Double LP
Here's a real one for the maniacs - a new dbl LP edition of a highly obscure recording by Keiji Haino's Nijiumu trio from 1994 that doesn't really seem to possess any official record of its initial release (at least not in the places you'd usually look for such things). The nature of Haino's music seems to command devotion and require close attention, but even for the most committed amongst the fanbase, the Nijiumu output, limited to just a handful of (obviously) hard to source CDs, is hard to locate. This is unmistakably Haino, though, albeit more ghostly and ethereal than you might typically associate with his more well known abrasions. Joined here by the madly prolific Tetuzi Akiyama and the much lesser known Takashi Matsuoka, together across four sides of significantly strung out and extended improvisations, they conjure a haunted fog of psychoactive fuzz rendered amidst Haino's primal wailings and occasional moments of ecstatic release. Hard to compare to anyone outside of Haino himself, really, though the haunted house (pun intended) slow-mo exorcisms of the 50 minute long second piece has a touch of Loren Connors/Suzanne Langile mysticism about it and the closing "4th movement" is pure Japanese noise attack in classic Merzbow fashion. As such, I'd not so much describe When I sing... as a coherent record so much as it's a singular one - the sound, undoubtedly, of a true original steering the ship into whatever unchartered waters they feel drawn towards. True soul blasting material.
FFO: Fushitsusha, Loren Connors/Suzanne Langille, Merzbow, Haunted House
