Boredoms
Super Roots 9
Thrill Jockey
Hot drum circle action!
Much in the same way that black metal dudes secretly want to bump uglies with Satan, there’s a lot of musical evidence that Boredoms would like to hang out with God. Or Ra. Or the Buddha. Or attain the Rainbow Body via intense percussive meditation. Or something.
A single-song live recording of a show in Japan on Christmas Eve 2004, Super Roots 9 starts off with a chorus of 20 voices holding notes and sounding worshipful, aimed in the same sort of direction that they’ve been pointed in since 1998’s landmark Super æ, as massive swaths of psychedelic percussion began to substitute for the bonkers bricolage we had come to know and adore. Or, more specifically, it’s a live take on the increasingly tribal/earthbound, decreasingly electronic/space-oriented music from the 2004 release Seadrum/House of Sun. The voices move from note to note, holding it for a few seconds before switching to another one. Layers of drums (from Yoshimi, ATR and Yojiro) pound furiously, building to a crescendo only to switch directions, one drummer heading one way with the voices, the other drummers continuing the ecstatic,frantic beat. Sometimes the drums break apart into different patterns, only to lock back up around the voices. Deep in the mix, leader/sole constant member Eye screams orders. Or lyrics. Or prayers. Or turntable-based vocal samples.
There’s not a doubt in my mind that this was a mind-shattering experience live. There’s not a doubt in my mind that this group is still capable of making absolutely shattering music, bringing together elements of minimal composition, rave culture, noise and tribal pound. People who participated in the July 7, 2007 Boredoms 77 drum jam in New York told me it was a highlight of their lives. I believe them utterly.
I also believe I am not high enough, nor will I be high enough anywhere near my stereo, for this recording to transcend quite the way it’s supposed to. —Joe Gross
