Keiji Haino & SUMAC
American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look At Face On

Keiji Haino is an eclectic and innovative musician and at the same time a true provocateur, a "theatrical" artist, even pathetic, who unleashes his verve and vivid inspiration in an extreme way, close to exaggeration. Each of his works is the result of improvisation and manifestation of his hallucinatory visions. Open to collaborations of all kinds, in "American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look At Face On" (Thrill Jockey Records, February 23, 2018), Keiji joins forces with SUMAC, led by Aaron Turner, one of the most interesting formations in the metal music scene (a definitely reductive label for a band that possesses a marked experimental inclination).

"American Dollar Bill..." is an absolutely unconventional album. Its very genesis is peculiar: Keiji and SUMAC met at Goksound Studios in Tokyo where they produced a series of impromptu sessions without any premeditation and/or limits of any kind. These recordings were all captured on tape and then combined into three long compositions: the title-track, "What Have I Done? Pt. I and II", "I'm Over 137% A Love Junkie And Still It's Not Enough Pt. I and II". Compositions mostly irregular and unpredictable, dominated by the bass sound and the drive of the drums, and above all massive, invasive distortions full of drone and noise fury. But above all rises with violence Keiji Haino's voice, which handles dramatic and emotional performances. Other more typically ambient moments (for example in the title-track or the first part of "I'm Over 137% A Love Junkie And Still It's Not Enough") complete the range of proposals contained in the album and show how this combination manages to handle minimalist compositions well.

The final result is a difficult and courageous record, as is traditional for Keiji Haino and, although it might not win the heart of a large number of listeners, it will instead suggest a certain affection for those who allow themselves to be captivated by what we can ultimately define as a true expressionist manifesto.