Possibly the most anticipated release of 2012, the return of the greatest rock band on the planet, Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha: Hikari to Nazukeyo sees Haino on guitar and vocals joined by original Fushitsusha/Kousokuya drummer Ikuro Takahashi and bassist Mitsuru Nasuno (who he also plays with in Seijaku). The rhythm section of Takahashi and Nasuno is as formally boggling as you might have hoped
Two mix tapes in one week? Why, you must be the luckiest children on all the Internet! This should be a busy and exciting week, as I'll be leaving in a few hours to cover the NAB Show in Vegas. If you don't know what NAB is, well, you're not alone. I didn't really know [...]
haino's guitar really is an erotic marvel... Filed under: music stuff , video Tagged: fushitsusha , keiji haino , music , music video , noise , 不失者
Origin's Hesitation marked the beginning of a new era for Fushitsusha. It was the group's first album in two years, its first release on PSF since 1994, and its first recording session as a duo. Upon the departure of the drummer, Keiji Haino dropped the electric guitar to sit behind the drum set. He and bassist Yasushi Ozawa attempt to fill the void left by this change with samplers, looping
Ian suggested I rank the "top ten Japanese albums" for my next installment of the Friday Top Ten franchise. That's right, it's a franchise now. As far as I know you don't have to do more than two or three of something in order to make it a franchise. They call the Twilight movies a franchise and there are only three of them. I've written nearly 200 top ten lists, I'd say that's a god damned franchise, wouldn't you? Anyway, I thought that Ian had a good idea, but there are so many different kinds of Japanese music, [...]

I got to see Chrome last night at The Redwood downtown. Well, I saw Helios Creed playing Chrome songs...Damon died like fifteen years ago and I'm pretty sure the other guys were hired guns: Aleph on drums, Lux on bass, and the keyboard player who I see all over town who kind of looks like Eddie Izzard. I'm going to go ahead an say it was Chrome. Maybe you fuckers who saw the band in its early incarnation can really say you saw Chrome, but going to shows is a lot like playing baseball. What? Yeah, I said [...]

Social theory and good tunes go so well together. One of my favorite writers in this vein is Georges Bataille [1897-1962] and the songs collected below are assembled in the spirit of his work. Mystic, pornographer, frustrated dialectician, art critic, political and economic visionary –Bataille's oeuvre is frighteningly bizarre and profound. Most people know of him for Story of the Eye , a classic pornographic novel. But in truth his best writing is social theory; in particular his ideas of the low, debasement, economic surplus, and useless expenditure seem as timely as ever. His later mystical writings about self-consciousness [...]

Just as Nicci and I were opening a can of whoop-ass on some fleas that may or may not be nesting in my bedroom, the walls and floor of my apartment began to rumble. It was an earthquake! The quake itself and the aftershocks were much stronger and more-easily felt than the one I experienced last summer. According to the research center for recent earthquakes in Los Angeles , it registered a 5.8 magnitude. Upon its completion, a good number of sirens could be heard outside. We stood and said "cool" for a few moments, then we set off [...]

But first, I have to review this week's news! Hmm...I see...yes, well, that's very interesting ... Oh, I didn't know that was still happening ... You mean they haven't cured it yet? ... I have a difficult time believing his review ... WHy would anybody go see that movie? ... Who owns stock these days? ... Isn't science just the most fascinating ... He's dating her ? ... I didn't know that piss-poor country even had a president! ... Oh shit. I was holding it upside down! [...]

In a move reminiscent of, well, just a couple months ago, I drank way too much last night. Lauren and Nick extended a very nice invitation to eat some of their fancy vegan food last night, and since I'm not one to turn down free anything, Nicci and I happily accepted a fine array of pasta, kale, beets, salad, asparagus, mushrooms and fancy olive-packed bread into our bellies. Also, I had a couple Knob Creek drinks, including one which was magically transformed into a mint julep! Before leaving, I grabbed a plastic cup and poured some more Knob into it [...]

* Fushitsusha : I (excerpt) (2.5 mb) | Fushitsusha_MP3 (144.0 mb) | Fushitsusha_Flac (515.0 mb) From Live At 20,000 Volts : Oct 25th, 1997 : Tokyo, Japan A little over a month ago, psychedelic music lost an incredibly important and underrated musician. Bassist Yasushi Ozawa (look here ) passed away of lung cancer. As a bassist for one of my favorite incarnations of the mystic/psychedelic rock band, Fushitsusha, I've listened to his low notes countless times and marveled [...]

Like Bartholomew Gosnold, T.E. Lawrence, and many other infamous adventurers before him, Evan has never been afraid to try something new. So, when he was driving east down Sunset Boulevard and spotted a large outdoor advertisement for Baja Fresh's new Nacho Burrito™, he knew immediately what needed to be done. Instead of bearing right on Park and merging onto Glendale (just as he would each time he returned to his apartment during his tenure near the 101-S Freeway entrance), he headed for Atwater, to the nearest Baja Fresh. Of course, Evan is only an adventurer to a certain [...]
Harold And Maude in the cemetery was a good time last night. The crowd was packed in, it was a very cool experience. I am anticipating nothing short of complete bliss when I get to see Holy Mountain next Sunday. That Mix Tape might have to be postponed if I'm going to be out late, getting drunk and soaking in a few hours of surrealist Jodorowsky goodness. I spent the early part of today reading in Echo Park. It was a perfect day outside, and very conducive to relaxing with a good book and a [...]
Kate turned me onto this Google Street Views application yesterday, and apparently it has created quite an uprising amongst members of the populace who decry invasions of their privacy. The New York Times has an article in their Technology section that speaks to these concerns, and sites the WIRED Magazine blog entry calling for unique or weird photographs captured by the Google camera that constructs their Street Views. I for one don't care about such issues, but then again the camera hasn't caught me picking my nose or sunbathing in a bikini . [...]