Keiji Haino

Post by **sunny** » Wed May 25, 2005 3:40 pm

So, 2 days ago I'm stuck in Newcastle with nothing to do. Sunday night is inconveniently sandwiched between the Tav Falco gig on the Saturday and SoledadS/Dirtbombs gig on the Monday.
I decide to walk over to the Sage and check out the 'Music Lovers Field Companion' festival of experimental music.

As I'm sitting there in hall2 watching/listening to a minimalist piano piece I feel something similar to an electrical shock, but ongoing and easily pictured like one of those arching ones in cartoons.
This extremely strong sensation forces me to turn around. 3 feet behind me I see this statuesque, impossibly beautiful Japanese man. He's emitting energy that is completely otherworldly.
Shortly after I leave the hall and walk over to the stall selling cd's. The same Japanese statue stares back at me and I enquire about him. I'm told he'd played on Friday and I'm recommended a cd from 1978.
I'm thinking '78? Exactly how old is this guy. I'm also thinking that I'm completely broke and that it would be ridiculous of me to spend my money just based on someones 'vibe'. But I can't resist it.

That night as I get back to the hotel I pop the cd into my portable cd player. And there it is- the same continous electrical shock. Well, it's a life changing experience. My brain is rearranged. I'm healed- I'm not sure from what -only that it's everything.
The next day I'm sitting in my hotel room exasperated that I'd gotten to Newcastle one day late and missed his 4 hour improvised set on the Friday. My friend has to get me roaringly drunk for me to even consider going to the Dirtbombs gig that I'm in Newcastle for. At this point all I want to do is clutch my new cd and plan my move to some Japanese mountain. Life before yesterday is too trivial to consider anymore.

So Girls and Boys, all I can say is;

KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO * KEIJI HAINO *

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Thu May 26, 2005 9:05 am

heard of him after reading about him playing some small arts/experimental music festival in Stirling (last year? year before?) and was eager to see him, but he became ill and the show was cancelled. I soulseeked for him and found a couple of tracks. I'm not sure which tracks they were... a few random ones, and for all the fabulous things i heard, i felt the songs were all rather disjointed.. maybe my appreciation of his style was too much for me at the time.

I was gutted.. i was expecting something fabulous and was left rather confused...

which album was it?

Post by **sunny** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:29 pm

Laz69 wrote:heard of him after reading about him playing some small arts/experimental music festival in Stirling (last year? year before?) and was eager to see him, but he became ill and the show was cancelled. I soulseeked for him and found a couple of tracks. I'm not sure which tracks they were... a few random ones, and for all the fabulous things i heard, i felt the songs were all rather disjointed.. maybe my appreciation of his style was too much for me at the time.

I was gutted.. i was expecting something fabulous and was left rather confused...

which album was it?

Sorry for the late reply, I've been in Newcastle since my last post.
The record I bought is a Fushitsusha record and is called 1978 and comprises of 2 live tracks. Here's some background info off the net;

'Lost Aaraaff (1971) was devoted to three improvised acid jams. Their young guitarist, Keiji Haino penned the eastern mass Ama No Gawa - Milky Way (1973). Then, inspired by free-jazz master Takayanagi Masayuki, Haino formed Fushitsusha in 1978 to play improvised psychedelic jams. Their beginnings are documented on 1978 (PSF, 2003), which collects two 1978 live tracks. Starting with Live I (1989), 100 minutes of noise that ranked among the masterpieces of the psychedelic jam of all times, a bacchanal that vomited debris of Blue Cheer, MC5, Iron Butterfly, free-jazz, Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix, this prolific trio (originally a quartet) released monumental and dissolute works that seemed to know no limits'

Here are 2 discography links;
http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/fushitsusha.html
http://psfrecords.com/listD8001-8020.html

However,I should say that his music could quite possibly feel disjointed depending on what you expect. Certainly, it's not based on any traditional song structure-more like musical journeys. The one I have is just mainly noise and feedback set to jazzy drums and bass. I can feel enourmous power in it though, and every little screech feels meaningful and impossibly emotional, rather than just being sounds for effect.

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Mon May 30, 2005 9:55 pm

thanks for that.. i think i'll maybe revisit it sometime. I had heard he was a fabulous guitarist, and was probably expecting something more structured instead of soundscapes...