Keiji Haino - 魂の純愛 (Soul's True Love)

Massive 4xCD boxset of early howl by Keiji Haino, released on his own Purple Trap label in 1995. Disc 1 is the complete recording of his band Lost Aaraaf's infamously confrontational performance that ended the Genya Festival. The festival, which took place during a Shinto holiday in August 1971, featured psych, free jazz and folk bands all protesting the expansion of a nearby airport, which would have impacted the farmers who lived and worked nearby. Locals were invited to come do traditional dances and take part in the protest, as the concert was heavily guarded by nervous police expecting violence (this was a time of worldwide social unrest, after all). Masayuki Takayanagi's New Direction Unit, Brain Police, Blues Creation and other heavy hitters of the day all took the stage without incident... until the final act, Lost Aaraaf. The band's singer, a 19-year-old kid in black shades named Keiji Haino, told the crowd that he wanted to kill them all and then screamed obscenities at the hippies while his band roared away. The cops were unamused. Naturally, this incident did not help the band score subsequent festival gigs. An official album documenting the Genya Festival (which I might post someday, if any is curious) included just a small excerpt of the notorious set, but this box begins with the entire, unedited nihilistic mess. Imagine a lunatic screeching his lungs raw while cavemen bash on drums and a piano, and... well, that's exactly what this is.  

The 2nd disc collects some of Haino's solo home recordings from 1969 to 1971, in which we learn that he must have emerged from the womb with long black hair and wearing dark sunglasses, and has not changed a bit in the years since. Proof? Tell me if these titles, ostensibly written by a teenage Haino, are not archetypal Haino song titles that might have been written just yesterday: Are You The One? The One Who Can Console Skepticism Stained This Deep... The Remnants Of A Tribe Called "Tenderness Overflowed"... Dimming, The Time And Scent Where Once You Were. See what I mean? Haino has always been Haino. 

Disc 3 is the soundtrack to a dance piece, recorded solo in 1973. Finally, disc 4 is a monstrous untitled black hole by Fushitsusha. 

1 - Lost Aaraaff - Concert from the Genyasai Festival 1971

2 - Keiji Haino - Suite Reverberation: The Third Heart 1969-1971

3 - Keiji Haino - Suite Reverberation: Forest of Spirits 1973

4 - Fushitsusha -Untitled