Image by Katja Ogrin

Thanks to Simon Gray for sharing this video he made of Nazoranai’s amazing performance on Tuesday 9th July at CBSO Centre. With Keiji Haino on vocals and guitar, Stephen O’Malley on bass and Oren Ambarchi on drums it was both heavy and complex.

What a show! Thanks to all who came to the CBSO Centre last night, it was a really magnificent event and your feedback has been brilliant.

Thanks to Katja Ogrin for these photos.

Nazoranai were huge, and Keiji Haino, Oren Ambarchi and Stephen O’Malley really pushed the guitar/bass/drums set up to new heights.It was one of only three UK shows for this tour and was entirely improvised.

Keiji Haino

Stephen O’Malley on bass

Oren Ambarchi on drums

Nicholas Bullen presented sounds from his new record ‘Componenent Fixations’. CBSO Centre is an acoustically magnificent space, and the clarity of sound was perfect for the drones, sinewaves and environmental sounds of the piece.

Nazoranai at Roskilde Festival, by Jacob Crawfurd

A reminder that tomorrow night there will be an unmissable show in Birmingham. If you’re a fan of the heavy doom of Sunn0))), the darker side of psychedelia, free jazz, noise or drone, this one is for you!

Nazoranai is one heavyweight line up;
Oren Ambarchi is an Australian composer with interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. His work focuses mainly on the exploration of the guitar, but tomorrow night he’ll be taking up drums.
Stephen O’Malley is a musician from Seattle, who has conceptualised numerous drone, doom and experimental music groups, most notably, Sunn0))).
Keiji Haino is a Japanese musician and composer whose work has included rock, free improvisation, drone, noise and minimalism.

This show will also act as the album launch for Component Fixations, the new record by Nicholas Bullen, out on Type*.

Tomorrow’s show will be the first UK Nazoranai performance. There’s a photo gallery of their performance at Roskilde Festival via gaffa.dk

“Keiji Haino’s 30-year career has encompassed a dizzying range of approaches from wild, guitar-led ensemble rock and near-Neolithic drumming; live electronics and untutored explorations of lute and flute; and the deconsecrated peals of solo gamelan performance. He has also collaborated widely with the likes of Derek Bailey, Merzbow, Jim O’Rourke and Tony Conrad. Throughout, Haino has retained a visionary focus upon temporary suspension through noise (and silence) whilst refining a mercurial, highly distinctive method and an arrestingly dramatic on-stage presence that borrows the raiments of performance art.” Cafe Oto

Haino leads the power trio Nazoranai, forging heavy psych and noise with Stephen O’Malley of Sunn0))) and Oren Ambarchi.  Haino is a master at pushing the possibilities of the guitar/bass/drums format. If you’ve not witnessed Haino live before, we thoroughly recommend you surrender yourself over. They play the CBSO Centre next Tuesday 9th July.

The last time Haino played Birmingham was Supersonic Festival 2008 with Merzbow, where the two artists almost seemed in battle on stage!

Tickets for this event are £15 in advance from www.theticketsellers.co.uk. Nicholas Bullen will also perform, launching his new ‘Component Fixations’ record.

Oren Ambarchi is an Australian sound artist, primarily using the guitar he investigates unconventional ways of playing traditional instrumentation. He’ll make one third of the power trio Nazoranai on Tuesday 9th July at CBSO Centre, along with Keiji Haino and Stephen O’Malley. Oren will performing drums at this show. Tickets are available via www.theticketsellers.co.uk

“From the darkest reaches of space comes Nazoranai, featuring Japanese underground legend Keiji Haino, Stephen O’Malley of avant-metal overlords Sunn 0))) and Australian experimentalist Oren Ambarchi. On their 2012 debut, Haino’s bleakly beautiful guitar and diabolical vocals slice through the creeping mass of O’Malley’s bass and Ambarchi’s minimalist drums; what they have in store for Glasgow, however, is anyone’s guess.

‘I try to keep all my collaborative projects spontaneous and organic. Working in this trio is no different’, explains Ambarchi. ‘I’ve worked with Haino-san many times and it’s always different – he constantly likes to pull the carpet from under your feet… There’s always elements of ritual and the psychedelic (in the truest sense of word) in a Nazoranai performance. Both Stephen and I are “fans” of Haino, and rabid fans of music in general, so we’re happy to support and complement Haino’s flights as much as we can’.” Read the full interviewvia The List here

A prolific collaborator, Oren has worked with Jim O’Rourke, Fire!, Fennesz, Robin Fox and many more, but don’t overlook his solo work!

The powerhouse trio of Stephen O’Malley, Oren Ambarchi and Keiji Haino perform a very special show at CBSO Centre on Tuesday 9th July. This is going to be loud. Nazoranai are psychedelic avant doom from “three undisputed masters in their field”.

“…It was one of those ‘what now’ moments you never imagine happening, having been a fan/follower of Haino’s playing, concerts and recordings over the years. Five years later, somehow, we ended up as this trio. Haino, Oren and I were all in Holland for one reason or another and decided to try it. I played bass for the first time on stage with this group. Maybe it shows but the idea was a power trio backing up Haino-san, with a lot of amplification…It’s hard to describe the lessons through real-time communication in music with such a master of form, but needless to say, they were much different than what I was expecting and beyond! Proof again that expectations lead to dead ends. Was a most challenging experience in real-time music. I feel incredibly honored to be part of this trio.” —Stephen O’Malley

Listen to an album preview soundcloud.com/experimedia/nazoranai-nazoranai-album

Nicholas Bullen (Napalm Death, Scorn, Black Galaxy) will be launching his new record Component Fixations at this event, released on Type Records.

“Over 25 years since that first Napalm Death release, Bullen is primed to release his debut solo LP through Type*. Component Fixations will offer “tape manipulations, drones and noise” spread over three long-form tracks. The album promises a synthesis of Bullen’s influences, with a particular emphasis on the electronic pioneers of the 1960s. Intriguingly, all the sounds on the record were directly sourced from field recordings made around Bullen’s house and garden” Fact

Listen to the opening track soundcloud.com/_type/nicholas-bullen-element

Tickets are £15 and available via www.theticketsellers.co.uk