The Meaning Of Blackness

Haino is best known as a guitarist and vocalist, but this stunning 90-minute performance, recorded at the Tomorrow Festival in Shenzhen, China in 2016, truly demonstrates the breadth of his artistry. For the record, the full title translates to “The Meaning of Blackness (More Decorous Than Duty Having Become Faster Than Everything A Smile That Was Never Birthed Into The Light).” Divided into two sections of 40 and 50 minutes purely due to the limitations of CD and LP capacity — Haino views it as a seamless whole, which is fair — it includes bursts of staticky noise, an insanely blown-out-sounding electronic drum solo, an interpolation of the Fushitsusha song “Koko,” his trademark choked-off shrieks, and of course wave upon wave of his storm-cloud guitar.