I would apologize for that horrible pun/obscure joke of a title, but I’m actually really proud of it in a “there’s no way anybody’s ever made this joke before” sort of way.
Magma must surely be the prototypical “cult” band, all of their notable characteristics fall under the categories of “niche audience”:
It therefore won’t surprise you at all to know that Magma are not popular. And that saddens me because while not my favourite band ever, they are certainly one of the most creative I’ve ever heard.
What is the right thing to do when you admire an artist’s work, but find the artist themselves to be a deplorable human being? I like to call this problem the Wagner Dilemma after Richard Wagner, who wrote some of the best and most ground-breaking opera ever written.
Just over a year ago, I posted a list of 6 albums I had recently been listening to and enjoying. (I should point out here that it wasn’t particularly well-written, and a lot of the artist criticisms, particularly towards Sunn O))) were unfair.) It wasn’t exactly a best-of-the-year list, but since I think I’ve listened to a fair amount and variety of music this year, I thought I’d attempt something of the sort. It’s my list of most interesting music for 2011; hopefully others will find it interesting, but even if not, it still serves as my own musical diary.
I’ve preemptively posted this so that people don’t need to ask. When scoring albums I’ve talked about, I use what appears to be a regular /10 system (which is really out of 20, given that each number can be followed by .5), but having used that for a while I found it to be kind of useless. Basically, since I’m not a proper music reviewer and regularly listen to everything that comes out regardless of whether or not I’m familiar with the artist, if I think an album is boring or not very good I just won’t talk about it.
What I like talking about is music I’m interested in, often because I generally like the artist, so I mostly end up giving positive reviews, and use the scores mainly as a way to weight albums against each other, and put albums by a given artist in ranking order. My music library is about quality, not quantity, and I like the idea that eventually I could have a thousand albums and know exactly which one is my 553rd favourite or something like that.
I found that with the usual weighting of numbers (equal gradient, 5 is the split between good and bad) the range of 6-10/10 didn’t adequately express the different ways one could feel about an album. What if an album is a perfect expression of its goals, but those goals aren’t what you want to hear? Is it fair to give that album a perfect score when you didn’t actually enjoy it nearly as much as your personal favourite album?
What about EPs or singles? Sure, every song might be good, but again, is it fair to give that a high grade even when there’s so little material? Surely 70 minutes of musical bliss is better than under 20.
What’s the point of having 5 being the “middle” number, where everything above is a “pass” and everything below is a “fail”, anyway? If a reviewer rates an album you have no interest in a 4/10, are you any more likely to listen to it if it were rated 3/10? I certainly wouldn’t.
Besides, what if an album “just isn’t for you”? Is it fair to give it a 5 knowing that most people will interpret that as it a D-minus grade and not listen to it, when it really means “find a second opinion”?
So with all that in mind, I arranged my /10 scoring system thusly:
Been a while since I uploaded any music, so here’s the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” done in an electronic/shoegaze style, with a little drone metal as well. Made this with the help of James and Maria.
http://www.indabamusic.com/asset/show/1620904
Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.
(My sincere apologies for how long this final Boris post has taken. I was waiting for my vinyl copy of the new Heavy Rocks to arrive… then the earthquake hit Japan and the release was delayed a month… then the shipping started a few weeks late anyway… then Canada Post went on strike… and the I just got lazy… and in all that time I still haven’t been able to acquire a working turntable. I’ll add an extra paragraph about the vinyl edition eventually once I hear it.)
Smile (2008)
While Boris have always had albums that defy regular classification and require a bit of explanation, whether it be one-song albums, or noise albums, or limited-release vinyl LPs, or a two-disc experience like Dronevil, Smile definitely wins in terms of unusual qualifications of what the album actually is.
For one thing, not all of the material is completely original. “Kare Hateta Saki - No Ones Grieve” is basically “No Ones Grieve Part 2” from The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 2 properly mixed and with vocals and a few effects added, “Statement” is a holdover from Pink recording sessions, the final track on Smile includes an extended sample from Vein (a completely separate track on the vinyl version) and “Flower Sun Rain” is a cover of a Pyg song.
But more unusual is the fact that there are basically three (or possibly four) versions of the album: The Japanese release under Diwphalanx, the Southern Lord release which came out everywhere else (and as is now tradition, the vinyl version has extended cuts), and the Live at Wolf Creek version which also has the title tracks from both Pink and Rainbow as well as the excellent B-Side “Floor Shaker” from the “Statement” single.
Here’s the really interesting thing though: I’d argue that the Diwphalanx version, despite having come out first, is actually more of a remix album. Boris -who normally mix and master their own work- allowed Souichiro Nakamura to freely mix the Japanese release of the album, just to see what he would come up with. The result is that, like a remix album, not only are the mixes of the song different from the Southern Lord version that was mixed by Atsuo, but digital effects have been added, and parts of other songs have been removed (such as the endings of “Flower Sun Rain” and “Buzz-In”) or kept in (like the end of “Laser Beam”/”Hanate!” and the untitled track). Indeed the two versions of “Statement”/”Messeeji” are completely different in structure from one another, the Southern Lord version is a heavy rock-out, while the Diwphalanx version is more of a droner.
So which version to listen to then? Which is the truer, better Smile? The Diwphalanx version has more digital effects, which is something new, and the mixes for the most part are more interesting, but the songs I like best either have parts missing like Michio Kurihara’s fantastic solo at the end of “Flower Sun Rain”, or else despite the more interesting mixes, aren’t actually very good mixes like “You Were Holding an Umbrella” or the untitled song.
On the other hand the SL version has the better “Statement” and “No Ones Grieve”, but also has bits missing (at least on CD) like the end of “Laser Beam” (which stops just as a vocal line starts) or the untitled song, which I should add, is my favourite Boris song. Let that fact sink in for a second.
And then there’s the live version, which has complete songs all the way through, plus a few additions, but of course lacks the studio effects, polished sound and perfect takes. Not to mention it has Michio Kurihara on every track, which is a good thing is some cases, but a bad thing in others.
So which to choose? …Why not all three? The title of this series “A New Music From Mistakes” comes from an interview where Atsuo says that Boris takes the mistakes from their jam sessions, and turns them into their songs, as a more organic way of composing and a more genuine expression of the band. And in this age of the internet and the iPod -where just because an album only came out in Japan doesn’t mean you can’t get a copy- why not pick and choose from every version available based on what you prefer? Do what Boris does yourself and take the most interesting parts and make them into a better whole.
So with that said, this is my preferred Smile:
As you can probably tell from the description of that last song, I love it. It’s easily in my top 5 favourite songs ever, and the fact that all of its versions have some merit sort of demonstrate why Smile works. The perfect ideas are all in there, just in separate pieces. If I had to pick one album to listen to by itself it would be the Southern Lord studio version (I haven’t heard the vinyl version, but I imagine I’d like it more just because its longer) which although not perfect has mostly great songs, most of which contrast from one another while still keeping the album flowing and feeling consistent, 9/10.
The Diwphalanx version is underwhelming, mostly because of the bad mixing job; some of the sounds are interesting to listen to, but the actual mix feels unpolished, 5/10. The live version of the album is somewhere in between the other two versions’ enjoyment level, sometimes Kurihara’s solos compliment the songs, other times they monopolize. The live setting makes for a bigger sound and more room to improvise, which works for the drone spectaculars at the end, but the other faster songs suffer from the setting, feeling weaker than their studio counterparts, particularly “Laser Beam” and “Statement”. No ratings for live albums, they all come with different baggage depending on the band, I only judge them based on whether or not I wish I was there, which in the case of Live at Wolf Creek a definite, “hell yes”.
But as I said, Smile is an album which I think is contained in many pieces, in this case on separate discs. Smile as an album is whatever version you prefer it in, and if my playlist were burnt to disc, it’d be one of my all-time favourite albums, 9.5/10.
New Album (2011)
2011 seems to be the year a lot of Boris fans are really having their patience tested. Three albums out this year which some fans have been really sniffy about. And New Album (only released in Japan, although it shares tracks with Attention Please and the new Heavy Rocks) seems to be Exhibit A for “the suck” (BXI was Patient Zero). But you know what, kids? New Album isn’t bad, and it’s existence is not the end of the world, and might actually be a good thing. I don’t understand how people can praise Boris as being “genre-bending” and then as soon as they come up with a J-Pop release everyone runs for the hills. Let’s be honest here: Boris wasn’t actually “genre-bending” until New Album, they were “subgenre-bending”; drone, doom, stoner, metal, psychedelic, ambient, or whatever it was they were doing before hand all fall under the “rock” umbrella. And while there are still some rock elements on display in New Album (chugging guitars at the end of “Hope” for example) there’s pop and electronic styles present too.
New Album opens with “Flare”, which is essentially an opening theme for an anime, and closes with “Looprider” which could be the closer for an anime. I’m no expert in what a “good anime song” is, but I like what hear, both songs have catchy melodies and they’re fun, as in they convey a sense of fun rather than just being fun to headbang to. We haven’t heard “fun” from Boris since “Rattlesnake” from the original Heavy Rocks.
The next two songs, “Hope” and “Party Boy” are basically the kind of songs that encapsulate the more “accessible” direction that everyone has noted Boris seems to be heading in. Both are sung by Wata and have a distinct pop vibe. “Hope” has keyboard-strings, and “Party Boy” has a bass beat to dance to. Both are catchy, and while certainly not the rock/metal we’re used to they’re still good songs.
Admittedly “Black Original” is the album’s low point, but it’s not bad. There’s synthesizer on all the songs on New Album but this song definitely has synth overkill.
I could go into details in regards to the other songs, but I’ll discuss them a bit more when I talk about Attention Please. I do like all of them though, especially “Spoon” which has a great hook.
I like New Album, but I’m not an apologist for it, I like all of the songs on it to varying degrees, but I don’t really look forward to any of them either. To put it another way, I mentioned the album’s low point, but I can’t think of its high point. Nothing here has particularly endeared me, but I can put New Album on and still enjoy it for what it is, which is just a collection of decent pop songs. Admittedly it’s not my favourite side of Boris, but it’s by no means a “bad side”. 5.5/10
Attention Please (2011)
Okay, just copy/paste my statements about fan reaction over New Album for Attention Please, as the two share many of the same tracks. The shared tracks are mixed differently, to varied results; some are better, some are worse. Attention Please was released the same day as the newer Heavy Rocks, and is the first Boris album to have Wata as the lead vocalist on every song. Wata’s vocals are a welcome change-up, a more subdued and delicate approach that Takeshi’s. Incidentally, I wonder if she can still do the death growls from Boris’ first EP. No, seriously.
There’s also more of rock aesthetic on Attention Please where there was a pop/electronic one on New Album, which largely works in the album’s favour. “Hope” has more energy with more emphasis on the guitars, and “Party Boy” feels heavier with its background sludge riffage. “Party Boy” is also much better arranged, holding most of it’s instruments back until the final chorus, something which I which more pop songs would do.
But where “Hope” and “Party Boy” are improved from New Album, “Spoon” is not, and “Les Paul Custom ‘86” is…. both improved and ruined at the same time. The basic problem with the Attention Please version of “Spoon” is that the catchy, sprite-ly synth hooks from New Album are completely absent, leaving its chord and drum patterns feeling more annoying than anything else whereas before they felt frothy and exciting. And “Les Paul” starts with so much potential… The synthesizers and instrumental passages are gone, the mix is left very bare, just drums, vocals and some guitar, and then when the chorus starts some bottom-heavy guitars join in, which makes the song much more badass than the other version. The problem? It doesn’t have a satisfying ending, and it’s half the length of its counterpart, down to 2 minutes from 4.
The remaining songs on Attention Please are a mixed bag. The other pop/rock songs are all enjoyable; the title-track is danceable and dare I say a bit sexy, especially once you read the lyrics that are about hooking up with a stranger at the airport. “Tokyo Wonder Land” is also great, mixing deep synth bass, noisy guitar, and cheap drum machines into a very groovy creation. The acoustic version of “Aileron” is also pretty, though it feels cut short.
But Attention Please’s main weakness is its flow-breaking ambient pieces. These three tracks sound like over-processed versions of stuff from Mabuta no Ura, and they’re slow to boot. “See You Next Week” has some grating noises constantly shuffling through the mix, “You” while the most polished of the ambient tracks, is also the longest song on the album at 6 minutes, and “Hand in Hand” is right at the end of the album, making for a very weak closing.
Attention Please has higher highs than New Album but lower lows as well, and unfortunately most of the bad is on the latter half of the album, which makes me feel bad for wanting it to end sooner than it does. It’s still not the end of Boris being “good”, if they decide to stick with this style of music at all, they’ll definitely refine it to a higher standard than this. 4.5/10
Heavy Rocks (2011)
The other album released in conjunction with Attention Please was Heavy Rocks, an album with the same title and almost-same cover as the album Boris released in 2002. Those who expect another badass “stoner rock” album, turn back here. The oft-quoted press release statement was that Boris chose the title so that they could “redefine heavy” music. I think a lot of people took this to mean “one-up the heavy bass from the original Heavy Rocks” in which case disappointment would be inevitable. Boris haven’t turned up the volume here for the most part, the seem to have redefined “heavy” in two different ways: An increase in frantic energy (“Jackson Head” and “GALAXIANS”) and an increase in… what I guess you could call emotional involvement? (“Leak Truth” and “Tu, la la”). Only sometimes does volume play a role in conveying the heaviness.
In other words, the album’s title is completely incidental, and Boris didn’t do themselves any favours calling it what they did. So pretend it’s called something else, it’s not totally fair to compare the two Heavy Rocks, at least not any more than it should be compared to Pink or Smile.
The other mistake Boris made before releasing Heavy Rocks was including the song “8” in the pre-release track list… only to replace it with “Leak Truth”. I would have LOVED to have heard a heavified version of “8”, the best song Boris released in 2009. Alas, no… I’ve done my best to negate that fact from my opinion of this album.
Let’s start with the positives. Heavy Rocks feels much more ambitious than its predecessor. What I mean by that is, like Smile, the song’s are much more varied in tone and style than the original Heavy Rocks and Pink. The songs vary in length, volume, guitar colours, some use keyboard sounds, and many have guest contributors.
The two tracks borrowed from New Album are definite improvements, feeling more rock than pop-oriented, although the synth bass in “Jackson Head” still feels a little out of place. “Riot Sugar” is a fantastic opener, with the drums steadily pounding into your head, and headbang-inducing guitar rhythms.
Heavy Rocks also features two 12-minute drone epics, both of which manage to incorporate the expected head-crushingness with the emotional weight Boris is trying to convey with this album. They also go beyond the usual two-chord patterns Boris uses with their longer works; “Missing Pieces” is basically a ballad with a good section of noise in the middle, and “Aileron” switches between major and minor progressions.
Now for the negatives.
I should first state that I like all of the songs here, most of the complaints I have are just nitpicks:
Okay, that last one is a bit more than a nitpick. It’s a botched ending, Boris… not good. Yes, the vinyl version has an extended cut, maybe that fixes the problem, but you’ve left the CD incomplete here, my friends.
But here’s the main problem I actually have with this album: the overall sound is underwhelming. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t reach the same level of awesome as other Boris albums. There’s no bottom-heaviness of the original Heavy Rocks, no fuzz and grit from Pink, no screech and sludge from Dronevil, and none of the creative guitar sounds from Smile. Boris has somehow managed to sound generic.
Boris’ attempt to make what I think were intended as more emotional songs doesn’t quite pay of either. A lot of the emotional weight seems to have been put into the vocals, which as I’ve said aren’t the best this time around, and this also means that the lyrics now have a larger role to play. Problematic, seeing as they’re in Japanese.
Overall, everything feels just a little watered down. The guitar feel a little further back in the mix, the keyboards -though a welcome addition- still feel a little incongruous, and most of the guest performers get buried. The two 12-minute tracks come close to the same godly might of “Flood”, “Just Abandoned Myself” or the final track on Smile, but only if you really crank the volume are they sufficiently flooring.
I’d admire the goal Heavy Rocks had in mind, I just think it could have used a little more care and attention. 7/10
Boris is one of my most favourite bands, but it’s difficult for me to place exactly why. Their songs aren’t the most complex or even particularly musically creative, they’re guitar sounds are well-crafted but not totally unique, and their releases are of mixed quality. But they’re adventurous, which is something most bands don’t attempt; as I’ve said, not exactly “genre-bending” but anything that falls within the rock genre is fair game, and I respect that. I respect their creative process as well, setting out few expectations and just letting things happen, immersing themselves in sound, and this immersion comes across in their music. I think that’s what makes my favourite albums of theirs so amazing: Pink has a variety of song types on display, Dronevil has immersive soundscapes, and Feedbacker and Smile have both. (Incidentally, anyone wishing to get into Boris should start with those four albums as they cover the spectrum nicely.) Regardless of what Boris decide to do in the future, you can bet it’ll be interesting.
my new favorite band pitch. if the reviewer you’re contacting isn’t putting your stuff on his website, just insult the music he likes. i heard that’s effective, yeah.
The shaky grammar and confrontational attitude suggests a black metal band, but the thumbnail and name suggest pretentious electronic… hmmmm….
Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here.
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 3 (2006)
Okay…. this one’s all right. Why? Drums! Better mixing! Texture! Hooray!
I’ll say right now, that I would love the opener “Leviathan” to be reworked for a new album in the same way “No Ones Grieve Part 2” was for Smile. Add some vocals and adjust the mix, and there’d be something great here. As it is on Solomon 3 it’s pretty good, the first half is very atmospheric in the line of “Flood III” or “Kuruimizu”, the lead guitar has string-like qualities, the backing guitars have eerie delay effects, the bass is a steady rumble, and do I hear a koto? The latter half suddenly jumps on your head and then drones along with the same kind of harshly mixed, un-EQ’d and somewhat lo-fi piercing tones like the first two installments of the series. Definitely not as good as the first half, though it’s still interesting, and I’ll admit I’m partial to drone that includes any drums. 17 minutes is still a bit much to ask, but “Leviathan” is still much better than anything on the other two Solomons. “Dimly Tale” follows, a short, rumbling bass droner, no complaints there.
The first song on Side B let’s me down a bit. “No Ones Grieve Part 1” begins with the same drone as “Part 2”, but instead of breaking into the frantic rhythms, the drone just continues for the full 7 minutes. It’s EQ’d slightly differently so we can hear jet plane-like rumblings in the background, and there are gong rolls too, but it’s ultimately uninteresting. Luckily it’s followed by “Sola Stone” which is one of the better pure drone tracks Boris have made; if every song on the three Solomons were like this, I’d be much happier with them. It reminds me of Sunn O)))’s ØØ Void, just two solid riffs alternating but within the Boris aesthetic: more fuzz, crunch and feedback, less bass-heavy. But the drums are what carry the song; when the chords drag the drums come in, and once the chords pick up again they disappear, towards the end the two meet and follow through to the end.
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 3 is definitely the best of the series, but is still nowhere near being one of Boris’ standout LPs. If you’re in love with drone then you’ll love this, but otherwise it’s a mixed bag. 4/10
Vein [hardcore version] (2006)
Vein in a lot of ways encapsulates why I love Boris as a band. They do everything. They started with doom metal (Amp Worship), worked in some psychedelia (Flood) then moved to other kinds of rock (Heavy Rocks, Pink) And then out of nowhere we get the tantrum that is the limited-edition vinyl LP known as Vein.
There are two versions of Vein, the hardcore version which I’ll discuss here, and the noise version. I’m not going to talk about the noise version except to say what it is, and that I’ll not rate it or give an opinion on it.
The noise version has two tracks, on one each side. One has drums, one doesn’t. That’s all I can really say about it, cause I don’t get noise music. I know some people like it, and more power to them, but I don’t understand it, and have yet to put the effort into understanding it. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, I have no idea what to listen for in a noise record, or if there is even a way to discuss noise in such terms. So for that reason, I’m only going to examine the hardcore version.
Normally I’d take against the kind of music presented on Vein -more noise than melody, minimal chord changes, blast beats, screamed vocals- I’d say it showed the musicians didn’t know what they were doing. But this is Boris, so I can rest assured knowing that even if I don’t like what they’ve come out with, (1) I can be sure they’ve actually crafted what I’m hearing (2) they’ll move on to something different for the next album. Luckily, Vein is totally frickin awesome.
For starters, the LP is only 30 minutes long. That may sound short (and if something’s good, shouldn’t it be longer, you might ask) but it works nicely, as none of the ideas outstay their welcome. I’m not a fan of constant screamed vocals, but if I only have to deal with them in two 5-minute chunks as presented here, they’re much more enjoyable.
This brings me to my second point about Vein: I don’t think you could ask for a better-organized spaz-attack. Again, none of the ideas drag on for too long, if the similar tracks were all organized together, the album would fell monotonous after a while. The first track is a 4-minute noise/drone piece which fades into track 2 (all tracks are untitled) a 2-minute drone intro with bass, drums and found sounds. Tracks 3-6 give us our first bout of “crust punk” (as always specific sub-genres have vague Wikipedia descriptions) songs, all between one and two minutes each. Atsuo or Takeshi -it’s impossible to tell- scream every word, Atsuo sticks to blast beats, and Wata just largely provides some of the harshest feedback in Boris’s discography with the occasional lightning-fast solo in between. Track 7 is the standout, an instrumental piece, featuring a wicked tremolo-picked solo from Wata.
Tracks 8-11 (on Side B now) are the second set of crust punk songs, and are the same kind of thing as tracks 3-6. On the one hand there’s nothing wrong with having a second batch of these songs, but at the same time they don’t add much to what has come before; it’d be nice if there was some kind of musical difference. Track 11 crossfades into track 12, the 10-minute drone finale. I’m a little disappointed by the final track, the drums kick in with a badass bass riff a minute in, only to dissappear thirty seconds later as the feedback layers and guitar drone take over. It’s a good drone track overall, but the tease of something even better is a letdown.
Vein isn’t perfect, and probably a little out there even for Boris fans with it’s harsh noise, lo-fi recording, occasional samples and unorthodox songs, but that’s why I like it. It gives the impression of being thrown together, but it certainly wasn’t, and is one of the most unique LPs Boris have released. 7/10
Dronevil -Final- (2005/06)
You’ll notice I’m kind of cheating with the timeline here, as the original Dronevil limited-release LP came out in North America in 2005. However the version which came out in Japan, Dronevil -Final-, was released in 2006 and not only includes all the material from the original LP plus a new and an extended track, but is still available on CD and is the version more people are likely to have. If I talk about everything on the Final version, I’ve covered everything on the original Dronevil as well. Go, me.
Dronevil is a two-disc instrumental release, featuring two (or three on Final) 20-minute tracks per disc. What’s unique about this album though, is the fact that disc 1 (“Drone”) and disc 2 (“Evil”) are intended to be listened to simultaneously (although who has two turntables nowadays?). However this isn’t the kind of surround-sound multitrack approach from the Flaming Lips’ quadruple-disc Zaireeka; Boris, as always, have put the emphasis on texture and timbre. Essentially the actual “songs” are recorded on Disc Evil, and the background drones and textures on Disc Drone. There are no synchronized melodies or dynamics, so don’t worry about rounding up friends to synchronize your CD players, a near-impossible task with Zaireeka.
(Of the eight or so friends I regularly hang out with, only four of them would be willing to spend an afternoon just listening to music, and only one of those is into the Flaming Lips; how am I supposed to listen to “Two Blobs Fucking”? …….That title was clearly designed to create the previous sentence.)
Dronevil -Final- (but not the original Dronevil) opens up with “Loose” and “Red” on each disc respectively. “Loose” consists of a constant gong roll, while “Red” is the least eventful of the three songs, starting with slow, patient chords for 14 minutes, before the drums kick in and the song takes on the steadily, minimalist plodding normally associated with post-hiatus Earth. Not the most interesting song, but as an introduction to the rest of the album it works well, setting the slow pace for the rest of the album.
Next comes “Giddiness Throne” paired with “Evil Wave Form” and this is where the album takes off. “Evil Wave Form” is one of the loudest and messiest (in a good way) songs Boris have ever created, starting with a slow riff, that eventually builds and chugs along, all the while Atsuo’s drumming adding to the tension. Wata’s solo emerges out of the pile, and the entire slew eventually collapses into filtered echoes around the 8-minute mark, where “Giddiness Throne“‘s ambient rumble still peeks through. 5 minutes later, the distortion and volume return with a vengeance, climaxing in some of the sharpest, most piercing feedback in Boris’ arsenal, before again disappearing into the background ether.
The finale(s), “Interference Demon” and “The Evilone Which Sobs” are excellent. Like the end of Feedbacker, Disc Drone creates an uneasy contrast of high, quiet feedback in “Evilone“‘s quieter moments. “Evilone” itself is the most crafted piece on the album, having the widest spectrum of dynamics and textures, and some of Wata’s mournful melodies from the song’s louder section can be heard through filters at the beginning of the song. The song starts quiet, with the usual Boris two-chord progression/drone, though much slower than normal, and then moves into another sombre, climbing progression, when the lid suddenly comes off and all the potential noise washes through. The cathartic solos move through, and then the song settles on a steady drone which slowly moves on; the final chord is allowed to die out completely of its own energy. On the original LPs this is where the album ends but Final has a special addendum: Once the distortion has dissappeared so that only “Intereference Demon” can be heard, a simple acoustic guitar begins to slowly strum out a few chords for the final 4 minutes.
Being on two discs, Dronevil also offers the opportunity to listen to both discs sequentially. Disc Drone is nothing special by itself -essentially a longer, less harsh Thing Which Solomon Overlooked- but Disc Evil is just as good as the multi-disk version of the album, some may find it preferable, as the space between the sounds can be heard more clearly.
Despite the slow opening and inclusion of what is essentially an optional disc, Dronevil -Final- is an excellent and underrated album, combining the crafted timbre of drone with the moving power of rock. 8/10
Altar [with Sunn O)))] (2006)
Altar is probably the best known of Boris’ collaborative releases, impressive considering the number of those there have been (especially with Merzbow, that could be a discography discussion on its own). Boris working with Sunn O))) is a natural fit, as both not only have a similar aesthetic with their music, but a similar que sera sera approach to writing their music; both Atsuo and Stephen O’Malley have spoken about their songs just arising naturally, devoid of expectations. Indeed, Altar is said to have been written with minimal verbal communication between its creators, and with minimal editing and scrutiny.
Unfortunately, rather than being an amalgamation of the best ideas of either of these bands, for me Altar ends up lost somewhere in the middle. For one thing, it definitely feels like it’s slid mostly towards Sunn’s drone-structure style than Boris’s; the only characteristically Boris sound heard is Atsuo’s drumming, and only on two of the six tracks. Wata’s characteristic guitar sounds are also heard, her EBow’d soling is heard on the opener “Etna” but only as an additional layer of background chaos, and her echoed chords are heard throughout “Fried Eagle Mind”, but put to a much more atmospheric use than usual. Of the six songs (there are two bonus tracks from Japanese versions and one bonus disc, but I haven’t heard these) only “The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep)” falls outside of the drone spectrum in being an actual structured song with verses and choruses.
Yet despite the lack of Boris sounds, there aren’t much Sunn O))) sounds to be heard either; there are a number of other collaborators on this album, and it’s impossible to tell from whom all the ideas on this album came from. Were the vocals on “The Sinking Belle” Jesse Sykes idea, or were they someone else’s who then suggested inviting Sykes to record them? In other words is the lack of Sunn-ness a choice move by Anderson, O’Malley or Boris, or was their presence diluted by the other contributors? Ultimately it doesn’t matter, but there’s a definite lack of the Sunn O))) down-tuned guitars that usually makes their releases so bone-crushing.
However, it would be unfair to judge Altar completely on the basis of its “expected” sound. So how are it’s actual songs? “Etna” is a strong opener, featuring only the members of the two bands; a 9-minute Sunn O)))-style droner but with Atsuo’s drumming keeping it interesting, and Wata and Takeshi adding extra harmonies outside of Anderson and O’Malley’s usual power chords. “N.L.T” is a brief 4-minute interlude featuring only gong and cello; no complaints there. “The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep)” is an unusual entry in both bands’ discographies: soft atmospheric keyboards and guitars, with Jesse Sykes’ aching vocals taking the main focus. It’s so good and moving it actually feels out of place on the album.
The second half of the album is where we start getting problems. “Akuma no Kuma” is another good 7-minute droner, evoking the kind of nature-worship the album’s art seems to imply, but it feels overly-synthesized. The members of Sunn O))) are playing synth, bending and playing with the LFO settings to create the usual crafted sound they get with their guitars, but with other collaborators also playing synth, vocoder’d vocals, and a not-great brass sound, the overall prominence of the song is diminished.
Afterword comes “Fried Eagle Mind” which is nearly 10-minutes of sub-“bassAliens” from Sunn’s White2. It has the eerie space guitar and static-noise of that track, plus Wata’s vocals- sort of, as it’s just short repeated phrases that eventually slip into the rest of the mix- but without the underlying bass drone and sense of pacing that was on White2. Furthermore, like “Anno Ona no Onryou” from Akuma no Uta it seems the group wasn’t sure how to end the track, so it just kind of stops all of a sudden with no sense of closure.
Then finally comes “Blood Swamp” which suffers from the same problems as the previous two tracks: aimless dilution of ideas. There’s a lot of layers that steadily get added, but they never amount to anything. Rather than building atmosphere and tension, they just muddy the sound and leave convoluted ideas floundering around. And this goes on for nearly 15 minutes.
Despite all the complaints I have, I wouldn’t call Altar bad, there are parts of it I like in most of the songs; but it will definitely be more appreciated by hardcore drone-lovers, I just don’t feel that its drones enjoyably ebb and flow. 4/10
Rainbow [with Michio Kurihara] (2006)
Rainbow is probably the other best-known Boris collaboration, featuring Ghost guitarist Michio Kurihara, who has been a regular touring guest since Pink. Unlike Altar, Rainbow’s collaboration was much more straightforward: Boris wrote the songs, and then Kurihara added his own parts to what they created. Despite perhaps being in much closer communication than they were with Sunn O))), the two collaborators still don’t quite mesh, although it’s still an improvement over Altar.
Firstly, Boris are much more laid back here than on previous albums. The chords aren’t as heavy, and Atsuo isn’t playing with his usual punchy fills and flams; the album still has it’s louder moments, like on the opener “Rafflesia”, but they’re few and far between. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I just don’t find the quieter, more ambient songs that engaging. “My Rain” is nice, but then it’s less than 2 minutes long. “Fuzzy Reactor” despite the keyboard-like guitar sounds isn’t that interesting, “Shine” is unremarkable and “No Sleep Till I Become Hollow” is a lousy close to the album. “You Laughed Like a Water Mark” is also disappointing, especially because it’s the longest of the nine songs on the album at 7 minutes, but also because it features the second main problem with Rainbow: Boris and Kurihara seem to take turns with their material.
Boris seems to have written fairly unobtrusive songs, that Kurihara can then smash into and wreak havoc with his squawk-y guitar solos. First Boris takes the lead, the Kurihara, and back and forth until the song ends. While this works as a nice contrast, especially in the title track (where Wata gets her first proper lead vocals) by the time we get to “You Laughed Like a Water Mark” his entrances feel a bit formulaic, and by then you want him to use a different guitar sound and more straightforward melodies. However in songs such as “Starship Narrator” and “Sweet No.1” Kurihara’s crackling solos give a heavy dose of adrenaline, making already decent songs standouts.
Rainbow perhaps would have worked better as an EP with its 4 or 5 great songs, but as an LP it has unnecessary extras. 5/10
Part 4, with an extended review of Smile (all three of them) and Boris’ 2011 releases (again, all three of them), is coming soon.
Boris at Last: -Feedbacker- (2003)
Feedbacker is the last one-song album Boris have released to date, and in my opinion it’s the best (or at least the most consistently good) out of the three. It’s also the shortest at only 43 minutes (and is divided into 5 tracks) and because of this it immediately does away with the biggest problem I had with both Absolutego and Flood: the length.
Again, let me reiterate that I have no problem with length in principle: length is fine as long the idea being repeated or explored is interesting, but towards the end of the aforementioned albums I lost interest. No such problems with Feedbacker. Although stretches of it do go on quite a bit, particularly Part 2, the wait is worthwhile simply for the fact I’m aware that more interesting things are yet to come. After 40 minutes with the other one-song albums, I give up because I know Absolutego is just going to be the same feedback loop, and Flood just the same riff and then cymbal rolls; there’s no point in continuing and wasting the time.
Where Absolutego is a pyramid-shaped song, with a steady build-up, climax and decline, and Flood is a constant journey, Feedbacker works more like a prog rock song: An introduction (Part 1), main theme with climax (Part 2), new theme (Part 3), improvisation (Part 4), and reprise of main theme (Part 5). All the parts feel necessary, and none of them outstay their welcome, whenever something begins to get tiresome, the texture changes, a new layer is added, or the song moves on to something new entirely.
Part 1 sets the stage with heavy guitar drones, but organized into slow phrases, unlike the constant riffs of the other one-song albums, or the constant hum of Sunn’s guitars. This goes on for 10 minutes but again, no real complaints from me, as the phrases never repeat exactly, and grow steadily in impact. Also throughout there are higher trembling notes fading in and out, they sound like they could be some kind of electronic organ, but are probably Wata’s many delay pedals. Overall it’s very atmospheric.
Part 2 starts the slow main theme that continues the atmosphere, but replaces the heavy chords with light melodies. This is the easily the section comes closest to being overlong, especially at the beginning, where the minimalist approach continues for a good 10 minutes more. The chords progression itself though, is simple and haunting, and eventually Wata’s much louder guitar sounds kick in for mournful solos. Once the solos clear, Takeshi’s soft, filtered vocals come in, and then the huge chords hit, and Atsuo’s drumwork becomes more pronounced.
Another solo quickly transitions us into Part 3, which while continuing a similar chord progression for the next 6 minutes, is much faster and keeps things interesting, with more emotional vocal work. The energy builds leading into Part 4, and extended improv section made mostly of guitar noise. Although 10 minutes of noise sounds (to me) a bad idea on paper, the drums keep everything moving, eventually getting buried in the mix, and then noise somehow manages to feel like its moving forward, with multiple, changing layers that never feel overwhelming.
Finally the noise is quieted and only the higher tones remain as the final 3 minutes of Part 5 continue the same same slow progression from Part 2, closing the album wonderfully.
Although Feedbacker never quite reaches the same level of EPIC that Flood does, it comes close, and unlike Flood feels much more cohesive overall. Every member of the band does excellent work, making this one of Boris’ best albums. 9/10
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked (2004)
As far as I know The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked is Boris’ first limited release vinyl LP and I think it marks the point where Boris decided to code the title of their releases to indicate the kind of expectations fans should have: When the name Boris is written in all caps, the album will be within the traditional rock/metal style of the band, lowercase means experimental. Solomon is definitely a lowercase album, and therefore anything I say about it can perhaps be taken less seriously, especially because I think this is Boris’ worst LP.
I’ve mentioned before that while I appreciate the idea of drone music (thank you, Sunn O)))) and can enjoy some of it, I’m still not in love with the idea, and would rather hear something with direction and structure than something without; something where timbre adds to the melody and harmony, but isn’t the main focus.
But even where timbre is the main focus of a song, that timbre should at least change, or go somewhere; no such luck with Solomon. Side A has two songs, “Scene 2” which is an unremarkable droner that doesn’t go anywhere, and “A Bao a Qu” which is easily the worst version of the four or so that exist (the 7” single is the best version, track it down instead). It’s basically the background noise track of the other versions with acoustic guitar chords thrown in; there’s a high pitch snippet from this track that you can hear at the beginning of the non-live versions of the song.
On Side B is the 20-minute “The Dead Angle Which It Continues Showing” which has more in common with Merzbow than anything else. Just a single noisy drone, which about 8 minutes in the chords change briefly and sound like they’re about to go somewhere, but then they don’t.
Although what I’ve described might sound intriguing to drone fans that are into Sunn O))) and Earth’s earlier work, the actual sound of this kind of drone might be unappealing even to them. “Scene 2” sounds like the beginning of Feedbacker without the organ-like sounds and meaningful pauses, which is okay as far as timbre is concerned, but “The Dead Angle” is fuzzy and crackling, and “A Bao a Qu” sounds like the highest screeching note of an epic guitar solo, but sustained and trilled around for 8 minutes.
I wouldn’t dissuade anyone into noise or drone from looking into this LP, but lower your expectations. It’s not evil music; Boris are at least trying something different. It’s not pandering, but it isn’t very good either. 2/10
Sound Track From Film “Mabuta no Ura” (2005)
Another definitive lowercase Boris LP, but again, some disappointing results. Mabuta no Ura is a sound track for an imaginary film, and was released with artwork to accompany it. Unfortunately, I don’t have a hard copy, and therefore, none of the art to compliment the album. I also have the Catune-released version of this album, not the Essence-released version, which has a slightly different track list and is much rarer.
Mabuta no Ura is easily the least-rockish album in Boris’ discography, only “A Bao a Qu” (a shortened version of the 7” version) has the loud, heavy Boris sound, the rest mostly use acoustic instruments, although the are a few exceptions: “Yesterday Morning” uses Wata’s echoing guitar, and “Theme” and “Space Behind Me Part 2” use feedback as the main instrument.
In general the songs are very atmospheric, and do sound like they could be part of a sound track… which is also the main problem with the album. Sound tracks demand picture accompaniment in order to be fulfilling; the only song that stands well on its own is “A Bao a Qu”. A few others come close, like “Your Name”, “Yesterday Morning” and “It Touches” but they suffer the same problem as the rest of the songs: they don’t really go anywhere. Boris establishes a mood and texture, but then rarely explore further than that. In many ways this album reminds me of Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV; it too was designed to be partly visual, and while the timbre and texture of the songs were interesting, they otherwise felt incomplete. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, most of the songs on Mabuta no Ura are quite short (under 3 and a half minutes) and never become a nuisance, but at the same time, this length often gives the sense that the songs end before they really have the chance to develop.
It could be that I’m incompletely reviewing this album, it’s perfectly possible that the art and narration designed to work with the music will make this album more interesting and worthwhile, and when I find a hard copy, I’ll give it another look. Right now, although the instrumentation feels more intimate, and none of the songs can really be called “bad”, Mabuta no Ura is still scattered and largely unremarkable. 3.5/10
Pink (2005)
Pink is Boris’ break-through album, most people who listen to Boris now probably heard and enjoyed this album first. And for good reason; it’s awesome. The album is most easily comparable to Heavy Rocks, it’s unmistakably an all caps BORIS album: eleven fairly straightforward rock songs, and very loud.
Pink differs from Heavy Rocks in two main ways, the first and most obvious being the guitar sounds. Unlike Heavy Rocks, which was very bottom-heavy, Pink is more top-heavy, the higher, grittier, noisier sounds are given precedence; the bass is still there, but not as full and round. “Just Abandoned My-Self”, the album’s closer and one of Boris’ best songs, is just as heavy (if not heavier) as anything from Heavy Rocks, starting at full blast and not ceasing for over 18 minutes, but with crackling distortion over top the heavy bass that creates and sustains the energy throughout.
There’s a lot more variety in terms of the guitar sounds used as well. While every song on Heavy Rocks sounded like they all used the same guitars and effects for every song (with a few special additions in places), every song on Pink sounds like it was built from the ground up, and then mixed to give every song the consistent grittiness. “Farewell” uses a lot of delay pedals, but when the big chords hit the noise that permeates other songs like “Electric” and “Pseudo-Bread” are still present. “Nothing Special” is also a good example of the more adventurous sonic palette; the bass is EQ’d to accentuate the low mid-range, and turned up so loud that it almost buries everything else, but also makes the higher range sound crisper, especially the drums.
The second main difference from Heavy Rocks is that the songs themselves are more wide-ranging in ideas on Pink. Where the former’s songs all fell neatly under “stoner rock”, the latter’s are anywhere in the ballpark from noise rock (“Pseudo-Bread”) to punk (“Woman on the Screen”) to Hendrix-style classic rock (“Afterburner”) to drone (the latter half of “Just Abandoned My-Self”). The title track, for example, is every bit as groovy as “Korosu” on Heavy Rocks, but within the crunchier aesthetic has a less-routine arrangement (ie, not verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus), and a more creative performance from the band; Atsuo’s drumming is especially elevating.
The vinyl version of Pink has a slightly different track order, which I actually prefer. It groups the shorter songs on the first disc, allowing the more forgettable songs (“Blackout” and “Six, Three Times”) to be less disruptive to the flow. There are also extended cuts of “Farewell”, “Pseudo-Bread” and the instrumental “My Machine”. “Farewell” is given a proper, winding-down ending, and the noise at the end of “Pseudo-Bread” is allowed to continue for an extra 6 minutes; neither of these are missed on the CD version. However, I do feel slightly gypped for getting the 2-minute version of “My Machine” on CD instead of the 11-minute vinyl version. On CD the song is a brief, vestigial bit of quiet breathing room before “Just Abandoned My-Self” lands in our face, but on vinyl its one of the best songs on the album, building and layering Wata’s guitar echoes, and then culminating in a slow passionate solo that’s completely absent on the CD.
Pink certainly has moments surpassing Heavy Rocks, but it also has more flaws. In the end, which you prefer comes down to what you prefer louder: bass or noise. 8.5/10
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 2 (2006)
Oh no, another one…
To be fair, it’s certainly better than the first Solomon, but not by much. My general complaints still apply here: I don’t find the timbres here interesting enough to sustain the length of the songs.
Side A gives us “No Ones Grieve Part 2” which later reappeared on 2008’s Smile as “Kare Hateta Saki” with vocals added. I like the version on Smile a lot, and although I wouldn’t mind an instrumental version of the song, the problem is that on Solomon 2 the mixing isn’t nearly as good. The strumming rhythmic motif played throughout is more prominent than the solo melodies, which are barely audible over the wash of noise and treble-boosted, crash-heavy drums. I fear that if I didn’t know the solo melodies from the Smile version, I’d barely be aware of their existence. Not a bad version, just disappointing.
Next is “Dual Effusion” which features an interesting guitar drone with what I think is a very slow tremolo effect added that makes the guitar sound like it’s cackling with laughter. Interesting, but 10 minutes is still pushing it, especially when it too has a guitar solo in the background that’s too low in the mix.
Now, Side B: “Merciless”? It certainly is.
After that comes “An Another After Image” which is a perfectly acceptable 3-minute ambient guitar melody, but hardly worth sitting through the previous 14-minute torrent of drone and amplified noise.
The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked 2 is certainly better than the previous edition, but it still doesn’t have much in the way of engagement for me. 2.5/10
Parts 3 and 4 still to come.
Violet Noise (Digital Edit)
This is my final project for my digital music class, made with Reason 5, based on a 9-minute piano improvisation I recorded a while ago. This has been shortened and fitted into the project requirements, but most of the sounds I’ll keep, probably just replacing the backing chords with guitar. Eventually I’ll stretch this out to that length, as there are other solos and ideas I left out, and proper vocals will be added as well.
Let me know what you think.
-SD
Because music is awesome.
