Solo CD from Keiji Haino features four long nocturnal pieces spontaneously scored for tabletop electronics, F/X pedals, ‘air-FX’ and ‘digital air theremin’. This is the most electronics-heavy Haino disc to date and much of it bears comparison to his early Milky Way recording, with moments of torrential digital downpour illuminated by flares of fluttering code, wild frequency fluctuations and skies of shortwave bloop. Some absolutely mangled vocals worked deep into the maul and also some kind of wind instrument that makes the last piece sound like an exorcism in a nuclear bunker. As necessary as every other Haino side. Comes in a black hard-card Fushitsusha-style gatefold with colour pics and a 4 page booklet featuring pics and Japanese text.

Very intimate, low-level guitar/loops/vocal recordings from Keiji Haino featuring some of his most hypnotic and personally intense solo playing, all recorded live in the depths of the night at minimum volume. An absolute beauty that ranks alongside classics like Affection and Era Of Sad Wings, this is Haino at his most elegiac and haunting. Comes in large format, gatefold digipak. Highest recommendation.

Another necessary volume in this on-going series documenting current activity on Tokyo's psychedelic underground, this one features exclusive tracks by Keiji Haino, Broom Dusters (featuring members of Miminokoto/LSD-March), Musica Transonic, Puka-Puka Brians (members of Maher Shalal Hash Baz/Aihiyo), On-Na Kodomo, Shizuka, Akiyama-Sugimoto, High Rise, Kakashi, Construction, Psychedelic Crazy Horse and Hikyo String Quintet.

A compilation that culls tracks from a series of ‘lecture concerts' that took place between September 2003 and February 2004 at Mesar Haus, Tokyo. Kicks off with a fantastically dense hurdy-gurdy drone from Keiji Haino and also features tracks from guitarist Kazuo Imai, pianist Junichiro Okuchi, shamisen master Michihiro Sato, turntablist Otomo Yoshihide and saxophonist Masayoshi Urabe.

Another one of those chronologically-upending archival Haino finds that makes the birth of his whole aesthetic seem historically immaculate, Free Rock - recorded in 1982! - sees Haino on electric guitar playing zoned avant garage crank in the company of some of the most legendary avant-provocateurs to come out of the ranks of the Los Angeles Free Music Society: Dennis Duck (ds), Fredrik Nilsen (b), Tom Recchion (mock cello, strangaphone) and Rick Potts (g). Post-Ubu Heart Of Darkness No Wave never sounded so completely liberated.

Nicely presented/compiled art book, put together by Lawrence English with contributions from a head-spinning range of artists on the subject of ‘dead silence’: ranging across art, text, essays, letters and photography with contributions from musicians/artists/writers such as Keiji Haino (who discusses the meaning of ‘Seijaku’), Liz Harris aka Grouper, Alan Licht, Makino Takashi, Jamie Stewart, Marina Rosenfeld, James Webb, Benoit Pioulard, Steve Roden, Eugene Carchesio, Terre Thaemliz, Sandra Selig, Jack Sargeant, Philip Samartzis, Greg Hainge, Ross Manning (Sky Needle), David Toop and Heiko Muller.

Shizuka's sole studio album, Heavenly Persona, has long been one of the real jewels hidden in the PSF back catalogue. Indeed, Alan Cummings calls them "THE great lost-in-action group of the Tokyo underground psych scene". The group came together from the fallout of a bunch of early Fushitsusha line-ups, with original second guitarist Maki Miura (who played on Fushitsusha's debut Untitled/1st CD on PSF) joined by Fushitsusha drummer Jun Kosugi, Miura's partner Shizuka on guitar and vocals and Seven on bass. But outside of their one official studio album and a few patchy live recordings evidence of their majestic take on extended psychedelic rock has been pretty thin on the ground. So this album may well be one of the most anticipated PSF releases in an age, the official follow-up to Heavenly Persona, consisting of a beautifully recorded live set from 1995 long whispered about in underground circles, with the band at the peak of their powers. The form here is more extended than on their studio album, with songs that explode into disruptively melodic lead guitar bombs, combining the white-heat of Keiji Haino with the emotionally fraught aspect of classic Neil Young. Shizuka's vocals float on a bed of ethereal reverb and the group interaction is just gorgeous, piloting hushed F/X through damaged blues and classic Japanese psych moves. But it's the guitar playing you'll keep coming back to, with some of the most amazing six-string destructo moves ever torn from a stack of amps. Seriously. An incredible record from one of the all-time great Japanese underground groups. Highest possible recommendation.

Another necessary volume in this on-going series documenting current activity on Tokyo’s psychedelic underground and a long-time personal favourite, the line-up and track choice here is unbeatable, with exclusives from Overhang Party, White Heaven, Fushitsusha (a fabulously unrelenting noise guitar blow-out), Cobalt, Kumo To Hae, Sweet & Honey, Ghost, Daiichi-Kakkensha, Uchu Engine, Maher Shalal Hash Baz and Shizuka, the latter of whom raise the roof with guitarist Maki Miura roaring his way through heavens of feedback and blues. Love that fake ringwear on the cover too, a real touch of class. Highest recommendation.

Nanjo Asahito’s High Rise were the original Psychedelic Speed Freaks that gave the PSF label their name and their aesthetic, with Ikeezumi founding the imprint with the specific intent of documenting their insane take on extended psychedelic punk. Their glory years were the mid-80s, specifically 1986 where they recorded their classic album, High Rise 2. This fantastic archival (region free) DVD catches the band at the peak of their hyper-exaggerated powers, with the line-up that cut the second album powering their way through a 1986 set that combines outrageous explosions of wah-wah guitar with everything-in-the-red aesthetics and a look that combines freak-out Detrotisms with Velvets cool. Still one of the all-time great psychedelic punk groups, this DVD is a timely reminder of why they blew so many minds when they first turned up via bootleg LPs in the west. Recommended.

Arguably the most-flattening volume in this legendary series to date, Tokyo Flashback 2 features exclusive tracks from White Heaven (“Silver Current”), High Rise with Keiji Haino, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Marble Sheep, Overhang Party, Yura Yura Kingdom, Yuragi, Kousokuya, Ghost (“Sun Is Tangging”), Ohkami No Jikan (featuring Maki Miura ex-Fushitsusha/Shiuzka) and Fushitsusha, who cover The Jacks' legendary “Marianne”. Yow.

Out-of-nowhere return for legendary Tokyo underground psychedelic speed freak guitarist Munehiro Narita with a group that to all intents and purposes is a re-fitted High Rise: Munehiro co-formed High Rise along with bassist Nanjo Asahito (Mainliner/Musica Transonic/Toho Sara et al) and helped launch PSF Records, which was founded to bring the works of High Rise and Fushitsusha to more prominence, with the label taking its name from the High Rise motto, Psychedelic Speed Freaks. Munehiro was one of the key guitarists of the era, perfecting a squealing fast-soloing style that pushed wah-wah excess into new realms of total sonic refusal. Here he is joined by original High Rise drummer Yuro Ujiie with Nanjo Asahito replaced by bassist/vocalist Tabata Mitsuru of Zeni Geva/Loud Machine 5000/Acid Mothers Temple et al.
The basic High Rise formula remains intact, thug-punk riffs hammered to infinity cut with whirlwind wah-wah solos but Tabata’s vocals give the whole deal a weird/sneering under-the-counter-culture appeal that sounds like it comes straight outta Ohio. Indeed, the rhythm section sound fantastic, playing doomy sludge-punk one minute and breaking out swampy Diddley-beats the next, with plenty of room for Narita to bleed in his insane excessive trademark style all over the top. High Rise vinyl is now hideously rare so this is a unique opportunity to grip some heavy duty speed freak wax from one of the defining guitarists of the era. Very highly recommended!