Here’s my Boredoms ritual: Every time money gets tight I tearfully go through my record collection looking for things to sell, and every time I pause on the one Boredoms album I own, “Pop Tatari.” I realize that the last time I even looked at it was when I went through this ritual seven months ago, and I throw it on the ‘SELL’ pile.
But something nags at me, a feeling that there must be some reason this record has made the cut so many times. So I think, what the hell, let’s see what I was thinking, and I throw it in the spinner and press ‘play.’
But something nags at me, a feeling that there must be some reason this record has made the cut so many times. So I think, what the hell, let’s see what I was thinking, and I throw it in the spinner and press ‘play.’
There’s no one like the Boredoms, and their story is so big that it sprawls into innumerable other bands, solo projects, guest shots, etc, etc. There’s UFO Or Die, Psychobaba, OOIOO, VooREDOMS, and 7VO7, to name just a few. Singer EYE (or Yamatsuka EYE or EYE Yamataka depending on how he feels) is a closet industry all by himself. Boredoms bands take all different shapes, and should be listened to as chapters in a big, strange book.
The latest chapter comes from Yoshimi P-we, longtime Boredoms drummer/shrieker, teaming up with Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda to bring us the lovely “Flower With No Color.” A sun-drenched travelogue that’s as much about the backgrounds as the instruments being played, “Flower” seems like it was as pleasant and effortless to make as it is to listen to.
The latest chapter comes from Yoshimi P-we, longtime Boredoms drummer/shrieker, teaming up with Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda to bring us the lovely “Flower With No Color.” A sun-drenched travelogue that’s as much about the backgrounds as the instruments being played, “Flower” seems like it was as pleasant and effortless to make as it is to listen to.
The basic tracks for “Flower With No Color” were recorded by Yoshimi and Yuka in a small pick-up truck as they drove through the mountain roads around Mt. Ikoma in Japan. The album is rich with the ambience of the trip; birds sing, dogs bark, feet crunch down mountain paths, and at times you can hear the rev of the truck motor. Using these sounds as a foundation, the two women apply layers (but not too many layers) of eclectic instruments and vocals.
Opener “UMEgination”, after savoring the sound of the gazillion birds that chirp away throughout the album, dissolves into a wash of keyboards and languid piano, with occasional percussive flourishes and an unobtrusive vocal by Yoshimi.
“Ha Wa ii Na” is more rhythmically driven, featuring an Yma Sumac-y vocal which is doubled by keyboard, all over the insistent pulse of a grang-tang, which sounds like a guttier version of a marimba.
The album flirts with jazz on the luxurious centerpiece “SPY said ONE”, the only song to feature any bass or guitar. Yoshimi’s trumpet (say what you want about the Boredoms, between the lot of them they play just about everything) starts out in front but slips way, beneath a stew of bubbling keyboard-effects. There’s a nice breakdown section when guitar, trumpet and bass lock up on the same two-note line, and then the temple dogs start barking and Yoshimi’s trumpet takes off again. The song overstays its welcome a bit, but only if you’re staring right at it.
“La Donna Ni Demo Des Kinna” lets the birds back in, and it sounds like they’re right overhead. (By the end of the album you definitely wish you could have ridden along with Y and Y.) There’s more sunny keyboards, wordless, Bjork-y vocals, and a recurring synth noise that sounds like Super Mario scoring a coin. If you’ve heard Yoshimi raise the roof with that howl of hers, the lullaby thing she achieves on this song is a pleasant surprise.
“Elegant Bird” brings the outing to an elegant conclusion, a swell of keyboards whisked away by a rippling piano flourish by Yoshimi.
Not too much should really be said about this record. It’s a delicate, dreamy little thing that delights in pretty sounds and idyllic atmospheres, and if held up to the harsh light of day it might disappear. But as ambient albums go, this is definitely a trip worth taking. |