Brise-Glace background (and oh, yeah stint in Sonic Youth) aligning with dronester-by-day Ambarchi's interest in motorik krautrock percussion stylings (e.g. Sagittarian Domain) to definitely hold up their end and provide plenty of interest and umph to the improvised (?) soundscapes through which Haino's guitar carves wide swaths.
This time round, there's some surprises, too - including a cameo appearance by famed minimalist drone-pioneer Charlemagne Palestine! That's on the opening, nearly 10 minute track, which also features Japanese guest Eiko Ishibashi, both playing wine glasses (yes wine glasses) making dulcet drones over which Haino gently (yes gently) sings and plays guitar. That's another surprise, how quietly and peacefully this begins, and continues, on the spacious second track too, where Haino plays flute (yes flute)� quite nice. But have no fears, fans of the Fushitsusha-freakout-mode of Haino's guitaring, as despite the relative restraint and loveliness of those first two tracks, this set does get heavy and noisy as it goes on, the group erupting into amped-up action by the time track three rolls around, replete with the choppy attack and grinding tones of Haino's guitar. Ambarchi provides a steady beat, steadier than on your usual Fushitsusha fare, pounding away alongside the distorted bass of O'Rourke in cyclic rhythmic grooves, providing compelling, mesmeric support for Haino to do 'his thing' - and this is very much his thing - as the cryptic/poetic song titles will attest. Somewhat in contrast to Haino's reactivated Fushitsusha unit, which has gone in the direction of dealing in beautifully difficult, short, sharp shocks, getting almost no-wavy on their two recent Heartfast label albums, this Fushitsusha-like trio has stayed more in stretched-out jam territory, all right with us too. So, recommended for any fan of Fushitsusha OR this band, and we do consider them a band at this point, albeit as mentioned, and as it should be, a Haino-centric one.
NOW ON VINYL!!! The 4th album from this all-star international improv unit. We're fans of Jim O'Rourke (bass) and Black Truffle label head Oren Ambarchi (drums) of course, but we're even bigger fans of dark lord of Japanese psych Keiji Haino (guitar, vocals), which is good - 'cause, as should come as no surprise, he's the dominant personality in this trio. This formation - and its slight variant, with Stephen O'Malley in place of O'Rourke - has become one of the best sources for a reliable Haino-fix. This disc (on cd for now, vinyl upcoming) consists of one 40+ minute track, that begins blissfully, with sparse, Eastern-sounding string pluck and sudden strum, eventually joined by gentle, more-melodic-than-usual singing from Haino. But does it stay that way? Of course not. Haino steps away from the mic, his guitarwork gets more tangled, the drumming more insistent, heavier bass tones begin to resonate, and then at about the 14 minute mark, some (still relatively mild) feedback amp action kicks in as well. A storm is not unleashed, not yet, but dark clouds gather on the horizon, and the air becomes thick with anticipation. Ambarchi keeps up a nervous pulse, steadily skittering away, as Haino and O'Rourke build up drones, high and low. Electronic bleepage and sci-fi FX wander in from somewhere, and we're expecting immanent cataclysm. But nay, the trio pull back, Haino returns to the mic, hushed at first, his vocals backed by Jandekian fractured folk that then gets hectic and no-wavey in recent Fushitsusha tradition. More extreme noisiness briefly erupts at about the half-hour mark, but fades, heralding a humid jungle jam, Haino on flute we think (or recorder?), Ambarchi's beats getting bongo-y. Nice.
Side stepping some of our usual expectations, but not nearly all of 'em, this one's another interesting addition to this trio's oeuvre, and we're left wanting more.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Three gods of the Japanese underground, captured on film!
Along with the sudden miraculous appearance of their nigh-impossible to find 1998 album "Amplifier Worship" in our racks (see elsewhere on this list) we've also managed to acquire a few copies of some other hard-to-find Boris titles, including this
RealAudio clip: "The Decision of a Dream Which Will Never Be Completely Red" [/audio/hainoborisdecision.rm]
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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For some folks (you know who you are), this has got to be the most exciting entry on this week's New Arrivals list. The second recorded collaboration by this heavy duty international trio, each with their own dedicated following. But let's not kid ourselves. Only one is truly a cult, he of the dark shades and bangs. And, not to discount the impassioned contributions of Mssrs. O'Rourke and Ambarchi, both talented musicians and noisemakers in their own right, this is, as all such collaborations ultimately are, Keiji Haino's album, he's the star of the show (cf. Keiji Haino & Boris, Keiji Haino & Pan Sonic, Keiji Haino with Bill Laswell & Rashied Ali...). This is how it should be, how it must be, how it always shall be. So, if, say you were interested in an Ambarchi or O'Rourke record that just happens to have the Dark Lord of Japanese psych playing a little guitar on it, this isn't it. This is a new Haino album, with O'Rourke and Ambarchi in the roles of very capable sidemen, essentially manifesting a 2011 version of Haino's classic power trio, Fushitsusha! And O'Rourke and Ambarchi are here for a reason (for the 2nd time). That reason, being to bask in the darkly-shining psychedelic magnificence channelled uniquely by Haino, to be a part of that, to experience and share in it, and probably be changed by it. For the same reason we listen, but more so. O'Rourke, whose usual instrument is guitar, plays bass (as he did in Sonic Youth). Ambarchi, best known for his guitar-based dronemongering, plays drums. The implication is obvious. Both do their utmost to help Haino achieve, well, Haino-ness. And he does. On these four loooong tracks, recorded live in Tokyo, January 2011, washes of distortion and feedback are sculpted with eerie otherworldly angles only possible in some non-Euclidean musical geometry... shrill, sparking tendrils of guitar cascade over steady percussive plod and skitter. Haino's emotive vocal shriek is wrenched forth poetically o'er some select passages, but mostly this is about the ominous glorious grinding interplay of the three instruments. There's quiet stretches, and rocked-out bass-heavy ones; rhythmic moments of softly pulsating distorted shuffle, others where all players meld in one slomo explosion of dense churning muzz. Fans of Haino, fans of Fushitsusha, you want this. Those more familiar with the *other* two guys, well, they're introducing you to something special... And if your soul has ever cried out in the void, you'll like it. (PS if it's not obvious, a huge Haino fanboy here wrote this review!)
Nice graphics/design by Stephen O'Malley. Cd in digipack; vinyl in nice gatefold, cut at Dub Plates and Mastering, Berlin.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Colorfully packaged, long-awaited album from Eye of the Boredoms infamous solo noise project. Unlike the violent noise and/or musical collage of prior Hanatarash recordings, 5 is one long whooshing track that sounds like a rocket blasting off, speeding up, entering hyperspace, slowing down, speeding up again, then spiralling off through another galaxy. Relentless and beautiful.
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Now domestically priced: Japanese avant-chanteuse Hanayo (whom some will recall from her collaboration with German electronica hotboy Panacea) here presents another collaborative work, this time with a whole host of international electronic/experimental artists, including Terre Thaemlitz, Curd Duca, Merzbow, Patric Catani, Stilluppsteypa, Christophe de Babalon, and others. So it's a varied mix of digital hardcore, electronic pop, abstract noise, and everything in between, with Hanayo's little-girl voice holding forth over all, whether her collaborators provide atmosphere or chaos...nice.
The label that brought us that amazing, massive (and now out of print) Improvised Music From Japan 10-cd wooden boxed set, as well as the zine of the same name, isn't resting there. This solo effort from veteran free jazz drummer Shoji Hano is but one of their latest releases. Shoji Hano has played with the likes of Abe Kaoru, Peter Brotzmann, Toshinori Kondo, Keiji Haino, Derek Bailey, High Rise, Gary Smith, Hugh Hopper, and others -- a resume touching on the extremes of jazz and psychedelic rock. Here he gets pretty extreme all by himself, doing every drummer's dream, a 56 minute drum solo! Actually it's broken into two tracks, of 22 and 34 minutes apiece. He shakes, he rattles, he rolls. It's not exactly Moby Dick, but it's closer than you might think. The sheer scope, the length, of these tracks allow you to almost forget it's just drums you're hearing, it just becomes a sound pattern, constantly varied, energetic yet very controlled. It's like Hano is performing some personal percussive ritual. Cool...but you gotta like drums!!
British electric improv guitarist Smith (Mass, etc.), and Japanese psych rock bassist Nanjo (High Rise, Mainliner, Musica Transonic, etc.), team up with Japanese free jazz percussionist Shoji Hano (who's worked with Peter Brotzmann, Keiji Haino, & many others). Quite a barrage of beauty and terror results. Yeah, somewhere between jazz and psychedelic rock this is, for fans of both Mass and Musica Transonic for sure.
As much as we love the Japanese '70s rock band Happy End, we've never been able to list any of their releases before as they have always existed only as ridiculously priced imports. Luckily Erebus has reissued this one at a regular price and we're so excited that folks who have never gotten to hear Happy End before will finally get a chance to dig their enduring sounds.�
While most of the '70s Japanese sounds we rave about is typically more on the extreme psychedelic and noisy side of the sonic spectrum, Happy End were much more about a breezy, hazy and salt of the earth sound. Happy End were born from the ashes of Apryl Fool by�Takashi Matsumoto and Haruomi Hasano, who of course would go on to help form Yellow Magic Orchestra. While they were exploring sounds that folks like Neil Young (CSNY), were making at the same time the really cool thing about Happy End was that unlike most of the other Japanese rock bands of the late '60s/early '70s they didn't do any cover songs or sing in English for more widespread attention. You can hear just how organic their intentions were, as these are songs that totally have their own unique approach to wind in your hair, sun soaked psych-pop. We love their whole catalog so we hope other records get reissued, but for sure grab this one to start.
Fallout is one of those reissue labels whose gargantuan output has some quality control issues but when they strike gold, we're always, like their catchphrase, blown away. Recent Fallout gems have been Malachi, Friar Tuck and Fraser and Debolt, but when this Harumi record came in, we knew it had to be good. And boy, is it! Recorded in New York in 1967 by Tom Wilson who helmed records by The Velvet Underground, Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkel, the self-titled debut of Japanese musician and singer Harumi is one of the best instances of East-meets-West influences. Acid-tinged fuzzy folk pop with lots of phase shifting and reverbed vocals largely played on a range of traditional Far Eastern instruments, this album features plenty of sample-heavy passages. The album is anchored by the two final tracks. One a mesmerizing 13 minute sitar-soaked spoken word piece called "Twice Told Tales of The Pomegranate Forest" and the other the 17 minute garage rocker, "Samurai Memories" featuring extended bits of conversation in Japanese from members of Harumi's family. Highest Recommendation!!
A strange split between the stalwart Japanese noise artist Hiroshi Hasegawa (of C.C.C.C. and Astro infamy and also half of the Hasegawa-Shizuo duo with a couple of exceptional albums on Utech) and the dreamy ambient composer Sasha Darko. The Hasegawa side is a monster of a piece as oceanic grey chunks of hissing noise with crumbled distortion dramatically build through an intensity of dense layering and compressed noise chomp augmented with pulsar-driven oscillations and industrial ventilator churns. More Prurient than Merzbow, landing on the dynamic, theatrical side of noise construction. Great stuff we should add. The Sasha Darko half is a drifting excerpt of pretty twinkling electronics graced with kosmische overtures. Some of Darko's previous albums retain overt allusions to deep-sea imagery complete with dolphin and whale tones (eek!), and it's seagulls he's going for on this tape of lulling patterns and sea-green serenades. This one clocks in at just 10 minutes, and the artwork from Black Horizons is top-notch, with offset silver printing on black linen paper.
Here's some Japanese avant-garde drone improv on the PSF label. This duo (Hirotomo Hasegawa and Shizu Uchida, the latter a former member of Nijimu with Keiji Haino) utilize bass and vocals alongside a couple traditional Japanese instruments, the single string koto and the double-reed wind instrument called the "hichiriki". They're also both credited with what the liner notes call "roop", which we're guessing might actually supposed to say "loop", a reference to electronic looping n' effects. It's a very abstract soundworld they create with these tools for sure, as the unedited live performance from Tokyo's U.F.O. Club in June 2005 documented on this disc demonstrates. The first two of the three tracks here are the shortest (9:43 and 5:33 in length respectively) and are full of eerie, squeaky spaciousness... quiet high end squeals and cries and lots of silence. Music for the more "onkyo" inclined. But when the lengthy (27:36) third track kicks in, a lot more dense textures are added to Hasegawa-Shizuo's sonic brew, and this is what fans of organic psychedelic drone-out stuff should tune in for.
New on Utech! Mysterious, presumably improvised raw drone ritual from this Japanese duo, who have a least a couple previous releases on the PSF and Tiliqua labels. Actually, the fine print found on the inside of the oversized sleeve says "this recording is the result of unedited improvisation", so there you go. What instruments were used, if any, it doesn't disclose, though... anything from sticks and pebbles to guitars and electronic synths, we'd guess. There's only one track on this disc, 43 minutes in length. It starts off in near-silence, for the first ten minutes or so it seems like maybe nothing's really going to happen, perhaps all Hirotomo Hasegawa and Uchida Shizuo are going to just do is some sparse clicking and tapping, and then they'll quietly sneak off and leave you sitting there with headphones on, 15 bucks poorer. But never fear, that's the warm up, getting the listener in the appropriately meditative mindset, calm and attentive and expectant, for hushed wavering drones to eventually well up and imbue the disc (and listener) with haunting vibrations. Drone, clink, rustle... it's abstract & atmospheric, staying pretty quiet, except for when a buzzing airplane engine sort of drone comes in, and out... There's much dark, stark rumble, close-mic'd clatter, sudden echoing events in eerie emptiness. It's well worth letting yourself drift into the microscopic mystery of Hasegawa-Shizuo's intimate improv soundscapery, especially if you have an affinity for the more experimental side of Keiji Haino, say, and also "onkyo" music, as this seems a bit like a blend of both.
And as it turns out, according Utech's website, the Shizuo half of this duo was in fact "a long-term member of Haino's Nijimu medieval dream-drone unit", while Hasegawa, for his part, previously "was the lead singer of seminal early eighties Japanese punk/hardcore group Aburadako (Greasy Octopus)". Well, dunno about the latter, this seems quite far from any hardcore Greasy Octopus punk, but the Nijimu connection makes sense! Ltd. to 500 copies by the way...
Album number two from this Japanese improv drone duo, featuring Hirotomo Hasegawa and Shizu Uchida, who weave their wonderfully abstract soundworld from bass, vocals, single string koto and a double-reed wind instrument called the "hichiriki". Much like their debut cd on PSF, record number two is epic and sparse, dark and mysteriously haunting. Two side long tracks, culled from live improvisations with no overdubs, two sides of the record, two sides of this band's split personality.
Side one is a barely there creep through wide open space, space space and more space. Peppered with occasional bits of reedy skronk and low end flutter, these little sonic disturbances drift in a black expanse. The first half of the side in fact is almost nothing. So minimal it requires seriously deep listening to take it in. Soon however the bass surfaces offering a distant abstract drone, that sort of weaves in and out of the audible world, giving the reed and the spare vocals something to orbit, however tenuously.
Side two finds the band in a much more psychedelic Ur-drone state of mind, channeling the spirit of the Taj Mahal Travellers. The sound is still spacious, just not so empty, the skronk toned down to a reedy Eastern melody, sprawled out over a slowly shifting back drop of churning, roiling low end rumble and throb. A living sound like the universe slowly folding in on itself. Reverb wrapped around slow low melodies, all tangled up in the snake charmer sound of the hichiriki, a sound that seems to unfurl as if it might go on forever. So gorgeous.
Vinyl only. LIMITED TO 400 COPIES! We have a handful but will NOT be able to get more. Pressed on nice thick vinyl, packaged in a super thick, gorgeously printed sleeve, with a Japanese style obi!
OK Bamboo begins with lithe melodic movements of piano delicately textured with soft stutter and glitch. Made us envision a milky complected android awaking with an itch to drowsily scratch. Then this android opens her mouth briefly to yawn-murmur-sing a few mysterious words before diving into the green-blue waves to frolic with some remarkably lifelike animatronic sea creatures. Aaaah, maybe you'll trip out to it differently than we did, but we hope you get an inkling of Hasunuma's distinctly Japanese dream-tronica.
The musical equivalent of a young leaf drifting along on a slow flowing brook. Shuta Hasunuma's music is as minimal yet richly expressive as a haiku -- stirring a collective "ahhhh" from all within earshot. Each track is composed from tiny fragments of field recordings that he captured in both rural and urban Japanese environments. Meditative. Contemplative. Beautiful.
Japanese laptop jockey Chihei Hatakeyama has flattened the source material of guitar and vibraphone into the tasteful ambient construction found on Minima Moralia, dreamy drones dotted with fizzing digital pixelations. There's none of the attack and rhythm that might pinpoint Hatakeyama's source material; instead he produces warm, dreamy drifts of ringing tones and velvety buzzings that locate the album in the realm of Eno's ambience (in terms of composition) and Kompakt's beloved Pop Ambient series (in terms of warmth via use of analogue / digital dialoguing). Very pleasant listening.
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Hellchild are the undisputed kings of Japanese metalcore. And for good reason; huge complex compositions that are brutally heavy and ultra fast, downtuned and furious. We have both their full lengths as well as the limited 10" that features two absolutely unbelievable medleys (track one: Whiplash/ Metallica/Exodus/Destruction/Slayer/Kreator and track two: Motley Crue/ Motorhead/U2 (!)/Sex Pistols) twisted and contorted almost beyond recognition. Almost.
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Hellchild are the undisputed kings of Japanese metalcore. And for good reason; huge complex compositions that are brutally heavy and ultra fast, downtuned and furious. We have both their full lengths as well as the limited 10" that features two absolutely unbelievable medleys (track one: Whiplash/ Metallica/Exodus/Destruction/Slayer/Kreator and track two: Motley Crue/ Motorhead/U2 (!)/Sex Pistols) twisted and contorted almost beyond recognition. Almost.
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Hellchild are the undisputed kings of Japanese metalcore. And for good reason; huge complex compositions that are brutally heavy and ultra fast, downtuned and furious. We have both their full lengths as well as the limited 10" that features two absolutely unbelievable medleys (track one: Whiplash/ Metallica/Exodus/Destruction/Slayer/Kreator and track two: Motley Crue/ Motorhead/U2 (!)/Sex Pistols) twisted and contorted almost beyond recognition. Almost.
Japanese crazy metal. Very '80s.
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Another limited-edition, probably-already-gone, get-it-quick-we-can't-get-more slab of desirable and oh so psychedelic vinyl from the fine folks/freaks at Eclipse and Galactic Zoo Disk, who have here captured the guitar and synth wielding dancin' king of Acid Mothers Temple and Tsurabami fame in his full droned-out glory...A colorful sunburst of solo electronic lullabies for flying pigs and other Floydian frienz.
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Yay! So many good things combined here with this release, it's like a crazy cosmic convergence of cool. First off, it's a Skin Graft comic book single. That's right, this colored-vinyl 7" record comes with a full-color comic book by the guys at Skin Graft, getting back to their roots as a combo of weird-music label and underground comix publisher. They haven't released anything in this format for ages, but we have fond memories of similar releases from way back by UFO or Die, Zeni Geva, Dazzling Killmen, Space Streakings, Mount Shasta, Brise-Glace... The comic doesn't have much to do with the music, but it's pretty cool.
And yeah, then there's the music. Side A: High On Fire. You know 'em you love 'em (or you should). Motorhead on Sabbath on Slayer on 11. They contribute a song from their latest, probably greatest release Blessed Black Wings, called "Brother In The Wind". And on Side B: Ruins. You know 'em you love 'em (or you should). Magma meets Lightning Bolt. Their track is a previously unreleased number entitled "Gwodhunqa" that encompasses everything that's great about Ruins: nimble, bass-heavy grooves and crazed yet catchy complexity. Parts of this sound like it's on 45, even though it already is on 45, if you know what I mean.
Never thought High On Fire and Ruins would share a split, but why not? Whoever thunk this up, give 'em a raise.
Japanese psych-noiserock power trio.
You wanna hear some in-the-red, ultra-distorto, psychedelic speed freak rock n' roll? If you love it loud and crazy, this legendary Japanese band can't be beat. Led by bassist/vocalist Asahito Nanjo (also of Mainliner, Musica Transonic, and many other
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The unexpected domestic reissue of this classic PSF album of psychguitar overload from this Japanese combo. This one follows "II" and is also quite good. NB. "Dispersion retains its 8 page booklet, but much of the Japanese text has been replaced with an extensive interview with bassist Asahito Nanjo, which originally appeared in Opprobrium magazine."
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The domestic Squealer reissue of this classic PSF album of psychguitar overload from this Japanese combo is out of print, so here's the PSF one, again - at a better price than we used to have it for, yay! One of the essential High Rise documents.
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Another one of the essential High Rise documents.
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Japanese mondo guitar fuzz legends High Rise offer up some stuff from the vaults, about a half hour of LOUD and DISTORTED rock at a bargain price.
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Wow! Live High Rise action, the Tokyo psych blasters on DVD!!
Live document of Tokyo's psychedelic speed freaks' 2000 tour of the US, specifically from their Seattle and NYC shows. Features tracks from the more recent Disallow and Desperado lps as well as their standards, "Popsicle" and "Psychedelic Speed Freaks". Hardcore fans will want this for sure, however, the recording quality doesn't quite do them justice as much as the in-the-red,
