Biography

When attempting to describe what Keiji Haino does to a guitar the verb play seems terribly insufficient Mauling might be a more appropriate choice maybe even destroying Whatever whether it is as a solo performer or leading his tremendous trio Fushitsusha Haino has been leading the loud free form noise-loaded jazzrock guitar movement in Japan for nearly three decades starting with seminal noise-jazzrockers Lost Aaraaff in 1971 He remains a virtual unknown even among the music connoisseurs in his own country I once asked a group of Japanese students all of whom admitted to being eclectic music fans about him not one had heard of him but his music as beautiful as it is coruscating is jarring unpredictable and well worth hearing especially by those enamored of those on the fringes of music performance Affecting a rock star pose long black hair ever-present sunglasses Haino is an accomplished player who enjoys experimenting with undulating sheets of metallic sound His solo recordings are frequently done live with no overdubbing and Haino adds to the frenetic improvisatory mood by emitting shrieks and yelps as he strangles the neck of his Gibson SG If you need a familiar example think of the more extreme moments of the late great Sonny Sharrock or Pete Coseys envelope-pushing soloing with Miles Davis in the mid-70s With Fushitsusha however Hainos playing is more nuanced and restrained kind of like Bill Frisell or an introspective Fred Frith That doesnt mean however that Haino and Fushitsusha are afraid of cutting loose and tearing it up they are well-known hell revered for turning up the volume and kicking out the jams and the aural chaos is frequently stunning Not for the faint of heart or for those who compare every guitar player to Edward Van Halen Keiji Haino is a tremendously exciting player Granted his entire output is not essential some of his solo recordings are repetitive but when it comes to pushing the boundaries of music noise and where the guitar fits in this discourse he has few peers John Dougan All Music Guide