Haco | Artist

Haco is a Japanese singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist born 1963 in Kobe. Following formal studies in acoustics, electronic music and recording technology, Haco fronted the group After Dinner, which released two albums. She participated in the Rock in Opposition movement and contributed music to the soundtrack of the documentary film of Henry Cow's Fred Frith. Haco was also a member of art-pop band Hoahio, and a solo artist producing progressive ambient soundscapes. Haco's music has been described a "beautiful and dreamy" with "lyrics as beautiful as poetry". Her soft and powerful voice is the primary instrument as it flawlessly guides you along a hypnotic and intimate journey of looped instrumentals and samples. Standout albums include the two After Dinner albums: Glass Tube and Paradise of Replica, her collaboration with Sakomoto Hiromichi entitled Ash in the Rainbow, and her 2019 collaboration Kannazuki. Haco has worked with the groups Happiness Proof, Hoahio and Ash in the Rainbow, and has recorded or performed with countless other artists, such as David Toop, Otomo Yoshihide, Nobukazu Takemura, Pierre Bastien, Anthony Moore and Carl Stone. Avant-garde maestro John Zorn is a big fan of Haco, commenting that "(she) is one of the most versatile vocalists in the Japanese indie scene”. In addition to her more conventional album releases Haco has also worked in the fields of sound art; curating exhibitions and installations and establishing the sound art project View Masters, focussing on the environmental sounds of daily life. She went on to produce and curate a four-year series of View Masters lectures, concerts and workshops in 2002.

Artist Website: hacohaco.net

Featured Albums: Haco

Related Artists: After Dinner, Hoahio