Medama Records – mr05
"Begun as a one-off collaboration in 2009, the trio of Keiji Haino, Jim
O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi has now become a solid working group,
refining its craft through a series of annual concerts at Tokyo's
legendary SuperDeluxe. Much of their recorded work has focused on their
intense, ritualistic take on the rock power trio of electric guitar,
bass and drums. Presenting the entire first set of the trio's March 2013
concert at SuperDeluxe (the second set will follow on Black Truffle
later this year), Only Wanting to Melt Beautifully Away Is It a Lack of
Contentment That Stirs Affection for Those Things Said to Be as of Yet
Unseen is their fifth release and blows the instrumental palette wide
open for a single continuous piece focused on acoustic strings, synth,
flute and percussion. Featuring one of Haino's most delicate and moving
recorded vocal performances, the opening section of the record takes the
form of a spare duet between O'Rourke's 12-string acoustic guitar and
Haino's kantele (a Finnish variant of the dulcimer), behind which
Ambarchi provides a hovering backdrop of wine glass tones. While on
previous releases the listener has often sensed that Haino was firmly in
the driver's seat, here O'Rourke takes center stage with an acoustic
guitar performance that takes the lyricism of John Abercrombie or Ralph
Towner and refracts it through the free improvisation tradition of his
mentors Derek Bailey and Henry Kaiser. The atmosphere of meditative,
abstracted song is reminiscent of some of Haino's greatest recordings,
such as the legendary Live in the First Year of the Heisei volumes
recorded with Kan Mikami. After this stunningly beautiful opening
sequence, the performance moves organically through a number of
episodes, including a dramatic central passage in which Haino moves to
synth and drum machine, crafting a current of raw electricity that
unfurls slowly over the gently pulsing foundations of Ambarchi's cymbals
and builds to heights of manic intensity. When Haino later turns to
wooden flute, Ambarchi answers him with nimble hand-drummed percussion
in a passage that calls to mind Don Cherry's liberated combination of
free-jazz improvisation and non-Western musics. The trio's move away
from the power trio dynamic bespeaks a risk-taking and questing spirit
that refuses to be satisfied with repeating past glories, and yet the
organic, immersive flow of this single improvisation attests to the
intuitive bond that has formed between them over the last five years.
Exuding the signature mystery and emotion of Haino's greatest works,
this release is perhaps the strongest statement yet from this acclaimed
trio, and holds out a tantalizing promise for everyone hooked on their
continuing exploration of 'those things said to be as of yet unseen.'
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