GHOST Hypnotic Underworld (Drag City) cd 14.98
Hallelujah! Ghost are back! Since Drag City's simultaneous release of their Snuff Box Immanence and Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet albums back in 1999, we hadn't heard hide nor hair of Japan's wonderful acid-folksters Ghost (unless you count their liason with Damon & Naomi). Indeed we'd begun to wonder what was up with Masaki Batoh, Michio Kurihara and crew -- we missed them! And in those four or five years, it seemed that fans of '70s inspired Japanese psychedelic music had switched their allegiance to the much more prolific Acid Mothers Temple camp led by Kawabata Makoto who emerged in the meantime. But we Ghost fans know that, as good as AMT can be, in the realm of cosmic communal Japanese hippy rock, there is no comparison. Ghost rule that particular hypnotic underworld. Depth, beauty, originality -- on all those counts they have it over AMT. Unlike the excessive pastiche of AMT, there's nothing tongue in cheek about Ghost. And as for quality control, well, you do the math.
So, needless to say, we were supremely excited to get this brand new Ghost album! The sun was sure 'tangging' the day this showed up. Word was that this might be Ghost's best album yet, and while we each have our favorites (mine's Lama Rabi Rabi, with their self-titled debut in close competition) this was immediately revealed as a contender. In short, it's freakin' great. Ghost explore some heavier, rockier, more prog-tastic directions in some of these songs, yet let their incomparable delicate psych-folk flow as well. Stirring guitar/drums workouts coexist with Batoh's fragile vocals and trembling sunshine melodies. And Terrascopic trainspotters will be interested to know that Ghost interpret songs by both Syd Barrett and the obscure '70s Dutch prog-rock act Earth & Fire, and make them completely their own. The album takes its name from the four-part, 25-minute suite that opens this disc, which ventures from lovely, hazy jazz-inflected jams to bombastic, utterly prog-rock flourishes complete with grandiose choirs. That alone is worth having waited four or five years for!
MPEG Stream: "Piper"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 2: Escaped And Lost Down In Medina"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 3: Aramaic Barbarous Dawn"

GHOST Hypnotic Underworld (Drag City) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hallelujah! Ghost are back! Since Drag City's simultaneous release of their Snuff Box Immanence and Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet albums back in 1999, we hadn't heard hide nor hair of Japan's wonderful acid-folksters Ghost (unless you count their liason with Damon & Naomi). Indeed we'd begun to wonder what was up with Masaki Batoh, Michio Kurihara and crew -- we missed them! And in those four or five years, it seemed that fans of '70s inspired Japanese psychedelic music had switched their allegiance to the much more prolific Acid Mothers Temple camp led by Kawabata Makoto who emerged in the meantime. But we Ghost fans know that, as good as AMT can be, in the realm of cosmic communal Japanese hippy rock, there is no comparison. Ghost rule that particular hypnotic underworld. Depth, beauty, originality -- on all those counts they have it over AMT. Unlike the excessive pastiche of AMT, there's nothing tongue in cheek about Ghost. And as for quality control, well, you do the math.
So, needless to say, we were supremely excited to get this brand new Ghost album! The sun was sure 'tangging' the day this showed up. Word was that this might be Ghost's best album yet, and while we each have our favorites (mine's Lama Rabi Rabi, with their self-titled debut in close competition) this was immediately revealed as a contender. In short, it's freakin' great. Ghost explore some heavier, rockier, more prog-tastic directions in some of these songs, yet let their incomparable delicate psych-folk flow as well. Stirring guitar/drums workouts coexist with Batoh's fragile vocals and trembling sunshine melodies. And Terrascopic trainspotters will be interested to know that Ghost interpret songs by both Syd Barrett and the obscure '70s Dutch prog-rock act Earth & Fire, and make them completely their own. The album takes its name from the four-part, 25-minute suite that opens this disc, which ventures from lovely, hazy jazz-inflected jams to bombastic, utterly prog-rock flourishes complete with grandiose choirs. That alone is worth having waited four or five years for!
MPEG Stream: "Piper"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 2: Escaped And Lost Down In Medina"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 3: Aramaic Barbarous Dawn"

GHOST In Stormy Nights (Drag City) cd 14.98
The follow-up to 2004's magnificent Hypnotic Underworld from Japanese communal psych vets Ghost is finally here! The heavy-prog moves of that album are still in evidence, as well as their perpetual penchant for otherworldly folk -- and, as well, on the nearly half-hour "Hemicyclic Anthelion", Ghost venture into the realm of what goes beyond mere prog to sound remarkably like avant-garde 20th century classical! Ghost are certainly an ambitious band, with talent to match. With the dark, abstract, droning vibes of "Hemicyclic Anthelion" hanging over the proceedings, In Stormy Nights proves to be, well, a dark and stormy album. Downright aggressive, even, are the trio of tracks that follow it in the middle of this disc.
True, In Stormy Nights starts placidly enough with "Motherly Bluster", classic Ghost style acid folk, Batoh's calm voice singing from some mystic plane of crosslegged bliss. But then, the aforementioned "Hemicyclic Anthelion" takes the stage -- literally, as this piece is apparently constructed from excerpts of live in-concert improvs, an electro-acoustic, slow-mo freakout that represents Ghost at their most out-there and experimental. Following that, it seems that Ghost have fallen to the Dark Side of the Force. Indeed, the ominous "Water Door Yellow Gate" actually reminds us a bit of the music from Star Wars (!), with martial drumming and majestic chant. "Gareki No Toshi" is noisier, with distorted vocals and suspense-film urgency. What's next? Something even more frightening -- a stirring cover of the song "Caledonia" by none other than cult ESP-label sixties psych-rock "tribe" Cromagnon!! Wow. Of all of Batoh & Co.'s various cover versions over the years (they've done songs by Syd Barrett, Pearls Before Swine, The Rolling Stones, and Earth & Fire, just to name ones we can think of right now) this has to be our favorite. Partially 'cause we'd never thought we'd hear a Cromagnon cover, partially 'cause it's such a great song, and partially 'cause Ghost do it so well, complete with bleating Celtic horn, black metallish vocal rasping, and swirling, droning, bellicose ambiance. For us, this penultimate track is the climax to the album, but Ghost provide a coda, "Grisaille" coming full circle back to the gentle balladry of "Motherly Bluster", the dark side having perhaps been vanquished... for now.
MPEG Stream: "Water Door Yellow Gate"
MPEG Stream: "Hemicyclic Anthelion"
MPEG Stream: "Caledonia"

GHOST In Stormy Nights (Drag City) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The follow-up to 2004's magnificent Hypnotic Underworld from Japanese communal psych vets Ghost is finally here! The heavy-prog moves of that album are still in evidence, as well as their perpetual penchant for otherworldly folk -- and, as well, on the nearly half-hour "Hemicyclic Anthelion", Ghost venture into the realm of what goes beyond mere prog to sound remarkably like avant-garde 20th century classical! Ghost are certainly an ambitious band, with talent to match. With the dark, abstract, droning vibes of "Hemicyclic Anthelion" hanging over the proceedings, In Stormy Nights proves to be, well, a dark and stormy album. Downright aggressive, even, are the trio of tracks that follow it in the middle of this disc.
True, In Stormy Nights starts placidly enough with "Motherly Bluster", classic Ghost style acid folk, Batoh's calm voice singing from some mystic plane of crosslegged bliss. But then, the aforementioned "Hemicyclic Anthelion" takes the stage -- literally, as this piece is apparently constructed from excerpts of live in-concert improvs, an electro-acoustic, slow-mo freakout that represents Ghost at their most out-there and experimental. Following that, it seems that Ghost have fallen to the Dark Side of the Force. Indeed, the ominous "Water Door Yellow Gate" actually reminds us a bit of the music from Star Wars (!), with martial drumming and majestic chant. "Gareki No Toshi" is noisier, with distorted vocals and suspense-film urgency. What's next? Something even more frightening -- a stirring cover of the song "Caledonia" by none other than cult ESP-label sixties psych-rock "tribe" Cromagnon!! Wow. Of all of Batoh & Co.'s various cover versions over the years (they've done songs by Syd Barrett, Pearls Before Swine, The Rolling Stones, and Earth & Fire, just to name ones we can think of right now) this has to be our favorite. Partially 'cause we'd never thought we'd hear a Cromagnon cover, partially 'cause it's such a great song, and partially 'cause Ghost do it so well, complete with bleating Celtic horn, black metallish vocal rasping, and swirling, droning, bellicose ambiance. For us, this penultimate track is the climax to the album, but Ghost provide a coda, "Grisaille" coming full circle back to the gentle balladry of "Motherly Bluster", the dark side having perhaps been vanquished... for now.
MPEG Stream: "Water Door Yellow Gate"
MPEG Stream: "Hemicyclic Anthelion"
MPEG Stream: "Caledonia"

GHOST Lama Rabi Rabi (Drag City) cd 14.98
Gatefold vinyl or cd, the domestic full-length debut for the psychedelic sounds of Japan's answer to Can. "Who Found A Lost Rose In The Warship?"

GHOST Lama Rabi Rabi (Drag City) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Gatefold vinyl or cd, the domestic full-length debut for the psychedelic sounds of Japan's answer to Can. "Who Found A Lost Rose In The Warship?"

GHOST s/t (Drag City) cd 14.98

GHOST Second Time Around (Drag City) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

GHOST Snuff Box Immanence (Drag City) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GHOST Snuff Box Immanence (Drag City) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GHOST Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet (Drag City) cd 14.98
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GHOST Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet (Drag City) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GLASS CAGE s/t (Paratactile) cd 16.98
Fuzzed, flanged fusion fireballs, blowing shit up! Mentioned last list in our review of Gary Smith and Aufgehoben No Process's distorted death match "Magnetic Mountain", here's the Glass Cage cd: the instrumental improv trio of guitarist Smith, former Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper, and famed Japanese free jazz/rock percussionist Shoji Hano (you might know from collaborations with Keiji Haino, or his stint drumming with Nanjo Asahito's High Rise). The family tree that brought these three together must have some tangled roots indeed, but we're glad they found each other (actually, Smith and Hano have played together before, in a trio with Nanjo in fact, and presumably Hopper and Smith know each other from the UK avant-garde scene). The music they play is chaotic, but beautiful; noodly, but heavy (Hopper's thick fuzz bass sounds like that of the Ruins circa "Stonehenge"). Smith's "stereo" guitar veers wildly though the flak thrown about by the Hopper-Hano rhythm section. "Out" rock enthusiasts, like Nels Cline or even Lightning Bolt fans for instance, ought to investigate. Earplugs required.
RealAudio clip: "Crash 2"
RealAudio clip: "Text"
RealAudio clip: "Crash 3"

GODMAN God Dog (Acid Mothers Temple / Eclipse) cd 19.98
*Acid Mothers Temple alert* *Acid Mothers Temple alert* *Acid Mothers Temple alert*
Spacey, swirling, not-un-heavy trip-out rock jamming from some dudes who really know how to do that sort of thing, since some of 'em are members of Japan's Acid Mothers Temple, including the bearded one himself, guitar guru Kawabata Makoto! Higashi Hiroshi from AMT is on hand as well on electronics. Hence the alert sounding from your computers loudspeakers right now (what, it's not working? well, you can read the alert above). The other three musicans (guitar, bass, drums) here all appear to come from another Japanese psych band called Mandog, who we weren't familiar with before but maybe should investigate! Together, this AMT-Mandog collab called Godman has conjured up two long tracks, near-half-hour instrumental build-ups that in a blindfold test we'd certainly happily mistake for AMT output proper, just as cosmic and krautrocky as we like it. If you've liked the last few AMT releases like Starless And Bible Black Sabbath and Demons From Nipples you won't go wrong with Godman either.
MPEG Stream: "Dog>><

GONG Acid Motherhood (Voiceprint) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Oh god my eyes, my eyes! Don't look at the cover (the head of Gong's Daevid Allen on a naked pregnant woman's body in stereo) or back cover (Acid Mothers Temple's Kawabata Makoto sitting on the toilet), just listen: it's the sound of '70s trippy hippy psych vets Gong getting it on with Japan's Acid Mothers Temple. Yep, white-haired pixie Daevid Allen and his current-day cohorts (that's our pal Josh Pollock playing guitar!) meet up with AMT's Kawabata and Cotton Casino for a rollercoaster musical love-in, the tracks incorporating everything from heavy riffing to George W. Bush samples to ravey dance grooves. It's goofy and freaky, with rapping/chanting vocals that will either charm you with their psychedelic nonsense lyrics or drive you utterly mad. I guess it had to happen. If you ever thought that AMT was too serious, or not indulgent enough, or should sound more like the Talking Heads, then this is for you!! Long time Gong fans should note that Gilli Smyth shows up on one track.
MPEG Stream: "Supercotton"
MPEG Stream: "Monstah!"

GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE He's Crying "Look" (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 14.98
This cd managed to go temporarily out of print the same week we listed it not long ago, but now it's been re-pressed and it's here again, along with a brand-new, expensive (but limited to 225 copies) gatefold vinyl edition as well.
The strangely named Green Milk From The Planet Orange is a young Japanese band that perhaps figured they have what it takes to become the next Acid Mothers Temple or Ghost, and they could well be right! This is an impressive domestic debut from GMFTPO (who had a couple of other Japan-only, now out-of-print cd-r releases, a few tracks from which appear here in re-recorded form) and should definitely appeal to the whole Japanese psych lovin' crowd and maybe to yr average indie/post rockers as well, if they're open to a dose of '70s inspired experimentation: long proggy songs that are plenty weird and varied, both druggily spaced-out and/or noisy and heavy. Yeah, it's a spookily baroque trip, these guys stirring everything into their prog-pot from doleful trumpet to jazzy walking bass to wild psych-guitar soloing and pinging electronic effects. Equally capable of grandiose epic bombast and gentle, slow-paced vocal balladry, GMFTPO glory in proggy changes and this album should certainly be investigated by fans of Ghost's recent opus Hypnotic Underworld. Of course, the bands that GMFTPO would want to be compared with are undoubtedly their '70s prog-psych, and specifically krautrock, influences: Can, Faust, Agitation Free, Nektar... You can also hear a bunch of '60s west coast psych in there as well (I bet they probably own that Kak album for instance). Yet despite all the "retro" elements, Green Milk still sound young, even a little punk -- which they are, some of 'em being former members of stoner rock/grindcore outfit No Rest For The Dead. Though with GMFTPO they've set aside their metal/punk past, they still draw on it in sorta the same way as Guapo does. Kudos to Beta-Lactam Ring for bringing this our way...and also, after complaining about past Beta-Lactam Ring art/design, we have to give 'em some credit here, they did a nice job with this one. The disc comes housed in a beautiful digipak, with "distressed" graphics giving it the old '70s LP vibe. Real nice all around.
MPEG Stream: "When Every Colour Turns Black"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet 5 A.M."

GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE He's Crying "Look" (Beta-Lactam Ring) 2lp 36.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This cd managed to go temporarily out of print the same week we listed it not long ago, but now it's been re-pressed and it's here again, along with a brand-new, expensive (but limited to 225 copies) gatefold vinyl edition as well.
The strangely named Green Milk From The Planet Orange is a young Japanese band that perhaps figured they have what it takes to become the next Acid Mothers Temple or Ghost, and they could well be right! This is an impressive domestic debut from GMFTPO (who had a couple of other Japan-only, now out-of-print cdr releases, a few tracks from which appear here in re-recorded form) and should definitely appeal to the whole Japanese psych lovin' crowd and maybe to yr average indie/post rockers as well, if they're open to a dose of '70s inspired experimentation: long proggy songs that are plenty weird and varied, both druggily spaced-out and/or noisy and heavy. Yeah, it's a spookily baroque trip, these guys stirring everything into their prog-pot from doleful trumpet to jazzy walking bass to wild psych-guitar soloing and pinging electronic effects. Equally capable of grandiose epic bombast and gentle, slow-paced vocal balladry, GMFTPO glory in proggy changes and this album should certainly be investigated by fans of Ghost's recent opus Hypnotic Underworld. Of course, the bands that GMFTPO would want to be compared with are undoubtedly their '70s prog-psych, and specifically krautrock, influences: Can, Faust, Agitation Free, Nektar... You can also hear a bunch of '60s west coast psych in there as well (I bet they probably own that Kak album for instance). Yet despite all the "retro" elements, Green Milk still sound young, even a little punk -- which they are, some of 'em being former members of stoner rock/grindcore outfit No Rest For The Dead. Though with GMFTPO they've set aside their metal/punk past, they still draw on it in sorta the same way as Guapo does. Kudos to Beta-Lactam Ring for bringing this our way...and also, after complaining about past Beta-Lactam Ring art/design, we have to give 'em some credit here, they did a nice job with this one. The disc comes housed in a beautiful digipak, with "distressed" graphics giving it the old '70s LP vibe. Real nice all around.
MPEG Stream: "When Every Colour Turns Black"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet 5 A.M."

GROUND ZERO Live 1992+ (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
Wow! This is a blast from the past. And we do mean blast (just listen!). Ground Zero was the crazy sampling + free jazz + noise rock outfit led by Japanese turntablist/guitarist Otomo Yoshihide. Hopefully you know 'em, they were right in there with Boredoms and Ruins and Omoide Hatoba and Altered States etc. for noisy underground Japanese avant-rock insanity back in the early '90s. Their now out of print, self-titled debut album from 1992 sounded something like John Zorn's Naked City, all chaotic jump cuts and skronking sax, and in fact featured the inimitable screaming vocal stylings of Eye Yamataka of the Boredoms, who also guested with Naked City. Eventually they turned into a drone-jazz behemoth, and also did a fantastic album of "standards". Since the dissolution of Ground Zero, there's been plenty more cool Otomo projects, from the Eric Dolphy tribute of his New Jazz Orchestra to his minimalist "onkyo" experiments in Filament and ISO to a variety of other interesting soundtracks and solo recordings... but the Ground Zero discs will always be a crucial swath of his discography. And a favorite of ours!
So, it's pretty exciting to get to hear this long-lost live show, from a old tape that Otomo recently rummaged out of his closet. The liner notes include this from him: "All I remember for sure was that it was a really good gig... The recording quality is terrible, but the recording, including that quality, really captures the atmosphere of the time." He's right, the sound is raw, but it suits the music perfectly. This is INTENSE. The lineup consists of Otomo (guitar, turntables), Hirose Junji (sax), Kato Hideki (bass, voice), Uemura Masahiro (drums), and Eye Yamataka (vocals). All five of 'em make a LOT of noise. Imagine the Eye-fronted Naked City falling down the stairs, in the throes of a violent seizure. This performance dates from just prior to their first album's release and shares its punked-out energy, as well as a few of the same "songs". Two additional tracks at the end of the disc are studio recordings, previously unreleased material from the sessions for that debut album. As the Doubtmusic website says, "this is remembrance of fresh / poisonous earlier Ground Zero after 15 years."
This comes in typically fine Doubtmusic packaging, a handsome digipack design, and is basically essential for all hardcore Ground Zero and/or Eye Yamataka fans! And its value as an archival release is enhanced in light of the fact that you can't get their first album anymore anyway.
MPEG Stream: "Bottom Out-X"
MPEG Stream: "Pseudopodium"
MPEG Stream: "VT"

GROUND ZERO Revolutionary Pekinese Opera Ver.1.28 (ReR) cd 16.98
The second record by Otomo Yoshihide's Ground Zero is an expansion of a concept started by German artists Heiner Goebbels and Alfred 23 Harth, and is modestly accredited as a "remix of the Peking Oper" by the aforementioned duo. The Revolutionary Pekinese Opera is an amazing aural collage, where Otomo deconstructs a recording of a traditional Chinese opera in the '60s, rearranging the bits into new forms as well as recomposing within the gaps for his Ground Zero group. The group is augmented with many sampled "guests" including Goebbels and Harth, Steve Beresford, Compostela (mysterious street band from Japan who had an incredible disc on Tzadik!), Christian Marclay and Jon Rose (whose violin work here is incredible!) among many others. A dense, exciting and cinematic listening experience.

GUILLOTINE KYODAI`ACDFW1`AQ Viva Guitar (Creativeman Disc) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japanese avant-rock duo Guillotine Kyodai enlist a who's who of underground Japanese experimental guitarists to play a kind of "pass it along" game: each track features two guitarists dueting on an initial theme, which mutates as it is passed from guitarist to guitarist. Axemen include members of Ground Zero, Boredoms, Melt Banana, Solmania, Optical*8, Altered States, Bondage Fruit, and Kirihito. Not only conceptually interesting, this is good listening and probably essential to anyone who owns more than two records by the bands listed above.

GUILTY CONNECTOR Cosmic Trigger / 2AM Visit (Ground Fault) cd 11.98
In his one-man wrecking crew Guilty Connector, Kohei "The Fast" Nakagawa arms himself with homebuilt effects boxes that he physically attacks with metal pipes(!). Having previously presented us with jet-engine 'covers' of Black Sabbath and The Ramones as well as successful outings alongside Birchville Cat Motel and Zeni Geva's Tabata, Kohei takes his volatile Utsu / Shibaki electronics to the Ground Fault label, who ranked this album a III (loud) using their intensity of scale they employ to grade their releases. III is a polite way to describe the volatility of Cosmic Trigger / 2AM Visit, as Kohei blasts out of the gates with volcanic noise eruptions with all of the violence heard in the pre-digital Merzbow recordings from the mid-'90s. Mechanical grindings, claustrophobic scapings, train-wreck rhythms, and drum-kit pummelling all give the impression that like Burmese and Aufgehoben, there might actually be a band underneath all of the noise and cacophony; but in fact, there's only Kohei The Fast! Cosmic Trigger / 2AM Visit also features a guest appearance from Schimpfluch's Sudden Infant for one the more dadaist recordings on this album with its spastic squiggles of reel-to-reel tape warble punctuated by head-splitting noise. Listen on headphones at your own risk, this one can be pretty damn painful.
MPEG Stream: "666 Koenji Awamori Trinken Massacre"
MPEG Stream: "Brighter Than 10,000 Cacophonous Suns"

GUILTY CONNECTOR First Noise Attack (MSBR) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Guilty Connector is Tokyo's Kohei "Fast" Nakagawa, the one-man goliath of jet engine sonics. Not since Merzbow's "Rainbow Electronics" have you witnessed sheer power and unrelenting force. Remember the first time you put on Monde Bruits? If you miss the Golden Years of noise (circa 1991-1996), this'll certainly take you back...
RealAudio clip: "Scar"

GUILTY CONNECTOR Symptom Of The Universe (Sewer Records) cd-3 ep 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's one man, harsh electronic,metal machine wrecking crew returns with a 3" cd of 'covers', of Black Sabbath's 'Symptom Of The Universe' and the Ramones' 'Blitzkrieg Bop.' And while Kohei The Fast, the man behind GC, does play actual guitar, the bulk of his sound is made up of "UTSU electronics" and field recordings. You get a glimpse of those classic riffs before they are thrown melody first into the tree shredder, and what comes out the other side is a ear shredding, brain rattling, bone breaking wall of shrieking feedback, buzzing instrument hum and an avalance of white/pink noise. Japanoise fanatics are gonna need this!
RealAudio clip: "Symptom Of The Universe"

GUILTY CONNECTOR UND TABATA s/t (Even Stilte Records) cd 17.98
Wow, an interesting collaboration here. Mitsuru Tabata you may know as K.K. Null's co-guitarist in Japanese heavies Zeni Geva, as well as being an early member of the Boredoms, among other bands on his lengthy resume. He's also a solo artist -- his 1999 album "Brainsville" became a big favorite around here, an excursion into "rural Eastern psych" guitar that demonstrated his obvious love of '70s krautrock head music (Kawabata Makoto isn't the only Japanese guy obsessed with that stuff!).
Meanwhile, Tokyo's Kohei "The Fast" Nakagawa has made quite a few uber-noisy recordings under the name Guilty Connector, brutal power electronics in a punky Merzbow vein, including a split with Birchville Cat Motel. Good harsh stuff.
So, what does a collaboration between these two sound like? Well apparently Tabata (a big record collector) had been mentoring his friend Kouhei's interest in dub and psychedelic music, and naturally enough the duo was soon inspired to do these recordings, which turned out much more abstract and noisy that Tabata's "Brainsville", although Kohei's noise antics are tempered by Tabata's melodic psych ideas. Instruments utilized primirarly include electric guitars, guitar-synth, effects (Tabata) and "UTSU electronics" (Kohei), plus everything from acoustic 12 string guitar to toy music boxes to theremins, percussion, contact mics, and electric heaters! Oh and tape loops, lots of tape loops. The tracks are dynamic and varied -- some pieces end up all spacey and droned-out, with howling layers of distortion, while others are full of blip and electro-acoustic glitch, with bell-like sounds and echoey electronics. Certainly Japanophile fans of Acid Mothers Temples' most erratic and eccentric stuff, the Boredoms Super Roots experiments, Boris with Keiji Haino, etc. should dig this. Boasting a nice cover painting by underground manga artist Imiri Sakebashira, this is a fine debut release for French label Even Stitle.
MPEG Stream: "Le Schiaue Esistono Ancora"
MPEG Stream: "Noise Goes The Weasel!"

GUITAR ORGANISM (Nux Organization) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Kazuyuki K. Null with Fred Frith, Guy Lohnes, Ichino Agata & Jim O'Rourke.

GYAATEES I (Captain Trip) cd 17.98
If I understand the liner notes correctly, this is music made by mentally-handicapped Buddhist priests? Regardless, if you're into the psychedelic sounds of other Japanese bands like Ghost, the however-IQ-impaired grooves of these folks may well appeal.

GYAATEES Welcome - Motoharu Yoshizawa Last Live (Captain Trip) cd 17.98
"Intellectually challenged" buddhist priests perform improv with Japanese bass player Motoharu- Yoshizawa.

GYAATEES II Gyaatees Meets Mani Neumeier (Captain Trip Records) cd 29.00
"'Seisou' live as Buddhist priests in the temple, Kouganji, and are considered somewhat pushed out of society as 'intellectually challenged'. With Gyaantees as the nucleus, these 'seisou' perform free improvised music with many other musicians as well. Why improvised performance? Well, the 'seisou' seem to lack the ability to remember the songs and lyrics." -from the liner notes.

HACO Happiness Proof (Detector) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
US release of a new solo album by Japanese avant-garde vocalist/composer Haco, who used to sing for the prog-pop band After Dinner. More recently, she formed the wonderful Hoahio trio with Sachiko M and Yagi Michiyo. Fans of that group (we listed their recent Tzadik album not long ago) will definitely enjoy "Happiness Proof". It's a similar sort of unpredictable electronic-infused avant-pop. Haco gets a little help from her friends, as lots of interesting folks appear on this disc -- it's almost a who's-who of Japanese underground scenesters: Tsuyama Atsushi (Omoide Hatoba, Acid Mothers Temple, Akaten, etc.), Yamamoto Seiichi (Boredoms, Omoide Hatoba, etc.), Uchihashi Kazuhisa (Altered States, Ground Zero, etc. -- he plays daxophone on here as well as guitar!), and turntablist Otomo Yoshihide (Ground Zero, ISO, etc.), among others. There's also contributions from Belgian Pierre Bastien and his Mecanium, a mechanical orchestra. Delightful. Note the nice price too!

HAINO, K. AND PAUVROS, J.F. (Shambala) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Keiji Haino (of Fushitusha fame) channels his demons through voice and guitar, with the accompaniment of hitherto unknown-to-us French guitarist Jean Francois Pauvros (and another French guy on drums). Together they create stormy washes of sound, ranging from intense build-ups of guitar skree to ominous silences punctuated by Haino's love-it-or-hate-it primal shriek. Recorded live in France, May '99. Fans of Haino's Fushitsusha stuff will approve.

HAINO, KEIJI 'C'est Parfait' Endoctrine Tu Tombes La Tete La Premiere (Turtles' Dream) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Graced with an amazing black & white (mostly black) cover photo of a spectral, luminous Keiji Haino reading a book, this has got a French title 'cause it's released on a French label, Turtles' Dream, apparently a sub-division of the A Bruit Secret label that's known for releases in the Japanese "onkyo" genre...well, Haino is of course Japanese too but this is far from the zen-like silence of onkyo stuff! Improv-psych master Keiji Haino kicks out the jams here not with his usual apocalyptic guitar playing (what he's best known for) but with "rhythm machine" and his own unique vocal stylings. Dunno what "rhythm machine" means tech-wise exactly, some sort of drum machine it seems, plus what sounds like a real cymbal being hit. My Keiji Haino fan friends and myself are now convinced that the man could play *anything* (a kazoo, a rainstick, a bug-zapper?) and still sound like himself -- that is, amazing. He certainly expands the assumed area of expression of the drum machine with this album, making even Ikue Mori sound tame. The recording or production itself is an important part of that, it really is *present*, the drum hits sounding like they're smacking you in the forehead. This is presumably a live recording, but the vocals are somehow overdubbed/multitracked/looped and layered, at moments building with the drum machine's frenzy into insane mayhem as if multiple Hainos were wrestling one another, while in other sections of this piece (for it is one long, 45 minute track) being strangely beautiful, just unearthly haunting cries, with no beats beneath. Definitely an intense listen, Haino taking to mechanical extremes his percussion obsession of late (other indications of this obsession: that he took over the drum stool in his band Fushitsusha, and recently released an amazing live video of solo percussion-only performance...)
RealAudio clip: "C'est Parfait (excerpt)"

HAINO, KEIJI A Challenge to Fate (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
French import. Solo live performances all around the world.

HAINO, KEIJI Abandon All Words At A Stroke, So That Prayer Can Come Spilling Out (Alien8 Recordings) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two new recordings from the very prolific Keiji Haino, although there's no indication as to when or where. Disc one is a single piece for hurdy-gurdy and voice titled "Whereto can I cast away this fragment echo called The End, so that I may summon an awakening from the other side?". Much like Haino's previous excursions with said instrument, the piece is a lulling drone not unlike Tony Conrad's compositions for violin, only it is unmistakably Haino with his distinctive anguished vocal howl. (Maybe he got his hair caught in the crank of his hurdy-gurdy? We've heard a possibly apocryphal story about that happening during one of his live performances!). Not as rich in tone as his other works for hurdy-gurdy, this piece is more grating (he achieves a tone that resembles scraping metal), but quite beautiful, nonetheless. On disc two, "I have decided to tear you to pieces / Whether you become darkness or light depends on you I wonder, which shall you choose?", Haino breaks new ground in that he utilizes new technology in his instrumentation (sound processing effects for guitar notwithstanding): an electronic percussion device cited as a "wave drum". Reminiscent of 1995's "Tenshi no Gijinka" (Tzadik) in that the instumentation consists of percussion instuments. Here, Haino manipulates the electronic drum sound to extend the wave cutoff, creating a haunting organ-like drone which is unfortunately cut short with a primitive tribal fit of sharp blasts of drums and demonlike vocal shrieks. This piece features some of the most feral and aggressive vocal work from Haino in a long while. Nice packaging, metallic purple and silver ink on black gatefold slipcase.
RealAudio clip: "I Have Decided to Tear You Apart..."
RealAudio clip: "Whereto Can I Cast Away..."

HAINO, KEIJI Black Blues (acoustic) (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Black blues" has a couple of meanings here -- these may indeed be African-American blues songs being performed (and deformed) by Mr. Keiji Haino, and in addition the idea of 'the blues' is being subjected to the blackness that is himself, for Haino is of course the uncontested Dark Lord of the Japanese psych/improv scene. The Fushitsusha leader has done covers before (he even has a covers band, Aihiyo) but this takes the interpretive process to an extremely conceptual level. There are in fact TWO (separately available but, we think, equally desirable and complimentary) Black Blues albums, both with the exact same title. We've added the acoustic and electric designations to differentiate them in our database, but in physical fact, the packaging for them only differs with regard to the catalog numbers found on the spine (DSA-54087 for the acoustic and DSA-54088 for the electric) and the cover photo, which is actually identical on both discs but flipped in mirror image. If you put the electric disc on the left and the acoustic disc on the right, the Hainos in the photos on the covers will be looking at each other. We're not sure why this was released like this, since doing it as a double disc set would seem more practical and less confusing, but that's the way it is (and there's no real choice to be made, fans need 'em both). Now to the music -- the "acoustic" disc (a misnomer, really, as the guitar he's playing, quietly, sounds electric) consists of six tracks, including "Black Eyes", "Town In Black Fog", and the epic "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean", all intimate and hushed, the inner whisper of a soul in torment, seeking peace. The exact same tracklist is mirrored on the "electric" disc, cranked up of course, as Haino howls from throat and lungs and guitar strings and amplifier, crying out in anguish to both men and gods. Both are harrowing and psychically "heavy". Blues connoisseurs will likely be bewildered and disturbed, but those of us who feel the merest of utterances from Keiji Haino -- via his voice or guitar -- can speak more than many musicians produce in an entire career, will be rapt in awe.
MPEG Stream: "Black Petal"
MPEG Stream: "I Don't Want To Know"

HAINO, KEIJI Black Blues (electric) (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Black blues" has a couple of meanings here -- these may indeed be African-American blues songs being performed (and deformed) by Mr. Keiji Haino, and in addition the idea of 'the blues' is being subjected to the blackness that is himself, for Haino is of course the uncontested Dark Lord of the Japanese psych/improv scene. The Fushitsusha leader has done covers before (he even has a covers band, Aihiyo) but this takes the interpretive process to an extremely conceptual level. There are in fact TWO (separately available but, we think, equally desirable and complimentary) Black Blues albums, both with the exact same title. We're added the acoustic and electric designations to differentiate them in our database, but in physical fact, the packaging for them only differs with regard to the catalog numbers found on the spine (DSA-54087 for the acoustic and DSA-54088 for the electric) and the cover photo, which is actually identical on both discs but flipped in mirror image. If you put the electric disc on the left and the acoustic disc on the right, the Hainos in the photos on the covers will be looking at each other. We're not sure why this was released like this, since doing it as a double disc set would seem more practical and less confusing, but that's the way it is (and there's no real choice to be made, fans need 'em both). Now to the music -- the "acoustic" disc (a misnomer, really, as the guitar he's playing, quietly, sounds electric) consists of six tracks, including "Black Eyes", "Town In Black Fog", and the epic "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean", all intimate and hushed, the inner whisper of a soul in torment, seeking peace. The exact same tracklist is mirrored on the "electric" disc, cranked up of course, as Haino howls from throat and lungs and guitar strings and amplifier, crying out in anguish to both men and gods. Both are harrowing and psychically "heavy". Blues connoisseurs will likely be bewildered and disturbed, but those of us who feel the merest of utterances from Keiji Haino -- via his voice or guitar -- can speak more than many musicians produce in an entire career, will be rapt in awe.
MPEG Stream: "Black Petal"
MPEG Stream: "I Don't Want To Know"

HAINO, KEIJI Even Now, Still I Think (Tokuma) cd 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A sequel to Haino's 21st Century Hard-y-guide-y Man disc, this is more of his dark drone music for the hurdy-gurdy. For fans of both Haino and, say, Tony Conrad...

HAINO, KEIJI Execration That Accept To Acknowledge (Forced Exposure) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Live solo guitar outsiderness from Fushitsusha mastermind, his first domestic cd release.

HAINO, KEIJI Global Ancient Atmosphere (PSF) cd 21.00
Drums. Just drums. That's what's up with this new release from Tokyo underground psych maestro Keiji Haino. He's apparently always wanted to do a solo album for drum kit alone and now PSF has gone and let him do it, even though most of his fans know him primarily as a guitarist. Though, we've already heard him do a solo drum MACHINE album (the rather extreme 'C'est Parfait' Endoctrine Tu Tombes La Tete La Premiere) and play the drum kit for a guitar-less Fushitsusha session (the dramatic and controversial Origin's Hesitation). Then there was his fascinating video release simply titled Percussion. And now here's Global Ancient Atmosphere which is nothing but drums as we said. Drums and when not drums, silence. Some folks will hear this and say it sounds like a "drum check". Ok, you've got a point. Certainly I don't think I can come up with something brilliant to say about this, like "an austere yet thrilling investigation of attack and decay on nothing less than the molecular level" as Alan Cummings (I believe) wrote for the press release. But I do know that I'm gonna buy one, 'cause I'm a huge Keiji Haino fan and love everything he does!
Seriously, though, Haino can make you believe that every drum-hit has meaning, as does every space between. While some of his other percussion-oriented releases seem to have more going on that this one (the above mentioned are, to me, really amazing triumphs of emotion/expression over mere technique -- something that could be said about his guitar playing as well), this one is probably a little harder to appreciate. But maybe it's worth the effort. He thought it was.
MPEG Stream: "No. 1"
MPEG Stream: "No. 3"

HAINO, KEIJI I Said, This is the Son of Nihilism (Table Of The Elements) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New solo guitar work including rerecorded versions of super-old and long-out-of-print Fushitsusha stuff.

HAINO, KEIJI Koitsukara Usetaitameno Hakarigoto (The 21st Century Hard-Y-Guide-Y Man) (PSF) cd 22.00
Haino-san is back with another hurdy gurdy adventure! (catalog number PSFD-8029)

HAINO, KEIJI Next, Let's Try Changing The Shape (Swordfish) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ah-kay. Listed the verrrry expensive vinyl version last week, lamenting the fact that this highly recommended Keiji Haino solo opus wuz out of print on cd. Now, guess what? That LP has lived out it's limited-edition lifespan and is gone gone gone (well, we *might* have one copy left if you act fast). But of course Swordfish has gone and re-pressed the cd! So, we gotta re-list it for those of you who missed it, or were perhaps tempted by the vinyl, but are cd-centric (or slightly less willing to part with your cash). Here's the cd review from our list #186, once more:
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.
MPEG Stream: "Surely Here too There Is Something"
MPEG Stream: "A Secret"

HAINO, KEIJI Next, Let's Try Changing The Shape (Swordfish) 2lp 38.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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.
MPEG Stream: "Surely Here too There Is Something"
MPEG Stream: "A Secret"

HAINO, KEIJI Percussion (PSF) video 44.00
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.

HAINO, KEIJI Reveal'd To None As Yet - An Expedience To Utterly Vanish Consciousness While Still Alive (aRCHIVE / Important) 2cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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!
MPEG Stream: "A temporary freezing... (excerpt)"
MPEG Stream: "That, which while... (excerpt)"

HAINO, KEIJI So, Black Is Myself (Alien8) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. 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.
MPEG Stream: "So, Black Is Myself [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "So, Black Is Myself [excerpt 2]"

HAINO, KEIJI Tenshi No Gijinka (Tzadik) cd 15.98

HAINO, KEIJI The 21st Century Hard-y Guide-y Man (PSF) cd 17.98
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)

HAINO, KEIJI Uchu Ni Karamitsuiteru (PSF) cd 17.98
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 (turning 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.
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 2"

HAINO, KEIJI Un Autre Chemin Vers L'Ultime (Prele Records) cd 16.98

HAINO, KEIJI & COA You Should Draw Out the Billion and First Prayer (Hšren) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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 similar fashion with Tokyo heavies Boris, so he's obviously into rockin' with some younger musicians outside of the typical PSF psych/folk axis. That's not to say this isn't folky and psychedelic, as parts of it surely are. Together, Bill and Eddie and Keiji produce a varied disc of skronky guitar storms, ritual drum pound & string strum, yelping vocal duets, and other outsider-y avant rock weirdness.