"A couple of preliminaries: I've tried to search our a web page for this label (which is actually a sub-label), and it leads to gay porn. Obviously I'm not going to post that, and I'd advise against searching for it if you don't know already where an alternate address is. If you do know where a buy link is, tell me, because I both want to buy this album, and also I want to post it here. Secondly, if you have no idea what Keiji Haino sounds like, you're either in for a treat or a nightmare. This is one of my all-time favorite records, but I'd say that, more than some other things I post, cultivating an appreciation for the man and his works prior to taking this, one of his most rewarding, albeit most difficult, records, will keep you from instantly deleting this.
This album, like most of Haino's works, focuses on just a couple elements. On other pieces, Haino either creates a maelstrom with just an electric guitar and grunts, or a few hand-manipulated effects pedals and voice, or simply looping ambience and focusing on texture. This record's focus is the voice and a drum machine, both run through a delay/looping effect. To be fair to Haino, it must be said that any time his records are described in this fashion it is entirely reductionist, and it ignores his modus operandi: using simple means to theatrically exagerrate emotional context while simultaneously releasing stunning amounts of energy. In other words, this record, while consisting of voice and a rudimentary drum array, both attached to a delay/looping effect, is surely not just about "how does a drum machine sound when I yell over it and loop it."
Now, this is not to say that Haino cares not for the aesthetics of what he is doing, that he doesn't craft each moment to be picked through and enjoyed, that texture and overarching themes and concepts are not interwoven in every moment, because they surely are. I believe, however, that these records, especially this one, while replete with astonishing stylistics and a great deal of visceral value, are more about the central thoughts, or intellectual themes, than they are about the parts. It is this aspect, rather than any sonic resemblance, that lets me make a connection between Haino's mature works (and perhaps his Fushitsusha output), and the bizzarre later Davis albums, specifically 'On the Corner,' 'Pangaea,' and 'Agharta.' I think Lester Bangs was on to something when he said those albums were Davis' blackest, which is somewhat ironic considering Davis did much to cultivate his dark image only to be truly consumed by it at the most inopportune moment. Sure, stoners and psych-rock fans not familiar with the entire Davis oeurve might see the records are repititous, curious, but enjoyable patterns of rock gestures, but I think Davis was, to some extent, co-opting rock language to expand the audience for, and the vocabulary of, his common, and truly amazing, artistic mission: conveying via mimicry and experience, emotion, particularly sadness, by means of a stylized, simplified middle ground between the abstract that is musical notes (and theory) and the spoken word.
Haino live, then, also takes this avenue in his own way. Haino does have roots in free jazz, or at least skronk, and though Davis despised that, bypassing that style for the fusion efforts in the '60s, and that is telling. He too was curious to what extent function could be shorn from form. What he has become as an artist, clearly, is anything but a jazz musician in terms of form; there are no horns, it is not about swinging, etc. However, what function does his music serve? I believe it is the same. To see Haino live is to see the same level of rock mimicry, a sort of Westernized Noh Theatre, and considering his country of origin, the levels of abstraction away from that form are not so many as with Davis. So too does Haino have a relationship with rock as a music capable of serving as a point of departure for grander ideas than grooves (although, of course, in other hands, the groove can be paramount). As with Noh, there is a sense that these series of mysterious traditions, and gestures, and stories, though highly refined and practiced, contrary to Haino's improvisation, have much in common with Haino's own work. Indeed, I believe that Haino has given as much thought to his work as other musicians have given simple practice, and further, I have the sinking submission behind those measured movements and shrieks, and most importantly, behind the masks, are characters that look, and act, like Haino, that is: chaotic, scared, energized, aggressive, instinctual and sad.
A mistake that many people make with Haino's work is they think of each record as one long piece, most likely because it exists as one track on the CD. I've mentioned before, but Haino seems to have made a few artistic decisions to shun rockist ideas of what the CD artifact should be. First off, use your own name. That is simple; it is unneccessary to "brand" your music so the audience can expect what they're going to hear. The sense of mystery, of, "What will this sound like?" is something he also shares with Davis. His answer might be, simply, "Just deal with whatever it is, and stop trying to anticipate." Likewise, you don't need to title everything. True, the album title is rather long and non-sensical when translated, but there are obvious breaks in this set, and each piece of the set works as a variation on the formula for the set. In that regard, it is obvious that Haino has given attention to the aethetics or his music, and it also is obvious that he wants to try things out and see what sticks. That too connects him to Davis. Also, just as Davis had a split personality, one side focused on the development of what his live set should be, and one side focused on consistently more complex studio craft (culminating in either 'Bitches Brew' or 'On the Corner,' depending on your preferences), CD recordings of his live shows find Haino reverant to the act of performance, and unwilling to chop it up, as if doing so would change its essence.
Finally, to the music; each of these pieces through the 45 minute duration has its own personality. Some are more ambient, and feature high pitched wails, repeated themes balanced by mumbling, gurgling sounds. Others are cacaphony, all drums clustered in the middle of the stereo sound spectrum, alternately overpowering, then overpowered, in relation to Haino's vocals. Again, however, this music, so spare in elements, yet so rich in ideas, should be approached with an attitude of "what is the message I'm supposed to get?" One element constantly used here is the loop effect, where Haino lays down a vocal pattern, then has it repeat, sometimes minutely transformed during each repitition, creating a foundation for a counter. This counter can either emphasize the foundation, meaning a high note is harmonized with another high note, or it be reacted against, where long high notes, smooth and pure, are countered with short, textured grunts in the lower registers. Obviously, Haino is presenting us a mix that have many more variables than could be expected at first blush. Perhaps the message here is the frailty of identity, the dynamism of the world and ourselves, and the emotions that these truths generate in people. Haino can be descending into madness and doubling down, or he can be searching for silence and occasionally winning. Each of these feelings might in fact be characters. It is hard to tell, but the fact that this music lends itself to such interpretation should indicate to you the richness in play here, and the opportunity for you, the listener, to actually engage.
If anything, Haino is a musician that is not simply telling you his dreams - he is challenging you to dream as well. Try to engage this record, relearn how to sit down and listen. You might change your life." - Dark Magus of Killed in Cars
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Anyway, I've decided that I should probably mix it up a bit and reveal just how awesome my hipsterdom is. So for the next ten or so posts, Imma gonna post some Hipster music starting with Comanechi.
(Couldn't find the image to the live album.)
