Keiji Haino/Jim O'Rourke/Oren Ambarchi, "Imikuzushi"

For the third installment of what has become a yearly tradition, three of contemporary music's foremost free improv players joined forces for a three-hour live show in Melbourne, Australia. The four tracks on Imikuzushi are excerpts culled from that blistering performance.

Black Truffle

Part of what makes Imikuzushi such a fascinating listen is the players' choice of instruments and styles, in contrast with their previous collaborations. The first, 2010's Tima Formosa, was a relatively quiet affair, which I found a bit of a shock given Keiji Haino's involvement. Haino stuck to manipulating electronics, while Oren Ambarchi provided textured guitar and Jim O'Rourke sat in on piano. For the following year's concert, Ambarchi switched to drums and O'Rourke to bass, while Haino jumped between guitar, electronics and lap steel; the resulting album was In a Flash Everything Comes Together as One There Is No Need for a Subject (try saying that five times fast!), a vinyl-only release on Ambarchi's Black Truffle label. I haven't had the pleasure of hearing that one, but if it's anything like Imikuzushi, I'll need to seek it out immediately.

For the performance that spawned Imikuzushi, O'Rourke and Ambarchi remained on bass and drums, respectively, while Haino stripped back his multi-instrumental tendencies to focus on what he actually does best: shredding. The Haino/O'Rourke/Ambarchi power trio played three hours that night, and the album trims their performance to just over 70 minutes of music. As fair warning, fans of O'Rourke's gentle, ornate performances on his Drag City albums and Wilco collaborations (gag me) will likely shit themselves upon hearing Imikuzushi, where O'Rourke's fuzzed-out bass and Ambarchi's deft drumming both play a supporting role to Haino's white-hot guitar maelstrom. The first track makes this quite obvious, kicking off in the midst of Haino shredding and wailing on his instrument, sounding as if he's covering a Merzbow song. (Track titles are also a clue this is Haino's show: "Still Unable to Throw Off that Teaching a Heart Left Abandoned Unable to Get Inside that Empty Space Nerves Freezing that Unconcealed Sadness" is nothing if not Haino-esque.)

At his most tempered, Haino's playing is usually on par with Sonic Youth (R.I.P.) at their most violent. When he decides to throw down the hammer, he's in a league all his own. Most of the time on Imikuzushi, Haino remains in fifth gear, conjuring up molten blasts of guitar noise, squall, feedback, and rapid-fire, frenzied shredding like a man possessed. When he comes up for air, it's usually to let out an inhuman, tortured wail or two before diving back in, coaxing progressively more violent sounds out of his instrument. Haino shifts between styles with ease, conjuring up visions of blues, metal, and psychedelia when he's not in overdrive. I can only imagine the religious intensity of seeing this stuff played live; I'm sure the attendees left happy as a clam, as well as partially deaf for a week.

Ambarchi's playing on drums is commendable, since keeping up with Haino for a marathon improv session is likely among the more difficult assignments he's shouldered lately. Ambarchi switches between nimble free-jazz playing, Kraut-centric rhythms, and straightforward playing with ease, depending on Haino's mood. O'Rourke follows suit, his bass providing enough color and shading for Haino to get away with splattering paint all over the canvas. Ambarchi and O'Rourke shine brightest when Haino's tone downshifts from ALL SYSTEMS GO to less aggressive playing. Track two builds from Ambarchi's barely-there cymbals and O'Rourke's bass rumbles, with Haino adding shards of minimal psychedelic guitar and building to a crescendo 10 minutes later. Likewise, track three starts with pulsing electronics before Ambarchi shifts into a motorik rhythm and, later, O'Rourke grinds away on bass as if playing with a Kyuss cover band.

Imikuzushi makes one thing immediately clear: Keiji Haino remains one of the most exciting, vital electric guitarists working today. His career is full of rich collaborations, from free improv giants Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann and Tony Conrad, to avant-blues legend Loren Connors, to modern experimental artists like Boris, Pan Sonic, and Ruins' Tatsuya Yoshida. On the strength of Imikuzushi and its two predecessors, Haino's trio with Oren Ambarchi and Jim O'Rourke ought to be canonized alongside his best collaborative work. While much of Haino's work remains abstract, difficult to grasp by design, Imikuzushi has a ritualistic energy and immediacy to it that reminds me of his days in Fushitsusha. If that's not a high enough recommendation to convert O'Rourke fans, then stick to your damn Wilco records and I'll keep dreaming I was at this jaw-dropping show.

Samples:

• Still Unable to Throw Off that Teaching a Heart Left Abandoned Unable to Get Inside that Empty Space Nerves Freezing that Unconcealed Sadness...
• Ready and Waiting Ready and Tired of Waiting This Happiness Hovers for a While Opaque...
• Invited In Practically Drawn In by Something Facing the Exit of This Hiding Place Who Is It? That Went In...