Keiji Haino Tenshi no Gijinka: Angel's Personification (1995) With Obi Gijinka: CD #KeijiHaino #AngelsPersonification Limited price reduction until 12/14 3500 yen ⇒ 3250 yen Haino, a world-renowned and unique musician, released this solo album on Tzadik. #RareDisc The mysterious sounds of metal and intense vocals. The power and rawness are the appeal of this record. Metal, voice, and ethnic instruments – this was a new frontier for Haino at the time, and he may have performed it live. However, it had not been recorded. Released relatively early in his career, around the time he began to gain recognition overseas. Haino, while rooted in rock, is not bound by any musical rules. He spins sounds freely and unrestrained, yet makes you strongly feel rock. The mysterious position he occupies is Haino's charm. If John Zorn's trademark is a creaking saxophone, Haino's should be a roaring guitar. But on this record, he sealed it off. The album opens with the sound of metal being struck and intense improvised shouts. Haino ignores tempo, beat, and scale. But with a strong presence and a strange consistency, he gives a certain continuity to the music. That's what's amazing. Even though he breaks all the rules of music, Haino's work is not chaotic noise but improvised music. The first half of this record features a wide vocal range from low to high, with the focus on the sound of metal. It was not recorded in one take, but with repeated dubbing. In some songs, the vocals are also dubbed, not looped. Later, Haino made use of effectors to create a one-take sound image, but here he did not hesitate to overdub. If this had all been recorded in Japan, and #TZADIK was only distributing it, this record would end as just one element of Haino. However, what is groundbreaking is that it was recorded at BC Studio in NY by the owner, Martin Bisi. The sound, full of the reverberation of metal, is not particularly out of place in Japanese values. Frankly, it can be interpreted as a variation of the wabi-sabi culture, starting with wind chimes. But the fact that he dared to take this approach in Western culture, and that Haino himself was probably in a process of exploration, is amazing. You wouldn't be able to be so bold without a very clear musical vision. In later years, Haino released many albums on TZADIK, including a duo with Tatsuya Yoshida. However, this is still his only solo album under his own name.