Keiji Haino

Some come bearing cake; most just bring a pair of earplugs. Psychedelic voyager, underground noise icon and incorrigible sweet lover Keiji Haino can always be counted on to deliver something really bloody loud when he celebrates his birthday at Koenji's Showboat each Golden Week. And his 2012 gig promises to be extra special, as the permanently sunglassed musician marks 60 years since he was forged in the fires of Mount Doom (or born in Chiba, if you believe his sanitised official bio).