The Boredoms

Woebot

Well-known member
Just picked up "Super AR" this weekend. The Boredoms cult has been something I'd wanted to investigate for a while, descriptions of "Seadrum" tickled my fancy, it sounded like their ass might have thawed a tad. My initial feeling about them, without having listened to their music, going purely on the descriptions of what theyre up to (typical Japanese re-exploration/radicalisation of seventies hard rock/prog rock) was one of......er......boredom.

Its the samo thing. What on earth could lead anyone to think this was a worthwhile avenue to explore? (profuse apologies to jwd and jimbackhausen)

First half of "Super AR" left me with the comforting feeling of having been right all along (titter) but tracks 5 and 6 began to convince, some post-Can rhythmic panache in there which plugs it into the PresentFuture (why are these Japanese bands so hung up on feedback? so dumb to riddim?) and then, well, i had to concede, things were moving along pretty righteously.

About the best thing I could say about The Boredoms, and this is a straight-up bonafide compliment, is that when they do their vocals, either as solo voices or inna ensemble choral fashion, theres never even a smidgen of fake cosmic atonement about the way they deliver their very "holy" phrases. Thats extremely cool.
 

mms

sometimes
i dug their earlier stuff as it was just fking mental, you've got to admit the first track on super ar rocks though, the guitar riff sliced and speeded up, brilliant.
im not massivley into the albums they've done since they've become krautrockers but definitley defintley see them live if you get the chance, they ditch the guitars and get into a drum circle with eye on just a little box of tricks, it's future primitive stuff with grand overtones and it's all theirs. the best thing they did so far is probably that seadrum but they have yet to live up to their promise. I think they are record deal less at the mo tho so..
eye is an interesting guy, done stuff with everyone from zorn to ween, the dj carhouse and mc hellshit (him and otomo yoshide) thing got the worst review ever in pitchfork i remember http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/mc-hellshit/live.shtml i thought it was good tho.
yoshimi's iooi or whatever it's called stuff is rather lovely .
 

jd_

Well-known member
The old ones are where they were really great. They just mash so many things into this twisted version of punk or metal or prog or whatever it was they were trying to do, not so much in a flipping around the radio dial kind of way, but they just kept throwing elements in. Now that they've changed they don't really do it for me. Try Soul Discharge or Pop Tatari or if you see it, Eye's side band UFO or Die. UFO's the cheapest sounding but the weirdest, with bizarre production choices all over the place. And I think you'ld love the art.
 

Eric

Mr Moraigero
Bore style

The Boredoms in 1994 was maybe the best live performance I ever saw. Energy!! My brain was wiped out. I literally don't have any clear memories after the first "song". Elephant Man has nothing on this nicknames notwithstanding. The next few times I saw them in Tokyo was a different story---they were doing some kind of cosmic karaoke thing, playing 20-30 minute tracks with long-term chanting & screaming. Eye still had the energy though, climbing on the speakers & swinging from the rafters. I think Chocolate Synthesizer, from that time, is their best record---it has the energy of punk/hardcore but the complexity and, somehow, programmed sound of electronic styles.

I love Super AE but I'm not feeling anyting after that too much. A little too krautrock/hippied out .... esp. Seadrum. I saw them in 1999 or so in Ebisu at this big hall. This was just before Hira & those guys left and they started doing the drum circle thing. Sadly I found the show pretty dull; they were on some kind of operatic, dramatic thing which just didn't work for me. The Japanese kids were into it though. The mean age of their audience seems to have gotten a lot younger since the mid-90s. I don't know exactly what happened, but my guess is that the new direction is more palatable to the average art-school kid than the old Hanatarash styles. These days Eye is more techno oriented anyway. He has a DJ album out (DJ PikaPikaPika, "Pika" written with the character for light `hikari') which is pretty nice. DJs around Tokyo & various places a lot too. He also does a lot of art----collages & drawings mostly----and has had some solo shows around Tokyo. I think there's one going on now in Harajuku actually.

The UFO or Die album is excellent too. The record is much better than their live show because Eye (supposedly) fucked with all the mixes in his bathtub at home (like some later Hanatarash albums). Live they were much more ofa straight hardcore band.
 

mms

sometimes
Eric said:
These days Eye is more techno oriented anyway. He has a DJ album out (DJ PikaPikaPika, "Pika" written with the character for light `hikari') which is pretty nice. DJs around Tokyo & various places a lot too. He also does a lot of art----collages & drawings mostly----and has had some solo shows around Tokyo. I think there's one going on now in Harajuku actually.

i have that, it's mad, it's good qualities are the lack of respect and context he has for genres, and just the energy it's got.


i think the newer live shows are mental, i love techno so the kinda drum circle/ box of electronic tricks things they do sounds like some perfect new hybrid to me that blurs techno, primtivism and krautrockishness ;) it's like an unexplored channel that could only come from those guys.
 

Eric

Mr Moraigero
mms said:
i think the newer live shows are mental, i love techno so the kinda drum circle/ box of electronic tricks things they do sounds like some perfect new hybrid to me that blurs techno, primtivism and krautrockishness ;) it's like an unexplored channel that could only come from those guys.

I read an interview in some Japanese magazine----maybe Studio Voice----where Eye or Yoshimi was saying that the intent behind the drum circle thing is to turn the performance space into a giant record. They do the circle I guess in the middle of the hall (at least when they get their way) with the crowd surrounding them; the energy they produce is meant to make the world & onlookers spin around them, to move people's feelings and make some kind of cosmic SOUND.

I haven't seen them perform in this new mode. I want to see that ...
 

mms

sometimes
Eric said:
I read an interview in some Japanese magazine----maybe Studio Voice----where Eye or Yoshimi was saying that the intent behind the drum circle thing is to turn the performance space into a giant record. They do the circle I guess in the middle of the hall (at least when they get their way) with the crowd surrounding them; the energy they produce is meant to make the world & onlookers spin around them, to move people's feelings and make some kind of cosmic SOUND.

I haven't seen them perform in this new mode. I want to see that ...

i shook my head in a kind of headbanging way which is a very very unusual reaction for me.it's certainly very very cosmic and draws you right in, pulling you into their subtle mood swings.
 

reposed

Member
I've given up on them since their drum-circle stage began. I was prepared to accept they'd been hanging out with a few too many psy-trance types and the crust was rubbing off on them, but having seen them twice in this mode (Royal Festival Hall 02? and Scala, London, 03?) I've just lost interest.

Perhaps there is cosmic logic of 'the record' behind what they do, but it was, yes, boring. I found it contrived, too ordered. Lacking the spontaneity of legend that I'd never seen. My favourite story is how Eye discovered a forklift backstage in the 80s and used it for his entrance through the back wall and over the drumkit.

I still like the period when they were doing their extended kraut-styled freakouts. The superseeeee CD EP is probably the release I play most, phaps because I know it's short and my patience won't be tested.

The Rebore series (remixed backcatalogue by UNKLE/Ishii/Krush) were good at the time. Most likely I'm only keeping them for the packaging though. Phenomenally thick everything with artwork by Chicago artist Ausgang, 'remixed' by Ukawa J. Naohiro.

This thread has almost convinced me to put the Vision Creation New Sun box on ebay.
 

Eric

Mr Moraigero
reposed said:
Perhaps there is cosmic logic of 'the record' behind what they do, but it was, yes, boring. I found it contrived, too ordered. Lacking the spontaneity of legend that I'd never seen. My favourite story is how Eye discovered a forklift backstage in the 80s and used it for his entrance through the back wall and over the drumkit.

that story is actually only semi-true. There was a forklift---this is Hanatarash now----but it was actually rented. He drove it through the club (by way of the door) and chased the spectators around in it until he lost control and crashed through a wall. So it wasn't actually completely deliberate.

Actually my understanding is that this event was one of the big reasons Hanatarash broke up; they had to pay for not only the damage to the club but also to the forklift, which caused massive debt for already-broke people. They did have some reunion shows in Tokyo though. The management of wherever it was put a chainlink fence between Eye and the crowd for their protection (Hanatarash did have a reputation!!), which he tore down, then smashed bottles, threw shit, lit things on fire ... apparaetly it was kind of a war zone. People who came also had to sign a liability waiver apparently ... I also like the story about Eye running dead cat bodies through bicycle spokes at some show or other. Good old Osaka. What ever happened to Super Ball?
 

Melmoth

Bruxist
Super ae:

there are so many directions spiralling off from this record

i love it so much

"Human is bird to the sun with pyramid action"

The Sun Ra/Boredoms connection is a fascinating one...

never mind the DFA
 

dubplatestyle

Well-known member
i am surprised as many people are as disparaging of the post-<i>super ae</i> stuff here as they are. i thought <i>seadrum</i> was a bit of a let down (well, at least the "house of sun" half), but <i>vcn</i> is great.
 

Woebot

Well-known member
dubplatestyle said:
i am surprised as many people are as disparaging of the post-super ae stuff here as they are. i thought seadrum was a bit of a let down (well, at least the "house of sun" half), but vcn is great.

yeah. as a neophyte im picking up mixed signals. some seem to think that theyre better when they were less raw. some go for the more recent stuff. hmm. i heard vcn at the time though and it didnt really do it for me (one mans nimble bassline....) still v.mich looking forward to hearing seadrum.

so what do people reckon their best ones are?
 

xero

was minusone
WOEBOT said:
still v.mich looking forward to hearing seadrum.

so what do people reckon their best ones are?

I don't know all their stuff by any means and am a late adopter but I think I fall into the liking the later stuff better camp. Seadrum was the first thing I listened to on my ipod (yeah I know, I'm sad :) ) and it was phenomenal although later listens haven't quite measured up. Also pretty disturbing listening to it now after all the tsunami news
 

dubplatestyle

Well-known member
i've only listened to <i>seadrum</i> a few times, but it's held up each time. it's the kind of thing you really do have to mark out 30 minutes to listen to, though..can't really shut it off mid-stream! (no pun intended.) same with <i>vcn</i>, which makes it hard to find time to listen to this stuff these days. (four minute grime/rap/dancehall/pop trax are much easier to integrate into the daily schedule.)

the following are stone-cold classix:

<i>chocolate synthesizer</i>
<i>super roots 7</i> (a 30 minute elaboration on a mekons riff)
<i>super ae</i>

explore if you like what you hear:

<i>vcn</i>
<i>rebore v.0</i>
<i>seadrum</i>
<i>pop tatari</i>
<i>super roots 8</i> (i might move this up into the first category depending on the day, actually.)

for fans completists only:

<i>wow 2</i>
<i>onanie bomb meets the sex pistols</i>
the other <i>super roots</i>
the other <i>rebores</i>
 

dubplatestyle

Well-known member
also:

the dj pica pica pica record is certainly worth a spin if you can find it for less than $40 (god, i have to finally get the rest of my records back from washington...all that money!). the hellshit/carhouse record not so much.

<i>shock city shockers</i> and ooioo records i'd put in the "explore if you like what you hear" category.
 
J

jimbackhouse

Guest
aw - i'd mark Super Roots 8 ('Jungle Taitei') as a stone-cold classic for sure!! it's like an absurdly literal translation of 'jungle': sonically crossing disneyfied exotica with polyrhythmic chaos. i'd defy anyone not to be moved by that sublimely sugary melody and those hyper-kinetic drumloops!

definitely agreed that chocolate synthesizer has to be close to their finest moment, and super roots 7 is surely the greatest motorik chugga chugga Neu! ripoff ever recorded!

Hanatarash 4 is also a personal favourite, particularly for the track titles.
 

jd_

Well-known member
ANyone into Space Streakings at all? I was really into their album Hatsu Koi when I was more in the Bore zone. Much along the lines of earlier Boredoms but with drum machines and synths so they ended up with a sound sort of like a fun version of Ministry. Uh with loads of trumpets too.
 

jd_

Well-known member
Ah yeah! Now I got the pic posting down, here's the UFO or Die cover I thought you'ld be into Matt. It's not technically Boredoms stuff but it's in the same spirit. I remember reading him say that UFO was HIS band where Bore was a band he sang for, or something along those lines. Wish I had the picture of his completely destroyed 3 string flying V (with a toothbrush jammed in between the strings if I'm remembering it right--or a barbie doll--or both???--imagine the riffs!).
 

Eric

Mr Moraigero
Best stuff

My own best list:

definitely Chocolate Synthesizer
Pop Tatari (I found it mindblowing at the time anyway)
Super Ae
Rebore 0
Super Roots 3 & 4 (4 is small-scale gamelanesque pieces, it's cute)
Soul Discharge (you can't argue with the bassline on TV Scorpion---this is pure beautiful stupidity)

and then:

UFO or Die album (title: cassette superstar)

Hanatraash 4 is great for the titles, I agree, but I find it kind of unlistenable (except track 10 for whatever reason, deconstructed roots reggae).

I never got too into Space Streakings, always preferred MeltBanana back when they weren't metal. Anyone like Surfers of Romantica?
 
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