Na Mele A Ka Haku (Music of Haku)

haku_front

I brought this home last month tucked in a pile of ordinary slack-key & ukulele jammers. With the first needle drop it was fairly apparent this was a whole other thing. By the time I'd finished side 2 I was less sure than ever what on earth I'd just listened to. One thing's for sure though, the mysterious "Haku" just keeps coming with one uniquely disorienting idea after  another on this bizarre no-label 1976 lp. New Age synth washes with nonsensical fairy tales? Check. Kraftwerk-esque Hawaiian electronica? Yup. Excursions into deep space with ethereal female vocals? It's here, dudes. The one common thread being that you've probably never heard much else quite like any of it before. I hadn't.

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24 comments for Na Mele A Ka Haku (Music of Haku)

  1. Peechee says:

    This is incredible! Can you shed a little more light on this LP? Is there a catalogue #?

    Pick me up a copy if you see another.

  2. pete prezzano says:

    sounds like blade runner era vangelis did a record with some hawaiian dudes. pretty sick. probably another whole genre of music that i missed.

  3. ra says:

    Great find! The female voice in the second track speaks Japanese, right? That might be another trace to follow.

  4. camille says:

    My brain just wake up..

    Could you put it on rapidshare or something lie that… pleaaasse…
    I’ve found no information on the web…

    ..and thanks for the discovery!!

  5. ra – yeah, the woman’s speaking Japanese. It’s about as mindblowing as the rest of the track.

    From the beginning –

    “I, Haleakala, house of the sun, connected and bound by the sky and sea, give the light of the sun unto thee (plural)”. Or something like that.

    I think it’s drawing off of Hawaiian folklore, probably google around and you could find more.

    The rest of it is ancestors, the flow of time, rainbows, the young and old, morning and night, etc etc. Only adds to the amazingness of the track.

  6. chris says:

    This is beautiful and beyond amazing. Is there a chance you’d be able to post a few more Haku tracks? I would so love to be able to hear them. Thanks!

  7. TRoss says:

    Thank you, hcrink! And I second everyone’s reaction – this needs to be heard in its entirety.
    Cheers!

  8. I don’t like to have full records up here to download (how uncool of me, right?) but would be happy to make CDR’s of it for anyone willing to trade. hcrink (at) yahoo (dotcom)

  9. amril fladoos says:

    That almost melted my entire faculty… I actually had to eat dry ice just to bring myself out of some kind of time-warp acid-trance… i’m going to have to read some kind of self-help book tomorrow, or maybe ride one of my horses bareback into the sunset dressed as a space ninja…literally.