Fushitsusha: Album Poll

For reference, the Fushitsusha discography can be found on the unofficial, but definitive, poisonpie website: Keiji Haino Discography.

Another useful resource is Arcane Candy magazine's Fushitsusha reviews.

Some of the more illuminating ILM Fushitsusha & Keiji Haino threads:

Fushitsusha: Classic or dud
Fushitsusha: I Have Some, Do I Need Them All? or, Julio To Thread, Stat!
Fushitsusha: S&D
haino: s/d
Keiji Haino Solo Album Poll -- I Said, This Is The Son Of Pollhilism

My personal choice:

Live II / Untitled / PSF 15/16 (1991, PSF)

A very good choice, that.

I'm tending toward a tough choice between Gold Blood and Withdrawe...

Voting Live II mostly cuz it's the only one I think I can remember.

Is Allegorical Misunderstanding kind of quiet (or quiet for Fushitsusha anyway)?

Relatively, yes.

Oh wait I really like The Caution Appears too now that I am looking at the website and can see covers.

Withdrawe. haven't heard most of these.

Live II is pretty much the default choice, but on certain days The Wound... is the greatest guitar album in the history of Earth.

Live II / Untitled / PSF 15/16 (1991, PSF)

I think this remains my most expensive non-boxset CD purchase ever. The packaging is so gorgeous...and black.

I freely admit that the aesthetic has a lot to do with quite how deeply I love Haino and his work. I don't think that should be a guilty admission either, it's all part of the experience. The PSF all-black gatefolds are totally dark, mysterious & gorgeously sumptuous, which adds that extra layer, perfectly complementing the ferocious darkness of the music.

I'm going to take a wee break from the King Crimson chronology, to work through these before I cast my final vote, though I think Live II is pretty certain. Sometimes something less sprawling, but almost as powerful, can be good though...

I tried to give the poll enough breathing space for folks to dig these up and give at least some a listen before voting...

Taking a break from the King Crimson to revisit some of these. Listening to "A Death Never To Be Complete" now, with "The Time Is Nigh" up next. Really love the Tokuma ones.

Only bother with Live I or II, also fond of Origin's Hesitation

1978 / Eien No Ho Ga, Saki Ni Te O Dashita No Sa / It Was Eternity That Reached Out First... (2003, PSF)

What's this one, an old recording?

Aye, it's a live recording from 1978, as the title suggests.

PSF say this:

From 1978, the earliest group recordings by Fushitsusha yet to be released. A vital document for understanding the Japanese underground and the truest, most exciting rock group of the contemporary era.

Volcanic Tongue said this:

This is unbelievable: the earliest Fushitsusha recordings yet to be
released are enough to blow any would-be linear account of the
development of rock music out the fucking window. In 1978 Fushitsusha
sounded as fully-formed and other-worldly as they do now. Here the
group feature Haino on vocals and guitar alongside bassist Jun Hamano
(of Tokyo punk legends Gaseneta) and the mysterious `Takeshima' on
drums. Haino's vocals sound as if they're being torn from the bottom
of his lungs while his guitar moves from angular atonal spurts through
lonesome single note beauty and passages of enveloping feedback.
Anyone hoping to further their understanding of exactly how the
Fushitsusha sound evolved will have to think again – this shit arrived
full-formed and this archival release is as mysterious and beautifully
out of context as the rest of their singular back catalogue. Highest
recommendation: there's nothing else even remotely like it.

Hainogogic Pop

This is a tough one. I've a soft spot for "The Time Is Nigh" (especially the track "Black Cluster"). The final track on Pathetique is Fushitsusha at their very best. "The Wound That Was Given Birth To" is also fantastic: really meaty, rocking sound (with very audible bass). But then there's Live II ...

I'm personally going to try to do a ranking, since, as Duke says, there are so many great ones, which it is a shame for the seemingly acknowledged monster to overshadow. Anyone else please feel free to do so as well and I could tot up a quick overall result. I'm guessing it won't be the busiest poll ever though...

For all the eviscerating heaviness that Fushitsusha are most known for, there is also the sad quiet beauty of a track like "Hermitage", the closer on "A Death Never To Be Complete", which is subtle, spartan and yet so emotional... wonderful. Proof, if needed, that there's so much more to Haino, and even to Fushitsusha, than the bombast that can perhaps first strike the ear...

Listened to "The Time Is Nigh" last night and this morning, and I think it might edge "A Death...". The way it starts so quietly, so you turn it way up, and then...

I haven't heard half of these, but I'll vote for 'A Death Never To Be Complete'. It's so monumental, I'm in awe listening to it every time still.
Krakow very much OTM about Hermitage btw.

Listened to "The Time Is Nigh" last night and this morning, and I think it might edge "A Death...". The way it starts so quietly, so you turn it way up, and then...
― krakow, Thursday, 13 August 2009 10:52 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Ha! I listened to "The Time Is Nigh" yesterday on my ipod whilst out and about. I love the way it slowly kicks in.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I voted for The Wound.... The opening track is just such a monster - the only thing I could compare it to is Hendrix's 14-minute "Hear My Train a-Comin'" from Rainbow Bridge (also compiled on the Blues CD). Just epic.

Last chance people. If you are going to vote, do it now!

I realised I hadn't yet voted. I could have gone for several of these depending on the day of the week. I went with Pathetique -- the last track on that album is up there with the best performances out there by anyone: genuinely jaw-dropping. But Live II, The Wound and Time is Nigh are faves, too. Live I is also lovely.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

heh II was always gonna win

Reasonably predictable result. The most recommended followed by the ubiquitous. Both fine albums.

A good showing. Thanks all. It's tough with the one vote only system when there's a single option that's clearly going to run away with it, not much space for anything but the biggest fish to show themselves.

I can't find II anywhere online..could someone point me towards a link or upload it kindly?

I can't find II anywhere online..could someone point me towards a link or upload it kindly?
― David Katz (davek_00), Sunday, 16 August 2009 01:17 (12 minutes ago) Bookmark

I found this after a few seconds of searching. If you've no luck, let me know, I'll happily send you a copy.

http://weedtemple.blogspot.com/2009/05/fushitsusha-psf-1516.html

^Aaah! Thank you Mr. Duke! And I thought my album googling skills were up to scratch.

Ah, but that one doesn't actually work! (*ahem*).

This one does: http://bigfatsatanist.blogspot.com/2008/11/fushitsusha-psfd-1516.html

Landslide! Voted for 'A Death'...

The third track on "A Death Never to be Complete" is gorgeous--and Keiji is kinda singing in a somewhat normal voice!