Imikuzushi
Haino has a long-standing trio featuring Jim O’Rourke on bass and Oren Ambarchi on drums; they’ve released an album just about every year since 2010. This, the third in the series, is one of the more sonically overwhelming entries — the cover art, a photo of three knives stuck in a board, is a good indication of the contents. It contains just four long tracks, the shortest running almost 14 minutes and the longest more than 22, on which Haino unleashes endless face-ripping guitar solos and spits out breathless, improvised lyrics as O’Rourke and Ambarchi lay down steady grooves that are motorik-indebted (during the fast, loud parts) and psychedelically dubby (during the slow, quiet parts). There’s a genuine creative bond here, and at its best this band is right up there with Fushitsusha.