Vajra



Vajra is the power-improv trio of Mikami Kan (vocals, guitar), Keiji Haino (vocals, guitar) & Toshi Ishizuka (percussion; of Zuno Keisatsu and Cinorama fame). You could fill a library describing the impact of these three legendary figures of the Japanese avant garde underground. Vajra represents only one tiny aspect of their careers. Ishitsuka's martial power drumming provides the perfect foundation for Haino's soaring, roaring flights into the infinite abyss, which in turn combine in rare grace and (sub) conscious empathy with Mikami's improvised vocals. Mikami sings entirely in his native Tsugaru dialect which is totally incomprehensible to speakers of regular Japanese.Vajra represent an improvised output of unprecedented force and musical empathy. The raw invention and communication here is quite simply on a par with anything you care to think of. There's something very very special about this group - three masters at the peak of their powers, playing with total commitment, total sensitivity, total passion. Ferocious, bleak, beautiful and inspiring.

All of these were released on the wonderful P.S.F. Records who continue to drop some of the best music you will ever hear.

1995 - Mikami Kan / Vajra - Chiru Ha & Ozakijinjya [p.s.f. records]
1995 - Vajra - 東日流 [Tsugaru] [p.s.f. records]
1996 - Vajra - 金環食 [Ring] [p.s.f. records]
1997 - Vajra - 七識 [Sichisiki] [p.s.f. records]
1998 - Vajra - 声聞 [Śrāvaka] [p.s.f. records]
2002 - Vajra - Mandala (Cat Last) [p.s.f. records]
2008 - Vajra - Live [p.s.f. records]

12 comments:

Josh,  4 February 2011 at 11:45  

You, sir, are amazing. Thanks a lot for this one as well Badgerstump, I owe you big time. :)

Anonymous,  4 February 2011 at 12:41  

Caligari:
downloaded them from another old blog many months ago.
excellent stuf. sushi-rock always surprises me. glad to see them reposted again.
om sri maitreya om.

Anonymous,  6 February 2011 at 19:34  

Thank you very very much.
Great post as usual.

mike 28 March 2011 at 16:29  

thanks for the Vag!

Tonyfan 28 May 2013 at 11:07  

Thank you for these! Beyond wonderful!

apf 30 June 2017 at 05:39  

Some seriously amazing stuff here. Finished downloading Les Rallizes Denudes and now working on Keiji Haino and related projects. Thank you so much for all!

Lawren 30 June 2017 at 20:03  

Vajra is totally stunning...

From curiosity, do you have any albums from other Keiji groups - Sanhedrin and Seijaku?

badgerstump 1 July 2017 at 09:35  

Yeah, I have both. I'll get to work ...

Lawren 1 July 2017 at 11:52  

YES! I look forward...

Unknown 4 December 2017 at 15:29  

A BIG THANKS! it's a blessing that sites like yours continue to exist, I think a lot of people are in great debt for discovering music to sites like yours

AbedNeg 14 June 2023 at 20:41  

I remember turning on "Chiru Ha" at home, at reasonably low volume. To my big suprise, my Lady told me to turn up the volume and asked who were those guys... It was quite a long time ago. So many things changed, HDD inclusive ;) So I got a kind request - would it be possible to reload all the Vajra's discs, please?
Best regards
AbedSzadmesz