Thursday, August 2, 2018

To Boris, With Love

     While killing time on the internets the other day, I came to find out that Japanese noise masters, Boris, had put three new releases out into the world without my knowledge.  The band is sneaky like that.
     There was a Live At Third Man Records session that was released in late 2017.  There were forty available on half pink/half blue to those who attended the session in 2016.  And another forty available during the Japanese leg of the band's 25th anniversary tour, in December 2017.  The prices on the half and half vinyl would involve the selling of vital organs so I settled for the standard black vinyl which is widely available.  The session was recorded during the tour where Boris was playing their album Pink end to end.  Hearing those songs live was a life altering event so I'm glad Third Man put this out for me to lean on when I need to.
     The second release was eternity.  This was a live album recorded, in Japan, on December 28th, 2017.  It was only made available as a digital download from Japanese music site Ototoy.  It was a massive download of nearly 2GB for the thirteen tracks.  The album clocks in at almost two hours. There are two pdf files included with the download.  One is a six page file that contains credits and artwork for the album.  The other is a 73 page photo book of shots from the show.  I have been letting this thing rip for the majority of the evening while I write this.  It is a massive piece of sonic art.  I am suddenly jonesing for a two or three LP deluxe vinyl version of this thing.  I'm imagining a hardbound coffee table book type release with all of the photos printed on thick, glossy paper.
     The third release is a three song EP called Phenomenons Drive.  This will be released on August 8th and it will be a limited run of 600 on clear vinyl.  The release is being handled by Japanese label, Hello From The Gutter.  It is also available through another Japanese label called Inoxia.  I'm not sure if these are new tracks or if they were taken from previous sessions but I can't wait to find out.
     Boris is a band that will make you jump through hoops to get a hold of their music.   To the extent that they've released records that were only available at their merch table on tours.
     They've put out records that were only available in Japan.  Some of them have been soundscape type affairs so their North American label, Sargent House, may have passed on them.  Or the records may not have been offered to North America.
     Sometimes, Boris will put out a record on a small label that can only afford to put the vinyl out in small batches.  The records disappear in the blink of an eye only to reappear weeks later on Discogs and eBay at nosebleed inducing prices.  This is why I was shocked that I was able to snag a copy of Phenomenons Drive while it was still up for preorder.  I usually miss out on these things and have to play catch up at a later date.
     Boris has a history of putting out two very different sounding records on the same day.  Or releasing two different edits of the same records.  Nothing seems to be off limits or set in stone with this band.
     The recent reissue of their album Pink was a glorious bit of madness.  The full length versions of the songs “Pseudo-Bread,” “My Machine” and “Farewell” were only available on the vinyl but not on the CD or the download that came with the vinyl.  Due to the extended length of those three songs, the track listing between the vinyl and the CD of the new release was different.  This was done so all of the material could fit on four sides of vinyl.  A different track listing will lead to a different listening experience so it is worthwhile to have both versions at the ready.
     And all of this is going on before you get into the weird cardboard box packaging and four different colors that were pressed.  There was clear with pink splatter, pink with purple splatter and light pink/dark pink swirl in addition to the standard black.
     Then there were the nine bonus tracks that were on the third LP.  Normally, when a band puts out a reissue with a slew of bonus tracks, you can very easily tell why they weren't included on the original album.  That is not the case with these songs.  It looks like they were cut as a matter of logistics and had to be sacrificed due to a lack of time and space the first time around.  Not a single one of these tracks felt like filler that could be trimmed and put on a shelf.  They were all strong enough that the songs could have been put out as their own individual album at some point.
     In this day of commodification, most bands would not even attempt to release music in this manner for fear of over saturating the market.  Boris has a very “Hey, look what we did” approach to their music and will put out records whenever they see fit.  Which is why they spread their releases over different labels and territories.  It's a living hell trying to keep up with but the sonic rewards are worth every bit of the journey.
     In addition to all of this, there are also their collaborations with artists such as Sunn O))) and Merzbow. This material is not for the faint of heart casual listener.  This is music that will definitely alienate your friends and loved ones but at least the crazy vinyl colors will look good while doing it.
     Around the release of their last album, Dear, there was word that Boris might be calling it quits in the near future.  I hope this is not the case.   The world certainly needs their brand of weirdness in it. And if the world doesn't need that weirdness anymore, I know I sure do.

Here are some links for the curious:



No comments:

Post a Comment