Following on from the Band Photos thread - a thread dedicated to Japan's (and the world's) greatest band. They've been my own favourite band for the past 20+ years. I've seen them live 3 times, including the legendary Boadrum 77 show in NYC. Their gig in the Village in 2008 is still the best gig I was ever at.
For those that aren't familiar, here's a run-down of their 'major' releases. There are also tons of limited EPs, singles etc, but these are the main ones.
Early Boredoms material is a wild, chaotic, screamy mess. You can definitely see what they would become, and especially see EYE's cut/paste DJ style. But it's not really for me. The only record I listened to more than a handful of times is Chocolate Synthesizer, which has Acid Police - the first sign of what they would become.
Things got really interesting around Super Roots 3, the third in a series of Japan-only experiments they put out in the 90s. This one is a 33-minute cover version of a Mekons track. It rocks! These were all reissued by VICE around 15 years ago, but seem to be out of print again.
Next up was Super Roots 5 (there was no no.4), which is the only thing I've heard by them that I would classify as 'noise'. It sounds like what I imagine the center of the sun sounds like. It starts out super quiet, but kicks in around the 5 minute mark! It's basically a tornado of amplifier hum and cymbals, but oddly relaxing.
Super Roots 6 is a weird EP of electronic experiments which was given a wide release by Reprise in the USA. Probably their least successful release to me, and a bizarre choice for a major label. But that was followed by Super Roots 7, their masterpiece.
Super AE was the first Boredoms album that was widely available outside of Japan. It got lots of praise in the likes of Pitchfork at the time, and was my introduction to them. It's an album of distinct tracks/songs, unlike the rest of the material around this time which was made up of much longer pieces. It's fantastic, and includes this beauty
This was followed up by Vision Creation Newsun, probably their most well-known album. It's basically one long piece divided into segments and is probably the apex of their guitar/bass/drums 'rock' era. This came out in Japan in 1999 and over here in 2000. You can definitely see more influences from electronic music here, and more of EYE's studio experiments.
According to legend, the guitarist and bassist quit after a show in 2000 claiming they had played the most perfect music possible. The gig is on Youtube, and it's hard to argue. This sees them abandon guitars altogether and embrace other instruments.
Seadrum/House of Sun is a 2-track album from 2004. The first track is piano and drums, which were recorded on a beach as the tide came in. It's mind-blowingly beautiful. The second track is a drone piece that's fairly forgettable.
Super Roots 8 is a short cover of an anime theme tune, then comes Super Roots 9, which is on Spotify. It's a live recording of a concert they gave accompanied by a full choir on Christmas Eve in 2004. Even starts with some sleigh bells, so you could consider it a Christmas album. It's amazing.
Boadrum 77 was a concert they played in NYC on 07/07/07 at 7.07pm. They were joined by 74 drummers, which together with the 3 core drummers made 77. They really like the number 7! I was there. It was amazing. Kid Millions, Brian Chippendale, Hisham Bharoocha, Chris Brokaw, Alan Licht and more were among the drummers on the day. At this point EYE was playing a homemade instrument called a SEVENA, which was basically 7 tuned guitar arms in a tree formation which he hit with sticks. So playing guitar like a drummer. He also had this at their show in the Village in 2008. The whole thing was recorded and released in a limited hardback book & 2 CD set. It's great.
And finally, Super Roots 10 is the last regular release we've had from them. It's a short piece with remixes (including this one from Lindstrom). This came out in 2009.
I'll do a second post with notable side projects and a third for EYE's DJ mixes, which are superb.
For those that aren't familiar, here's a run-down of their 'major' releases. There are also tons of limited EPs, singles etc, but these are the main ones.
Early Boredoms material is a wild, chaotic, screamy mess. You can definitely see what they would become, and especially see EYE's cut/paste DJ style. But it's not really for me. The only record I listened to more than a handful of times is Chocolate Synthesizer, which has Acid Police - the first sign of what they would become.
Things got really interesting around Super Roots 3, the third in a series of Japan-only experiments they put out in the 90s. This one is a 33-minute cover version of a Mekons track. It rocks! These were all reissued by VICE around 15 years ago, but seem to be out of print again.
Next up was Super Roots 5 (there was no no.4), which is the only thing I've heard by them that I would classify as 'noise'. It sounds like what I imagine the center of the sun sounds like. It starts out super quiet, but kicks in around the 5 minute mark! It's basically a tornado of amplifier hum and cymbals, but oddly relaxing.
Super Roots 6 is a weird EP of electronic experiments which was given a wide release by Reprise in the USA. Probably their least successful release to me, and a bizarre choice for a major label. But that was followed by Super Roots 7, their masterpiece.
Super AE was the first Boredoms album that was widely available outside of Japan. It got lots of praise in the likes of Pitchfork at the time, and was my introduction to them. It's an album of distinct tracks/songs, unlike the rest of the material around this time which was made up of much longer pieces. It's fantastic, and includes this beauty
This was followed up by Vision Creation Newsun, probably their most well-known album. It's basically one long piece divided into segments and is probably the apex of their guitar/bass/drums 'rock' era. This came out in Japan in 1999 and over here in 2000. You can definitely see more influences from electronic music here, and more of EYE's studio experiments.
According to legend, the guitarist and bassist quit after a show in 2000 claiming they had played the most perfect music possible. The gig is on Youtube, and it's hard to argue. This sees them abandon guitars altogether and embrace other instruments.
Seadrum/House of Sun is a 2-track album from 2004. The first track is piano and drums, which were recorded on a beach as the tide came in. It's mind-blowingly beautiful. The second track is a drone piece that's fairly forgettable.
Super Roots 8 is a short cover of an anime theme tune, then comes Super Roots 9, which is on Spotify. It's a live recording of a concert they gave accompanied by a full choir on Christmas Eve in 2004. Even starts with some sleigh bells, so you could consider it a Christmas album. It's amazing.
Boadrum 77 was a concert they played in NYC on 07/07/07 at 7.07pm. They were joined by 74 drummers, which together with the 3 core drummers made 77. They really like the number 7! I was there. It was amazing. Kid Millions, Brian Chippendale, Hisham Bharoocha, Chris Brokaw, Alan Licht and more were among the drummers on the day. At this point EYE was playing a homemade instrument called a SEVENA, which was basically 7 tuned guitar arms in a tree formation which he hit with sticks. So playing guitar like a drummer. He also had this at their show in the Village in 2008. The whole thing was recorded and released in a limited hardback book & 2 CD set. It's great.
And finally, Super Roots 10 is the last regular release we've had from them. It's a short piece with remixes (including this one from Lindstrom). This came out in 2009.
I'll do a second post with notable side projects and a third for EYE's DJ mixes, which are superb.
