TATSUYA YOSHIDA & HAINO KEIJI: UHRFASUDHASDD

This is one of the more unusual albums in my collection. When I ordered it, I didn't know anything about Haino Keiji apart from the fact that he was a fairly unusual performer, but I wasn't expecting the results present on this disc. I listened to the second track on Yoshida's Myspace page and it was pretty interesting, a cut/pasted together track of insanity...the only thing that is really consistent throughout the album is insanity.

Some of the tracks are more "normal", though normal can't apply to any of it really - for example, the first track sounds like it's going to be a haunting instrumental affair, then suddenly electronics and screamed vocals come in to throw you off. The second track is entirely disorienting until you're used to the way it lurches along, as eventually the bizarre cuts start to make sense and the underlying rhythm starts to show itself. Even then, it's still a bizarre song. That's the most appropriate word for this album, really - bizarre. No one track can prepare you for what's inside, and no track name can be pronounced. There is a really wide variety of music on the album, though, that's for sure. Several of the tracks are even all in one piece! I don't regularly do track by track reviews, and even if I did I would probably skip it for this one - I'd get too mixed up on what was going on when and why, plus I don't know how to spell any of them. That's a big part of the album's appeal for me, actually - it's a good album to listen to when you don't know what to listen to, because you'll probably hear it at some point on the album (assuming it has something to do with Yoshida's style or strange, almost folky tunes courtesy of Haino Keiji).

I'd most likely recommend this album to someone who wants to go insane - or someone who already is (like myself) and who wants to stay that way. If you're a fan of Tatsuya Yoshida and want something which is "out there" even for his standards, this is probably a good choice for you. If the incoherent album/track titles appeal to you...then again, this one is possibly a good choice for you. It really is all over the place, as I've said. From what I understand, it's either the second or third album released by this duo, so there's more crazy goodness where this one came from. There is definitely an odd, off-the-wall sense of humor on display here as well, though it may not be very obvious at first. I'd say this is deserving of masterpiece status, for being an incredible album and at the same time totally unique. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but no album is.

Edit: I just want to mention the two songs which I enjoy most of all - the second track "Dhoidvophkjiff" and the last track "Mkdoijadih" - stylistically, they're miles apart...the earlier is a crazy cut/paste fest, and the later is one of the few tracks on the album which could be called calm.