Boredoms
Boredoms | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Also known as | V∞redoms, Vooredoms, V∞rdoms |
Origin | Osaka, Japan |
Genres | |
Years active | 1986–present |
Labels | Shimmy Disc, Reprise/Warner Records, Birdman, Vice Records, Very Friendly Records, Earthnoise, Selfish Records, Trans Records |
Members | Yamantaka Eye Yojiro Tatekawa Yoshimi P-We Shinji Masuko |
Past members | Muneomi Senju Ikuo Taketani Tabata Mitsuru Hosoi Hisato Makki Sasarato Yoshikawa Toyohito Hiyashi Hira Seiichi Yamamoto Chew Hasegawa Kazuya Nishimura EDA God Mama |
Website | boredoms.jp |
Boredoms (ボアダムス (Boadamusu)) (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan’s noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved toward repetitive psychedelic rock, ambient soundscapes, and tribal drumming.
The band has a vast and sometimes confusing discography. Many band members have rotated through the group over the years, often using a number of various stage names. Singer Yamantaka Eye is the closest the band has to a frontman; his style includes a range of baffling screams, babbling, electronic effects, and very heavy post-production. Drummer/keyboard player/vocalist Yoshimi P-We is featured on most Boredoms recordings.
History
Formation and early years
Boredoms were formed in early 1986 by Yamantaka Eye, who at the time acted as front man for the infamous and highly controversial noise/performance art act Hanatarash,[4] locally notorious for its extremely dangerous live shows consisting entirely of on-stage destruction and complete disregard for the audience's safety. The antics of Hanatarash would later be highly influential on the earliest incarnation of Boredoms, which was formed by the remaining members of a band Eye started with Hanatarash drummer Ikuo Taketani, as well as guitarist Tabata Mitsuru (known as Tabata Mara), bassist Hosoi Hisato, and vocalist Makki Sasarato, called "Acid Makki & Combi and Zombie".[5] The band's sound was characterized by violent, noisy punk rock/no wave thrashings. They recorded a single track, "U.S.A.", for a compilation tape.[5] Shortly after the release of their first song, Taketani was replaced on drums by Yoshikawa Toyohito, a friend of Eye's.[4] The band officially changed their name to Boredoms after Hira replaced Hosoi on bass, and Sasarato left the band due to creative differences. The band's name comes from the Buzzcocks song "Boredom".[5]
With the band finally reaching a level of stability, Eye and Tabata recorded their first official EP,
Growing popularity
In 1988 and 1989, Eye found himself making friends with
The following year, at the height of its popularity in the
By the time of 1998's Super Go!!!!! EP and full-length
In 1999, the band released
After its release, Eye oversaw a series of remix albums of the Boredoms catalogue by guest DJs. After the final remix album, Eye's own Rebore, vol. 0, was released in 2000, Boredoms seemed to disappear for a few years with no releases or tour dates,[4] while the members participated in various side projects and other bands.[5]
Later activities
Rumors that the band had broken up began to circulate, but a smaller ensemble who called themselves V∞redoms resurfaced in 2003.[18] The group's line-up had changed considerably upon its return, stripping down to a much smaller ensemble with Yamantaka Eye on vocals, Izumi Kiyoshi (who had performed on Vision Creation Newsun and Super æ) on synthesizer, and Yoshimi P-We, Nishimura, and EDA playing drums and percussion.[5]
Despite the changes, the group's music still revolves around the tribal drumming patterns heard on Vision Creation Newsun. The band was signed by Vice Records for its releases in the United States since it had been dropped by Reprise. All Super Roots releases were then reissued on Vice in early 2007 (with the exclusion of Super Roots 2).[19] In late 2004, Boredoms released its first album as a group in four years, Seadrum/House of Sun, most of which had been previously recorded before the band's brief hiatus. This release also saw the band move from their label WEA Japan to the smaller Japanese label Commmons.[5] The album was not celebrated to the extent of their previous albums, yet it still garnered mostly positive reviews, with a score of 73% on Metacritic.[20] Following its release, EDA left the band and went on to form audio-visual project Adrena Adrena[21] with visual artist Daisy Dickinson.[22] EDA was replaced in the Boredoms by Yojiro Tatekawa.
In early 2007, the group released Super Roots 9, the first addition to the Super Roots series since 1999 and their first major release since Seadrum/House of Sun. It was recorded during a Christmas Eve 2004 concert, making it only the band's third official live release since 1998's Super Seeeeee!!!!!! video (discounting disc two of the Vision Creation Newsun boxset, which included a 35-minute excerpt of a live concert). Super Roots 9 also saw the band move from Warner International to the smaller Japanese label Commmons for domestic releases and American label Thrill Jockey for overseas.[23] Later, in April, the group (as V∞redoms) played three dates with Sonic Youth in Japan.[24] The band also planned to attempt using newly developed contact microphones to record the sounds made by the human body while dancing.[10]
The band released a live DVD/CD combination called
The band released another addition to the Super Roots EP series, titled Super Roots 10, on January 28, 2009.
Boadrum performances and concerts
On July 7, 2007, Boredoms performed a concert entitled
The band continued the concept on August 8, 2008, with two concerts called
In 2010, Boredoms toured internationally including two Boadrum performances at
The last numbered Boadrum event was 111Boadrum, on November 11, 2011, at Byron Bay at 11:11am. Notable drummers included Zach Hill, Hisham Bharoocha, Jermey Hyman, Butchey Fuego, and Mat Watson. There were 11 drummers and 100 cymbal players for a total of 111 performers.[31]
In 2011, Boredoms premiered new material at the All Tomorrows Parties "I'll Be Your Mirror" festival in Tokyo. Six drummers were arranged in a circle around Eye, who used motion sensors to trigger ambient drone soundscapes created by Shinji Masuko that corresponded to each drummer. The music featured highly repetitive
In June 2015, Boredoms performed another development of the Boardrum series at the Barbican Centre in London, UK as part of Doug Aitken's Station to Station: A 30-Day Happening.[33] The performance featured Eye, Yoshimi, Tatekawa, Masuko, and an expanded lineup of drummers and guitarists surrounded by 88 percussionists all playing cymbals.[34]
Discography
- Osorezan no Stooges Kyo (1988)
- Soul Discharge (1989)
- Pop Tatari (1992)
- Chocolate Synthesizer (1994)
- Super æ (1998)
- Vision Creation Newsun (1999)
- Seadrum/House of Sun (2004)
Members
- Yamantaka Eye – lead vocals, noise, sampler, sevena, programming
- Yoshimi P-We – drums, percussion, vocals, djembe, keyboards, trumpet
- Yojiro Tatekawa – drums, percussion
- Shinji Masuko – guitars, noise, tape machine, turntables, programming
Previous members
- Muneomi Senju – drums, percussion
- Ikuo Taketani – drums
- Hosoi Hisato – bass guitar
- Tabata Mitsuru (Tabata Mara) – guitar
- Hiyashi Hira – bass guitar, vocals, percussion
- Seiichi Yamamoto – guitar, vocals, percussion
- Yoshikawa Toyohito – drums, vocals
- Chew Hasegawa – drums
- Kazuya Nishimura (Atari or ATR) – drums, synthesizer, vocals, sampler, djembe, programming
- EDA – drums, electronic drums, djembe
- Izumi Kiyoshi – synthesizer, sampler, programming
- God Mama – dancing
- Zach Hill - drums, percussion
See also
References
- ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Boredoms". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ Deusner, Stephen M. (2 April 2008). "Any Other Person's Noise: The Boredoms". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ Moorman, Trent. (11 August 2008). "The Boredoms Revel in Rhythm, Numerology for 88 BoaDrums". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f "Boredoms biography". Vice Records. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
- ^ a b c d e f Hainey, Kevin (June 2005). "Boredoms: The Art of Noise". Timeline. Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ Burma, Mike. "Boredoms". Browbeat Magazine. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ Parks, Andrew (2007). "Boredoms: Not Boring at All". Theme Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
- ^ Brady, Greg (2006-04-21). "Alternative Press Magazine's "The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90s"". List of Bests. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
- ^ a b "Outside the Box". Japan Beat. Metropolis Tokyo. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
- ^ "BOREDOMS – Super Æ". Boomkat.com. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ Dario, Ruben (2007-05-14). "BOREDOMS — Super æ". ProgArchives.com. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ Estefan, Kareem (2003-09-01). "Boredoms – Super Ae". On Second Thought. Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- Pitchfork Media. Archived from the originalon 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ a b Wu, Brandon (2004-06-15). "Boredoms: Vision Creation Newsun". Ground and Sky. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Jeff (October 2002). "The Boredoms – "Vision Creation Newsun"". Aural Innovations. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ Heaton, Dave. "Boredoms: Vision Creation Newsun". PopMatters. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ a b Goldberg, Michael Alan (2008-03-21). "Boredoms". Seattle Weekly. Archived from the original on 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ "Who says we can't put out 6 Boredoms records?". Vice Records blog. Vice Records. 2006-12-19. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Seadrum/House of Sun". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
- ^ "adrenaadrena". adrenaadrena. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
- ^ "Daisy Dickinson Films". Daisy Dickinson Films. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
- ^ Starr, Mango (2008-01-23). "Boredoms Sign to Thrill Jockey; Thrill Jockey Is Fucking Awesome". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- Pitchfork Media. Archived from the originalon April 24, 2007.
- ^ "artists/labels/projects – Boredoms". Commmons. 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ "Boredoms biography". Thrill Jockey. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- ^ "Looking for a new drummer". Boredoms.jp. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ^ "Boredoms". BOMB Magazine. 2008. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ "Nike Brings Boredoms' 88Boadrum to L.A., Brooklyn". Pitchfork Media. 2008-07-16. Archived from the original on 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ Moorman, Trent (2008-08-11). "The Boredoms Revel in Rhythm, Numerology for 88 BoaDrums". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ "Boredoms Do 111 Boadrum on 11/11/11". Pitchfork. 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
- ^ "ATP curated by Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel)". All Tomorrow's Parties. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "Station to Station: A 30 Day Happening. A project by Doug Aitken". barbican.org.uk. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
- ^ "Barbican Newsroom – Artform Press Releases: Barbican announces a range of new music dates for 2015–16 incl. Boredoms, The Moog Concordance, JLCO". Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
External links
- Official website
- Myspace
- Boredoms discography at MusicBrainz
- BOMB interview