Keiji Haino, Charles Hayward

A loss permitted to open its eyes for but three hours
And there glimpsed, finally in focus a mystery
That begs earnestly, "ask me nothing"
Now, once more the problem is yours alone

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Experimental music pioneer Keiji Haino, one of the most mysterious and influential figures to emerge from the Japanese psychedelic underground, teams up with Charles Hayward, British drummer and founding member of This Heat and Camberwell Now, on a new live album released on Thirty Three Thirty Three. 

A loss permitted... (the full title of the record is the above poem in its entirety) comprises a live recording of the duo’s improvised performance at the Copeland Gallery in London in July 2016, presented as part of Thirty Three Thirty Three’s performance series Japan: London. The result is fascinating: a mix of air synths, distortions, improvised Japanese poetry and warped guitar sounds. Sedate harmonica and guitar sections give way to cosmic din or an equally unnerving silence, in a performance ALL ABOUT JAZZ described as having ‘no sense of logic, only silence where the tension seemed to build, then finally release’.

It’s not the first time Haino and Hayward have worked together – Hayward’s rare album Double Agent(s) documents their improvisational sparring live in Japan in 1998. Both are restless collaborators: Haino has played with Derek Bailey, Tony Conrad, Jim O’Rourke, Pan Sonic and Stephen O’Malley, as well as in his own groups Fushitsusha, Nazoranai and Nijiumu, among others; while Hayward’s collaborators have included Fred Frith, Thurston Moore and Laura Cannell. A loss permitted… sees these two visionary musicians revisit their partnership, creating a sound that is at turns contemplative and ferocious – and always completely compelling:

cargorecordsdirect.co.uk/collections/thirty-three-thirty-three