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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Say Yes!, 5 Jun 2004
The Creatures came about in March 1981 when Siouxsie and the Banshees recorded a piece called But Not Them for their next album which turned out only to involve Siouxsie and Budgie. This accidental pairing soon turned into a side project and instead of appearing on JuJu, the remixed track turned up in September 1981 on the Wild Things EP by the newly christened offshoot the Creatures. An exotic album recorded in Hawaii called Feast followed in 1983, then in 1989, Boomerang, recorded in Cadiz. Anima Animus came after a ten year gap on their own Sioux label, by which time the pair were married and living in France.
Hai! (meaning 'Yes!') came about because the Creatures had a chance to work with legendary ex-Kodo drummer Leonard Eto in Tokyo. The spontaneous drum-duet improvisations were recorded in one Anglo-Japanese marathon at Gok Sound Studios on 19 August 2002 in a "spiritual symbiosis" between Budgie and Eto's Taiko rhythms. Budgie's contributions include marimba, yueh ch'in, percussion and synthétiques, some of it added back at Maison Néko in France whilst the piece was being edited down to the fifty minutes on the finished album, along with Siouxsie's swooping vocal melodies and words, sometimes ecstatic, sometimes playfully theatrical, as on Godzilla! The result is a minor minimalist triumph: "No more maybe, no more could be, say yes!" - Siouxsie
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tribal emotions from The Creatures, 23 Nov 2003
Hái! very much marks the beginning of a new era for The Creatures. If their 1998 album Anima Animus was the first album from Siouxsie and Budgie following the break up of Siouxsie & The Banshees two years earlier, Hái! was recorded immediately following the end of the Seven Year Itch tour, the last ever with the Banshees in 2002, and is also the first album entirely produced by Budgie and Siouxsie.
The Creatures first appeared back in 1981 with the Wild Things EP, and, two years later, with Feast, which was recorded in Hawaii. Defined by Budgie's intense percussions and Siouxsie's unmistakable vocal style, The Creatures became the tribal alter ego to the Banshees' post-punk sound. Their second album, Boomerang, recorded in Spain, offered a more delicate and varied soundscape. With Anima Animus, The Creatures experimented with industrial and electronic structures for the first time, giving their project an up-to-date sound.
The main body of Hái!, (yes in Japanese) was recorded in just under an hour and a half during a spontaneous improvisation session between Budgie and former Kodo taiko drummer Leonard Eto. Fascinated by the style of the Japanese ensemble and their mix of tradition and modernity, The Creatures jumped at the opportunity to work with Eto after Budgie bumped into him and they decided to collaborate. The result is utterly imposing and incredibly organic. Hái! offers an impressive range of atmospheres and musical tones, from the incandescent Say Yes!, Around The World, Seven Years and Godzilla! to the more refined Imagoro, Tourniquet or Tantara! Following on from the industrial soundscapes and electronic textures of Anima Animus, this new album marks a welcomed return to the raw, stripped-down, sound of Feast and Boomerang. As Budgie and Eto progressively build powerful patterns over the first half of the album, Siouxsie appears to withdraw in the background, reducing her lyrical inputs to sharp words and short sentences. Talking about the fusion between Budgie and Eto, the press release quotes her: 'I was enthralled as I watched the coming together of these two kindred spirits. Words and melodies came to me immediately., but mindful of breaking the spell, I had to store my inspiration until we got back to France'. As she progressively regains her place, on Seven Tears and more so on Godzilla!, the symbiosis between drums and voices appears more complete than ever. On the second half of this album, the songs become incantations while the percussions appear to retreat to leave Siouxsie in full control of the mood. The stunning Imagoro, Tourniquet and Tantara! reveal the sonic depth of The Creatures as the mood gently wax and wane, progressively bringing this album to its logical conclusion.
With this fourth album, The Creatures continue to cast their unique sound over the music scene with vision and class. Hái! combines dense atmospheres and creative approach and shows The Creatures at their most confident yet.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This isn't your mom and dad's SATB, 7 Nov 2003
I'm older now and yet the sounds of SATB's Join Hands still ring in my head. Like all of the early SATB albums, Hai! is an experiment. This time around, it's with Kodo drumming and Japanese minimalism. I'll give it an A+ if you can appreciate what Join Hands did for Goth, but if you're looking for pop- and radio-friendly SATB, this isn't for you. Truly, this is Siouxsie and Budgie at their maturist.
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