On the album:
Over the last 50 years, few musicians or performers have created as monumental and uncompromising a body of work as that of Keiji Haino. Through a vast number of recordings and performances, Haino has staked out a ground all his own—creating a language of unparalleled intensity that defies any simple classification. For all this, his 1981 debut album Watashi Dake? has remained enigmatic. Originally released in a small edition by the legendary Pinakothecalabel, the album was heard by only a select few in Japan at the time of its release and far fewer overseas. Original vinyl copies became impossibly rare and highly sought after the world over.
Watashi Dake? presents a haunting vision. Stark vocals, whispered and screamed, punctuate dark silences. Intricate and sharp guitar figures interweave, repeat and stretch, trance-like, emerging from dark recesses. Written and composed by Haino on the spot, Watashi Dake? conjures a vision of deep spiritual depths that distantly evokes 1920s blues and medieval music, yet is unlike anything ever committed to record before or since. Coupled with starkly minimal packaging featuring the now-iconic cover photographs by legendary photographer Gin Satoh, the album is a startling and fully realized artistic statement.
Produced in close cooperation with Keiji Haino, as well as Gin Satoh, Black Editions is proud to make this masterpiece of underground music its inaugural release. Reissued on LP for the very first time, it is also the first-ever edition to feature the originally intended metallic gold and silver artwork. The release also presents the first-ever translation of the lyrics and titles by Alan Cummings.
Each LP includes a digital download with an extended bonus live track from the same era.
Pre-order Watashi Dake? from Black Editions: http://www.theblackeditions.com/
