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Authority is Alive

by Haino Keiji & The Observatory

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1.
Over There 10:43
2.
Over Here 11:33

about

“Authority is alive!”

Recorded live at the Playfreely Festival in Singapore, November 2019, Authority is Alive is a potent performance mixed from an intoxicating brew of poetry, philosophy and sonic alchemy. Bearing the theme “The Transparency of Turbulence”, the festival featured a strong line-up of East Asian and Southeast Asian artists and bore the ambition to be “an alternative to how we coalesce and navigate a region that is continuously torn apart by words, egos, greed and ideologies.”

“Everything... living... breathe...”

In an unannounced coupling, Japan’s psychedelic and avant-garde legend Haino Keiji teamed up with Singapore’s art rock veterans The Observatory to deliver a visceral performance. Both have a history of using collaboration as method and it is evident that this meeting pushed all musicians to their creative and emotional limits. Haino, alternating between voice and guitar, was sonic shaman, channelling the raw forces of nature through his entire body. Ad libbing from a self-penned poem, his expressionistic vocals spanned tortured shrieks and falsetto whispers on ideas such as the nature of power, the dissolution of the self and the notion of mu-i 無為 (wu wei, or effortless action). Elsewhere, his guitar workouts were wild and unhinged, pure propulsions of energy.

“Do not find...”

The Observatory, pared down to a three-piece since 2019, showed off their new predilection for thrilling improvisation influenced by their Southeast Asian roots. Dharma’s use of a mallet to strike his guitar, prepared with metallic sheets and rods between its strings, created moving, gamelan-like melodies. At certain points, in call-and-response fashion, percussive polyrhythms would be exchanged with Cheryl Ong on drum kit; Ong’s background in traditional Chinese percussion brings a fresh take to an instrument typically employed in western rock and jazz idioms. Meanwhile, Yuen Chee Wai sat his guitar on a knife’s edge between control and excess, introducing beautifully resonant tone clusters and harsh, crunchy noise.

“Be found!”

Under the dim lights of the mid-size black box venue, with audience members sitting cosily at their feet, Haino and The Observatory led an ecstatic communion. Mixed and mastered by Lasse Marhaug, the chance to lose – and find – ourselves in this otherworldly performance is now here.


Artist Bios

Haino Keiji’s (b. Chiba, Japan) initial artistic outlet was theatre, inspired by the radical writings of Antonin Artaud. An epiphanic moment came when he heard The Doors and changed his course towards music. In 1978 he formed rock band Fushitsusha and has been internationally active as a solo artist and a musician with several groups. He is a multi-instrumentalist and performs with the guitar, percussion, hurdy gurdy and instruments from around the world. To date, Haino has released more than 170 recordings and performed live at least 1,500 times

The Observatory – a name that may suggest passive objectivity, but which really describes a band whose music is an impassioned response to the society it is enmeshed in. Where change is the only constant, and where new forms of oppression must be actively met with new strategies for resistance, a persistent reinvention defines the heart and soul of The Observatory. Here is a band that has, in its close-to-20-year history, been ever ready to speak truth to power, whether through the symbolic force of words or physical intensity of sound.

Since its formation in 2001, the band has expressed itself in multiples ways from folk electronica to prog and avant rock, taking a stylistic sledgehammer to each and every one of its previous releases. The latest constellation of The Observatory features Yuen Chee Wai and Dharma on guitars, efx and objects; and Cheryl Ong on drums; with Ong and Yuen multitasking on electronics. This marks The Observatory's latest sojourn into wordless territories and atonalism, with influences from post-punk to free improv and experimental electronics – a vibrant ecology of pulsing vibrations, extended freeplay and propulsive motorik-tions.

Album sampler: soundcloud.com/ujikaji/haino-keiji-the-observatory-authority-is-alive-album-preview

CRITICAL PRAISE:

"As an improvised album of rare quality, it rewards attentive listening, with many of its finer qualities only becoming evident upon repeat listens. But it’s also remarkably gripping, holding the listener’s attention from the moment Haino speaks into the microphone until the crowd applause fades out at the end. It’s lightning in a bottle, and a no-brainer for adventurous listeners. ★★★★" - Azzief Khaliq, NME

credits

released September 30, 2020

Haino Keiji > Guitar, Vocals
Dharma > Guitar
Cheryl Ong > Drums
Yuen Chee Wai > Guitar

Recorded live at The Transparency of Turbulence
29 November 2019
Playfreely Festival at 72-13 (Singapore)

Live Recording Engineer > Lee Yew Jin
Mix and Mastering > Lasse Marhaug

Song > Haino Keiji
Translation > Nakayama Yuta

Executive Producer > Mark Wong
Art Direction > Yuen Chee Wai
Cover Photography > Darren Soh
Insert Photography > Third Street Studio

Special thanks to
Christopher Ang (Bcube), Maria Clare Khoo, Kudo Hiromi, Lai Yu Tong, Lee Yew Jin & Jeffery Yue (Ctrl Freak), Andy Lim (Art Factory), Fiona Lim, Nakayama Yuta, Mish’aal Syed Nasar, Mervyn Quek & Ong Soo Mei (72-13), Renée Ting

UJI-017LP
All Rights Reserved
UJIKAJI 2020

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Ujikaji Records Singapore

Ujikaji means "experiment" in Malay (Bahasa Melayu). Ujikaji Records is an independent music label and mail order store. Our interests lie in the curation of fiercely experimental works falling loosely in the realms of power electronics, lowercase, free jazz, freak folk, modern composition, glitch electronics, psych rock and/or avant pop. We are physically based in Singapore. ... more

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