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Just Abandoned Myself – BORIS Live @ Neumos Seattle [10.12.11]

November 10, 2011 in Music, Reviews

BORIS

Neumos

Seattle, WA

10.12.11

Boris has intrigued me since the first time that I read about ‘em.  It was in the early 2000s and, while it may have been on a web forum, it was much more likely from a now-defunct post-rock and experimental record review site.  I knew that they took their name from a Melvins tune, I knew that they were Japanese, and I knew they had a hot lady on guitar.  Over time, I further learned that they have put out noise records with Merzbow, had released a handful of rumbling drone records, and that they knew how to pull a cute trick now and again -like when they encased gummy worms in the jewel cased spines of certain special-edition versions of their 1998 album Amplifier Worship.  Everything about Boris sounded interesting and mysterious.  They evoked an intensity and honesty that made them brooding and yet, somehow, not depressing.  Just reading the way others talked and wrote about them convinced me that this was a band that was creating and playing music because they needed to.  Feedback was not an accident, it was an art.  I instinctively knew that this was a band that already meant something to me and I hadn’t heard a single note. Read the rest of this entry →

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CONTEST HAS ENDED!: WIN TICKETS to see BORIS @ NEUMOS in SEATTLE!

October 5, 2011 in Music

CONTEST HAS ENDED!


[scroll down to bottom to enter]

It wasn’t but 2 days ago that the remarkable Melt Banana came through Seattle to unleash their ridiculous Japanese fury all over the Chop Suey club and now we’re already preparing for a visit from the fellow experimental rock powerhouse from the land of the rising sun known simply as BORIS.  Taking their name from a MELVINS track, BORIS has been pumping out a prolific amount of material since 1996.  A decade and a half into their careers, they’ve released a total of 17 studio efforts, 3 live albums, 4 re-issues, 7 collaborations with noise musician Merzbow, and have teamed up for additional full-lengths with the likes of such artists as Sunn O))), Keiji Haino, Michio Kurihara (aka: White Heaven), and Ian Astbury (The Cult).  These guys are relentless and show no signs of slowing down ever.  In fact, they just dropped 3 new albums, this year alone, not to mention another album with Merzbow (originally intended for release in 2007).  The trio isn’t just pumping out the same album over and over again, either -although they did just release an album with the exact same name and cover design as a previous 2002 effort, save a color change- they blend just as many influences and styles into their sound as they have releases.  Psych, sludge, stoner rock, noise, drone, doom metal… even ambient and pop elements.  The obvious influences like SLEEP and MELVINS are undoubtedly present, but BORIS continues to move forward by focusing on progress and refusing to limit themselves.  They’ve even given nods to inspirations so varied as influential metal pioneers VENOM to sombre 70s singer/songwriter, suicide casualty, Nick Drake (dig that Bryter Layter parody on Akuma No Uta).

An acclaimed live act, BORIS is currently on tour and our friends at NEUMOS have offered us up a pair of tickets to next weeks show so as we can give it away to one of yooz jerk offs, absolutely free.  Check out the details for the giveaway after enjoying this classic BORIS romance groove… Read the rest of this entry →

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Giant Robot Destroys Seattle: Buckethead’s New Years Eve Bash

January 9, 2009 in Global Destruction, Music, Reviews, With Video

buckethead new years seattle header shotMuch of Brian “Buckethead” Carroll’s popularity has risen through his temporary stint as the guitarist for AXL Rose’s makeshift post millennium disaster that he is still stubbornly referring to as Guns N Roses.   However, if you were a fan of Buckethead’s work prior to this, his inclusion in the group may have actually come as a surprise.  Being introduced to his music through previous releases such as  Bucketheadland (feat. Bootsie Collins and released on Avant-Jazz Sax legend, John Zorn’s label),  Monsters and Robots (featuring Les Claypool), and DJ Q-Bert’s animated turntable masterpiece, Wave Twisters, I myself was shocked by his involvement in GNR.  That is until I realized that, if Bon Jovi called me up and asked me to join him in a country-rap project, I would do it just based on the sheer novelty of the whole experience.  My friend Lars gave me a report on the GNR show that he saw featuring Buckethead on guitar by saying, “I still can’t tell if this is the best show I’ve ever seen or the worst“.  Based on what Lars had seen, he theorized that the tour wouldn’t last much longer due to Axl’s inability to restrain Buckethead or Carroll’s long-time collaborator, drummer Brian “Brain” Mantia, to his satisfaction.  Of course, his prediction was right yet, Buckethead seems to still be primarily associated with the corn-rowed has-been. I may be wrong in my assumptions but, I doubt that there are really too many consistent fans of Buckethead’s music.  His discography spans over 100 different albums in varying genres, including classic metal, electronic, funk, ambient, dub, jazz, and more.  This means that, even if you have heard multiple projects that the musician has been featured on, you still may not have a complete grasp of what he is capable of or that you have had much more than a glimpse of the overall scope of Carroll as an artist. Read the rest of this entry →

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