The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!

The Squid's Ear
Facebook: Squidco Sales



Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Kikuri (Haino / Akita) 
  Pulverized Purple
  (Victo) 


  
   review by Kurt Gottschalk
  2008-07-17
Kikuri (Haino / Akita): Pulverized Purple (Victo)

It's hard to imagine that Japan's two premiere noisemakers - Keiji Haino and Masami Akita, aka Merzbow - going soft with age. But it's also hard to imagine anyone keeping up the sheer brutality of their early work for three decades. The two each began their recording careers in the early 1980s, Haino (born in 1952) with intense attacks of electric guitar and screaming, and Akita (1956) using tape loops, metal and percussion. Individually and avowedly, each pursued dark realms of their own devise, combining frightening aural imagery with strange serenities.

But recent years have found each of the artists exploring new ground. Haino has released beautifully quiet albums recorded on acoustic instruments and Akita's work has grown more structured - and seemingly more sentimental - since he began playing laptop. But to say they've gone soft with age, of course, must be taken in context. There's nothing soft about Pulzerized Purple, their first duo album, at least by any conventional standards. Recorded live at the 2007 FIMAV festival in Victoriaville, Quebec, the five tracks (ranging from 6 minutes to half an hour) take feedback, overdrive and ambient grind as their base. But there's a wide variety of sounds atop. Each plays drum kit at various points, as well as plenty of electronic effects, but Haino's acoustic strings and angelic voice provide some abstract beauty. Those moments can seem incongruous, even jarring, and in fact the best moments come in the title track, which comprises close to half the disc. Here they do what they do best - Haino's guitar screaming with slow, clean, bluesy lines and then dissolving into Akita's waves of aural energy. It was an inspired booking for the festival, and the recording stands as a worthy addition to each of their discographies.







Comments and Feedback:



The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Kim Jae Jung:
Shamanism
(Relative Pitch)



Joe McPhee/
Susanna Gartmayer/
John Edwards/
Maria Portugal:
Monster
(Klanggalerie)



Signe Emmeluth/
Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten/
Axel Filip:
Hyperboreal Trio
(Relative Pitch)



John Butcher/
John Edwards:
This Is
Not Speculation
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Izumi Kimura/
Lina Andonovska/
Dominique Pifarely:
Seven Dreams
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Jerome Deupree/
Sylvie Courvoisier/
Lester St. Louis/
Joe Morris:
Canyon
[2 CDs]
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Marc Baron/
Eric La Casa:
Contrefacons
(Swarming)



Francisco Lopez:
Untitled (
2021-2022)
[2 CDs]
(Bu Lang Tribute Cake)



Eventless Plot |
Haarvol:
The Subliminal Paths
[CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Innovo Editions)



Akmee:
Sacrum Profanum
(Nakama Records)



Karl Evangelista Quintet
feat. Bobby Bradford and
William Roper:
Solace Angles
(Asian Improv)



Sveio:
Latent Imprints
(577 Records)



The Sleep Of Reason
Produces Monsters (
Rasmussen/
Mitelli/
Rezaei/
Koenig):
The Sleep Of Reason
Produces Monsters
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Dan Brown/
Dan Reynolds:
Live At
The Grange Hall
[unauthorized][CASSETTE]
(Sacred Realism)



Matt Mitchell:
Sacrosanctity
(Obliquity)



Das B (
Mazen Kerbaj/
Mike Majkowski/
Magda Mayas/
Tony Buck):
Love
(thanatosis produktion/
Corbett Vs Dempsey)



Das B (
Mazen Kerbaj/
Mike Majkowski/
Magda Mayas/
Tony Buck):
Love
[VINYL]
(thanatosis produktion/
Corbett Vs Dempsey)



Mary Halvorson Septet:
Illusionary Sea
[2 LPS]
(Firehouse 12 Records)



Darius Jones:
Legend of e'Boi (
The Hypervigilant Eye)
[VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(Aum Fidelity)



Irene Schweizer/
Rudiger Carl/
Johnny Dyani/
Han Bennink:
Irenes Hot Four
(Intakt)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (8713)