Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Boris / Pink / Rating 8.7

Best elements of classic British shoegaze and Sigur Rós with bliss-out metal faves Jesu and Isis.

Pitchfork does it again. This is a review of the Boris import cd and don’t let the mention of Southern Lord as the reissue label fool you. Yes this cd is being reissued by SL but I have a reliable source telling me it isn’t slated until at the very earliest APRIL of this year.

When I get a firm street date and an idea of if this cd will have bonus material, new art, and the likes you good people will be the first to know.

PFM says: "But as invigorating as some of their earlier records are, the band didn't begin to gain a substantial following outside the metal world until 2003's outstanding Akuma No Uta-- parodying the artwork of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter-- struck a chord with independent music fans seeking an antidote to the more polite pop sounds of the Shins, Sufjan, and Death Cab for Cutie."

The PFM Boris review on the whole is fine and I expect the 8.7 to be on target but for many people who follow metal and experimental music a fondness for Boris started when the Keiji Haino split cd Black: Implication Flooding was released on Inoxia back in 1998.

Boris then gained further exposure in 2001 as described by the Southern site:

" "Absolutego", their full-length debut, came out in 1996 on the band's own Fangs Anal Satan imprint but was unavailable in the rest of the world. for years, a situation that was remedied by the Los Angeles-based Southern Lord label reissued the album in early 2001 along with a bonus track and new packaging."

Thanks to Southern Lord, Hydra Head, and a growing acceptance of all that is heavy/experimental/ and noise a whole new group of people have been exposed to Boris and in turn become fans.

I reported this news back about 3 months ago but here it is again: Boris and Sunno))) recorded together in Seattle during their last tour so we can all look forward to this collaberative project being released on Southern Lord later this year.

Lastly here are a few bits taken from an interview with Boris. The band talks about their ever morphing sound which PFM made a remarked upon in their Pink review.

There are two sides to what you do. When you release something like "Dronevil," do you worry about confusing some of your audience, who might not understand the more experimental work?

We're not afraid to try anything, because we have some fans who like the experimental side, and some who like the heavy rock, and some who like both. When we use the name boris, we're experimental, but when we use BORIS, we're heavy. This is how we let people know what we're doing. If someone likes the experimental stuff, maybe they'll listen to the heavier stuff with a more open mind, and vice versa. It's all rock. Some people get confused by the different styles, but we're OK with that. We want to challenge people. If we challenge them, we're having an impact.

Do you see Boris as having anything in common with musical trends like progressive or German "Krautrock," in addition to the stoner/sludge movement?

We love prog and Krautrock! We love psychedelic music, the kind that enters your mind, and takes you on a trip to anywhere. Its influence naturally finds its way into our music, but we're trying to do something different, something beyond. We don't want to be a throwback. There's nothing to be gained from playing it safe, you have to grow. We don't think too much about originality, or our image, but we want something to connect us to now.