Can't stand the guy, personally. But, to each his own.

Err, as I said in context of the entire sentence, he's a great critic when it comes to bringing in historical elements. Never said he was any good in general, and for the most part he isn't, especially if you take a gander at his 'philosophy' section.

Wow! It took a couple of listens before it started to sink in. I think this album is perfect to apply Cage's quote to, the one that opened this club. I'm paraphrasing: When I tried to ignore it, it was tiring, when I really listened to it, I found it fascinating.

Many of you have already expressed the way I feel about this album. It is cathartic, almost primal in its bareness, raw and gives off an uncomfortable feeling of alienation, deeply seeded. It reminded me immediately of Jandek, specifically on Six and Six, incidentally from around the same time. Like Skaligojurah pointed out, there's something archetypal about a lonely man and his guitar, the same essence that can be found in blues, a direct expression of pain. That's what Haino and Jandek have in common. But, where Jandek emits a formal naivety, interested only in pure emotion, (which in turn can become very tiring and repetitive for the listener), Keiji Haino actually knows what he's doing formally and is choosing to strip down that form in favor of direct, free expression. This, in turn, makes Watashi Dake very unpredictable at times and ultimately more satisfying for me as a listener.

What hit me the most about this album is that it feels like a deeply personal prayer, sometimes, in its most intense moments, like a ritual of self-exorcism. The opening track with all the weeping, screaming, whispering, is almost like some soul from hell, and there's only his voice as the purest instrument. 'Going Home' is the perfect closing, as the title suggests. It's very quiet, evoking some weariness, release and finally peace. And I agree with others that the bonus track 'Sacrifice' just doesn't fit here and I will listen to it separately from now on. But, yes, it's a pure explosive expression of self-destruction.

If I had to rate it, I really wouldn't know how. It just feels so personal and expressive, that if I tried to dissect it formally and 'objectively', it would be like a violation.

But, speaking of ratings, how do you all feel about polls where you can vote for different ratings? Do you want me to start adding them to these discussion threads?

I actually think that can be useful. I have a subscription to Wire magazine, so of course I read the record reviews. But there's so many and sometimes they're vague (or seem vague to my understanding) I wish they did use a star system just to kind of say to me in simple terms if it's worth taking the time to check out or not. I understand that they don't want to box themselves in with that kind of simplicity but from my side of things there is a limit to how much new music I can explore, unfortunately. So my point is :soapbox: that I think if this club continues on for a long while, and I certainly hope it does, then a rating system could be a useful resource for a person who stumbles across it in the future and decides to use it as resource but doesn't want to or have the time to invest in reading through the threads. So I say yes, we should implement a rating system.

I'm not ever going to rate these albums with any kind of numeric qualification. Maybe that's just me though. Anyway..

This album bores the shit out of me. I doubt I'll listen to it again. I like the artist's convictions but I'm depressed right now and this album can't even hold my attention. Feel free to kick me out of the club if this means my avant-garde cred isn't sufficient.

Nah. It's your own personal response to the music. All we can ask is for you to keep an open mind to future albums we'll be listening to.

EDIT: We're currently listening to AMMMusic by AMM. We'll be discussing it next week.

:laughing:

That's not really how it works. Now that you're already in, there's no escaping. Um...I forgot to mention this little detail in my opening post :D.