Keiji Haino & Sumac – American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You’re Too Hideous To Look At Face On

Artistic package of noisy beauty

Anyone that knows anything about the artistic output of Keiji Haino and Sumac would have an idea of how monumental this collaborative album is. From a discographical standpoint, Japanese experimental soloist Keiji Haino has produced an incredible amount of studio and live recorded tracks and albums on his own, through collaborations with other artists and with bands he’s been a part of. Starting way back in the ’70s, Haino was way ahead of his time and in ways, still is now. His work is expansive, touching heavily on drone, noise, psych and free improvisation. It’s fairly similar to the route Sumac guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner has taken with his career. Turner’s output has been fairly boundless, his contributions going towards Mammiffer, Isis and Old Man Gloom as well.

American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You’re Too Hideous To Look At Face On is the longwinded but incredibly creative effort from these combined forces. The album in its entirety is interesting and acquired, predominately comprised of whirring and jarring noise. At only five songs long, one would think the album would be an easy pill to swallow, but for some that isn’t so much the case.

One must think of American Dollar Bill… not at all as the standard definition of an album, but more as an artistic package. Even with the presence of traditional instruments, the album employs the human body as the most utilized instrument of all; the Haino/Sumac pairing (the latter of which also featuring current Russian Circles and ex-Botch bassist Brian Cook) projecting an almost violent physicality into each track. Haino leads in this effort, showing within the first few minutes of the almost 20-minute long self-titled opener that his voice is meant to give fierce intent. Atop heavy reverb, Haino essentially free-scats improvised babble. It’s nonsensical, yet makes more sense than anything else in the world.

The rest of the album is really only two tracks, broken down into different parts. “What have I Done? (I Was Reeling In Something White and I Became Able to do Anything I made a Hole Imprisoned Time Within it Created Friction Stopped Listening to Warnings Ceased Fixing my Errors Made the Impossible Possible? Turned Sadness Into Joy) Pt. 1” [sic] is classic Turner territory. Experimental noisy post-metal, Turner, Cook and drummer Nick Yacyshyn dispose of typical rock song structure for clamorous racket. It’s interrupted by “I’m Over 137% A Love Junkie And Still It’s Not Enough” parts one and two, the first half steeping in its boiled instrumentation, before brewing and building to blurred hum in its second half. The album finds its completion with part two of “What have I Done?…,” which sounds like Sumac, too, turned to a rumbling jam session as an end note.

American Dollar Bill… is exactly the album to be expected from experimental greats of this caliber. Just like other mediums of art, it’s not for everyone. But those that really get it see it for all of its noisy beauty.