Friday, January 23, 2009

日本の音楽 Week 1: Boris


Beginning with not only one of my very favorite bands, but also a very internationally popular independent Japanese band, Boris has been at the forefront of the Japanese underground for the past several years, and for good friggin' reason

Quite possibly the hardest working band I know of, the amount of material (not to mention frequent international touring) this trio has output since their 1996 debut is staggering (just check out their discography listing on Metal Archives). One album often sounds completely different from the next, shifting from monolithic walls of droning guitars, to more garage punk oriented styles, to acidic flavors of Melvins-inspired stoner rock, to fierce, noise-laden bombardments, and even the occasional delicate piece of chill-out for good measure.

BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! Here's a slew of Boris videos. The first two are from their latest album, "Smile", which is entirely awesome.

Boris - Statement

Boris - My Neighbor Satan

Boris - Furi

Boris - Ibitsu

Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow

Recommended albums:
  • Smile [note: the Japanese and American versions sound quite different from one another; both are awesome, however]
  • Pink
  • Rainbow (with Michio Kurihara, psychedelic guitarist extraordinaire) 
  • Heavy Rocks [a good introduction to Boris]
  • Akuma no Uta
  • Amplifier Worship [very experimental drone]
  • Flood [again, very experimental drone]
  • Altar (with Sunn O))), American subsonic soundsmiths)

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