American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous to Look at Face On
| American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look at Face On | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album (collaboration) by | ||||
| Released | February 23, 2018 | |||
| Recorded | June 2017 | |||
| Studio | Gok Studio (Tokyo, Japan) | |||
| Genre | Free improvisation, post-metal | |||
| Length | 66:54 | |||
| Language | Japanese | |||
| Label | Thrill Jockey | |||
| Producer | Kondoh Yoshiaki | |||
| Keiji Haino chronology | ||||
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| Sumac chronology | ||||
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American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous to Look at Face On (Japanese: アメリカドル紙幣よ そのまま横を向いたままでいてくれ 正面からは見られたもんじゃないから, and occasionally shortened to just American Dollar Bill) is a collaborative album between Japanese free improvisation/noise music artist Keiji Haino and American post-metal band Sumac. Serving as Haino's 86th and Sumac's third studio album, American Dollar Bill was released on February 23, 2018 through Thrill Jockey.[1]
Background and production
Sumac frontman Aaron Turner first saw Keiji Haino perform live nearly 20 years before the recording sessions for American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous to Look at Face On. Turner was a fan of Haino's music and personal image, and reached out to Haino after some of his friends encouraged him to email his manager.[2] All members of Sumac entered the studio with Haino in June 2017 to record "a series of unrehearsed, completely non-premeditated sessions".[1] By Haino's request, the group performed two improvised sessions: one practice session and a second, entirely different session that would become an album.[2] They recorded over an hour's worth of music across three tracks (two of which were separated into two parts) that became American Dollar Bill.
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The 405 | 7/10[4] |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| No Ripcord | 7/10[6] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10[7] |
| PopMatters | 7/10[8] |
| Rolling Stone |  [9] |
American Dollar Bill received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on nine reviews.[3] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 75 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 9 reviews.[10] Spin listed the album on their "15 Experimental Albums We Loved in 2018" list.[11]
Track listing
Titles and lyrics by Keiji Haino. Title translations by Alan Cummings. Music by Haino and Sumac.[12]
| No. | Title | Translated title | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "アメリカドル紙幣よ そのまま横を向いたままでいてくれ 正面からは見られたもんじゃないから" | "American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous to Look at Face On" | 19:53 |
| 2. | "しまった （白いものを手繰り寄せていったら 何でも出来るようになってしまった 穴を開けてしまった 時間を閉じ込めてしまった 摩擦を起こさせてしまった 忠告を聞かなくなってしまった 誤りを片付けなくなってしまった 不可能を可能にしてしまった？ 悲しみを喜びに変えてしまった）" | "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" | 9:01 |
| 3. | "僕は137%以上の愛のジャンキーだ まだ足りない" | "I'm Over 137% a Love Junkie and Still It's Not Enough Pt. 1" | 11:07 |
| 4. | "僕は137%以上の愛のジャンキーだ まだ足りない" | "I'm Over 137% a Love Junkie and Still It's Not Enough Pt. 2" | 15:41 |
| 5. | "しまった （白いものを手繰り寄せていったら 何でも出来るようになってしまった 穴を開けてしまった 時間を閉じ込めてしまった 摩擦を起こさせてしまった 忠告を聞かなくなってしまった 誤りを片付けなくなってしまった 不可能を可能にしてしまった？ 悲しみを喜びに変えてしまった）" | "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. 2" | 11:12 |
Personnel
Album personnel adapted from CD liner notes.[12]
Band
- Keiji Haino – guitar, vocals, flute
- Aaron Turner – guitar
- Nick Yacyshyn – drums
- Brian Cook – bass
Production
- Kondoh Yoshiaki – recording
- Kurt Ballou – mixing
- James Plotkin – additional mixing, track edits, mastering
Artwork and design
- Aaron Turner – artwork, design
- Faith Coloccia – design
- Takeshi – photographs
References
- ^ a b Slingerland, Calum (November 23, 2017). "Sumac Team Up with Keiji Haino for New Collaborative Album". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ a b Currin, Grayson Haver (March 27, 2018). "Keiji Haino, Dark Wizard Of The Avant-Garde, Enjoys A Good Snack Cake". NPR. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ a b "American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look at Face On by Keiji Haino Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ Whitfield, Robert (February 27, 2018). "Keiji Haino & Sumac meld their disparate styles on American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways You're Too Hideous to Look at Face On". The 405. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ Simpson, Paul. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ Caldwell, Sean (March 1, 2018). "No Ripcord Review". No Ripcord. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ O'Connor, Andy (March 6, 2018). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ King, Ian (February 23, 2018). "Keiji Haino and SUMAC Join Forces for 'American Dollar Bill'". PopMatters. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ Weingarten, Christopher (September 24, 2018). "Sumac's Free Metal Breaks Ugly New Ground". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ Spin Staff (December 21, 2018). "15 Experimental Albums We Loved in 2018". Spin. Spin Media. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ a b American Dollar Bill – Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look at Face On (Media notes). Chicago: Thrill Jockey. 2018. CD liner booklet. THRILL463.