Boredoms

Boredoms (ボアダムス), alternatively known as V∞redoms, is a Japanese experimental/noise/space rock/tribal drumming band from Osaka, founded in 1986 by Yamatsuka Eye. Considered as one of the "stalwarts" of an underground Japanoisecore scene in the earlier years, Boredoms had a period of mainstream success throughout the '90s till mid-2000s, signed by a major label (Warner Music Japan/Reprise) and headlining prominent European festivals, such as Lollapalooza or All Tomorrow's Parties. Boredoms reformed as a percussion-only ensemble in the new millennium, expanding their stylistic palette with diverse elements from various genres: drones, "phasing" techniques borrowed from academic minimalism, tribal drumming, shamanistic 'healing rhythms,' etc. Since the late 2000s, V∞redoms also began organizing conceptual, chronologically-specific annual BOADRUM performances on "round dates," with dozens of drummers in 'spiral' formations. Current lineup (2004—Present) ⁍ Yamatsuka EYƎ—vocals, percussion, electronics, tapes, turntables, kazoo (since 1985) ⁍ Yoshimi (Yoshimi P-We)—drums, perc, Casiotone, djembe, keyboards, trumpet (since 1989?) ⁍ Kazuya Nishimura (ATR, Atari, アタリ)—dr, perc (since 1992) ⁍ Yojiro Tatekawa (Yo2ro, Yo-Chan)—dr, perc (since 2001) Long before starting Boredoms, Yamantaka Eye already had a notorious reputation, even by Osaka's (often bizarre and violent) local scene standards. He led a highly controversial Hanatarash collective, banned from performing anywhere in Japan after an incredibly reckless show at Tokyo's Super Loft in 1985. (That night, Eye drove a mini-bulldozer through the venue's wall and attempted to throw some Molotov cocktails inside the wrecked building.) With a new band, named in honor of Buzzcocks' song Boredom, Yamatsuka shifted his focus towards composition and vocal improvisations, rather than exploring the "artistic" angle of vandalism. The first official production by The Boredoms was a song U.S.A. recorded in 1985 by Yamantaka Eye with ex-Hanatarash drummer Ikuo Taketani for Beast 666 Tapes compilation Kill S.P.K.. The same track, titled "Super Punk King," also appeared on '86 Dead Tech Sampler - No Wave From Japan by the German label Dossier (compilation that, effectively, first presented many key Japanoise figures to European listeners). The band's debut 7" EP, Anal By Anal, came out on Transrecords in Aug 1986—three acapella lo-fi punk improvs over random samples from Ponta Murakami instructional tape. Eye recorded it with guitarist Mitsuru Tabata (member of a local noise-rock band Noizunzuri). In March 1988, Boredoms released their debut full-length album, 恐山のストゥージズ狂 (Osorezan no Stooges Kyo) / Onanie Bomb Meets The Sex Pistols, on Japanese hardcore punk label Selfish Records; despite 'musique concrete' sketches and Eye's bizarre vocalizes, the local "noisecore/avant-punk" fans accepted the band. Their sophomore '89 Soul Discharge CD/LP was the first record distributed overseas, by New York's label Shimmy Disc (ran by Bongwater's Mark Kramer). Following the USA success, Boredoms signed a long-term record deal with Warner Music Japan, negotiating complete creative freedom for themselves. This contract also allowed Reprise Records, Warner's US subsidiary, to release and distribute Boredoms music abroad. In 1992, WEA Japan and Reprise released the band's third album, Pop Tatari, featuring reunited Toyohito Yoshikawa singing, Hira on bass, Yoshimi and ATR (4) on drums, Seiichi Yamamoto on 0dB guitar, and 'King Kazoo' Eye doing 'ahhhg' and 'kazoo & nothing.' This record became an instant success and solidifed new Boredoms "trademark" sound: complex rhythmic patterns, unpredictable shifts from violence to cartoonish interludes, using non-musical objects and toy instruments, etc. Some American critics compared Pop Tatari to a famous '86 album Rembrandt Pussyhorse by Texas avant-punks Butthole Surfers. Boredoms toured with Sonic Youth in 1992, followed by eight consecutive shows with Nirvana in late Oct/early Nov 1993. Yamantaka Eye also met John Zorn in the early nineties and became a vocalist in a free jazz/grindcore outfit Naked City. In Oct '92, Boredoms recorded their Wow 2 CD for John Zorn's Avant label in the United States, at Brooklyn's BC Studio. In July 1994, Boredoms produced their fifth, "breakthrough" album, Chocolate Synthesizer CD, again released by WEA Japan and Reprise. Recorded in just four days and mixed by Eye in a week, Chocolate Synthesizer received numerous positive reviews (subsequently, Alternative Press described it as one of the best albums of the era). The band's popularity in America peaked that year, with Boredoms performing at Lollapalooza's main stage. Following a 4yr public break, Boredoms released their next full-length studio album in May 1998, Super æ, on WEA Japan/A.K.A. Records. Yamatsuka Eye described Super æ as a "rebirth point," marking the band's metamorphosis from disorganized chaos to organized peace. The ensemble got rid of guitars and bass and now consisted of four elements, facing each other in the circle: ƎYE with a turntable DJing and three drumkits. Musicians orchestrated percussion as string instruments and tried to explore each drum's individual character. Boredoms even tuned their drums as guitars, so when three drummers are playing together, sub-patterns will emerge, forming sound 'lines' and 'dimensions,' not just singular 'dots' — the technique often used by minimalist composers. In October 1999, Boredoms presented Vision Creation Newsun CD on WEA Japan/A.K.A. Records. This record marked the ensemble further departing from earlier "noisecore/avant-punk/free improv" towards space rock, atmospheric breakbeats, tribal drumming, and Eye's growing interest in power electronics and turntablism. Coinciding with the new album, Yamatsuka Eye oversaw a series of remix albums: Rebore Vol.1 by UNKLE in Sept 2000, followed by Ken Ishii's Rebore Vol.2 in Nov '00 and Rebore Vol.3 by DJ Krush in Feb '01. It was concluded by Eye's own Rebore Vol.0 in May 2001. Soon after, EYE re-organized the band yet again, so at the 2001 Fuji Rock Festival, they appeared as V∞redoms (the letter "V" representing a needle in the record's groove). V∞redoms had six drummers, including new players Yojiro Tatekawa, Die5, and Akimi, plus a new permanent member on electronics, Kiyoshi Izumi. In September 2004, Warner Music Japan released Seadrum / House Of Sun CD: two 20-min tracks of shamanistic drumming, Indian raga sitars, jazz piano improvisations, long-departed Seiichi Yamamoto on guitar, underwater percussion recordings—mostly archival sources from years earlier. The 'Seadrum / House Of Sun' was the band's last release on Warner, as subsequent albums in Japan came out on a smaller indie label Commmons. In 2005, V∞redoms signed a new North American record deal with Vice Records, kickstarted by Seadrum / House Of Sun CD re-release. (Within the next two years, Vice re-released the whole 'Super Roots' series. Subsequent albums were re-released in UK/US by Thrill Jockey.) The band announced a five-stop tour in the States and Canada, including a headliner's spot at Musique Actuelle Festival in Quebec. Curiously, promoters insisted on V∞redoms touring under the "outdated" Boredoms name, deemed more familiar for their international fans. In Apr 2007, V∞re/Boredoms played three shows with Sonic Youth in Japan. They also released Live At Sunflancisco DVD/CD in Dec '07, featuring their latest "band-as-a-record-player" configuration: EYƎ on CD-turntables surrounded by ATR, Yoshimi, and Yojiro 'Yochan' Tatekawa drumming. Around that time, Boredoms started using innovative custom-built instruments, constructed by Masuko Shinji from DMBQ band. During the North American tour with Iron And Wine in 2008, for instance, they appeared with a monstrous hybrid Sevena percussion: seven Telecasters attached together. Masuko later designed an interactive performance system that Boredoms premiered at ATP's 'I'll Be Your Mirror' 2011 Tokyo Festival. Six drummers sat around EYE in a circle, who used motion sensors to trigger electronic sounds (associated with each musician) by waving hands or turning towards the "activated" band member. On July 7, 2007 (7/7/7), precisely at 7:07 PM, Boredoms held a 77 Boadrum performance at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, New York. Organized with a help of Vice's Adam Shore and Hisham Bharoocha (ex-Black Dice and ex-Lightning Bolt), this free open-air concert had 70+ prolific New York City drummers, multi-instrumentalists and percussionists joining Boredoms: Alan Licht, Andrew W.K., Brian Chippendale, Butchy Fuego, David Grubbs, Josh Bonati, Spencer Sweeney, and Taylor Richardson to name just a few. The word 'Boa' signified a serpent, and seventy-seven drums were set up in DNA-like right-handed spiral. The performance is documented on a '08 77 Boa Drum 2xCD/DVD by Commmons. At a follow-up 88 Boadrum on 8/8/08, eighty-eight drummers began playing at 8:08 PM at La Brea Tar Pits, LA. The third BOADRUM 9, as it happened indoors, only had nine drummers performing at New York's JFK Airport Terminal 5 on Sept 9, 2009. The 'Boadrum' lineups expanded again in the following years, peaking at 91 drummers for 7X13 BOA DRUM that took place on 7/13/2013 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. (It was EYE's conceptual attempt to "annul" negativity of the 'unlucky' 13 by invoking auspicious energies of the number 7.) Further experimenting with various circular formations, Boredoms appeared in a new, expanded lineup during the "StarFes.'14" event at Makuhari Seaside Park in 2014. (Again performing next year, at TAICOCLUB '15, Kiso County). This mandala-like ensemble had a circle of omnidirectional speakers, seven "core" members in the center (Eye, Yoshimi, Yo2ro, Hisham Bharoocha, Ryan Sawyer, Jeremy Hyman, and John Colpitts a.k.a. Kid Millions), surrounded by twenty cymbalists and a so-called Guitar Borchestra (eight guitarists & bassists). Boredoms also staged an elaborate performance with 88 cymbals for Doug Aitken's June–July 2015 exhibition Station to Station: A 30 Day Happening at Barbican Centre, London. Boredoms continued performing internationally in the following years, both with solo mini-tours and at notable festivals, including Fuji Rock Fest in Japan and Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain. They frequented the All Tomorrow's Parties at Butlins Minehead, UK—organizing two BOA DRUM performances in 2009, when cartoonist Matt Groening curated it, and again invited by Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum in 2012. The latest appearance was at 2016 All Tomorrow's Parties 2.0, curated by Stewart Lee at Pontins, North Wales.