let's talk about boris

[Andrew_TSKS]

i'm starting this thread because i got "pink" recently and really like it. the first song is especially intriguing--that whole 7-minute hazy shoegaze drone track that sounds sorta like my bloody valentine. that song and one of the tracks on the sunn 0))) collaboration are the only songs i've ever heard them do that sound like that. did they ever do any more in that style? also, what other albums of theirs can i check out that sound like the rest of the songs on "pink"? i've had "amplifier worship" for years but never been able to get into it. however, that album is totally different from "pink". so, based on all this, which boris albums do you think i'll dig? i know some of you are experts on this band, so tell me all about it.

[Killdozersnakeboy]

I'd go for Akuma No Uta (The one with the Bryter Layter cover), probably the album that's most along the same lines as Pink. It's fucking brilliant and I may even like it more than Pink, not sure.
The Boris collaboration with Michio Kurihara called Rainbow is also very good apparently although I haven't picked it up myself yet.

[jebreject]

I'm gonna see these guys soon I think

[elpollodiablo]

He's a sneaky fucking Russian

[diesel_powered]

[in jest]

Perhaps the Flood album, Andrew. It's a lot more spacey, floaty, etc. than Amplifier Worship.

[G.C.R]

I saw the title of this thread and I thought, Yes, Let's! But practically, I have nothing to offer.

[difficult]

Yeah Flood, is really lovely, in a ridiculous epic kinda way...
Akuma.. is the closest to Pink, but I don't quite like it as much

I thought Boris were going to be huge in my life for a while there, but they never really built . And I discovered Les Rallizes Denudes soon after, and it dragged lesser pretenders out of my head.
They are still pretty great essential stuff though, maybe not quite worth the price to buy all their records though...
I think they could change my mid if they toured here though....

[alex]

Yeah, Akuma No Uta is probably the closest thing they've done to Pink, but I agree with Campbell, I'm not feeling it as much.

Flood is indeed my favourite of theirs (I'm far from a completist, though), but I should warn you that it takes a lot longer to build up to its epic climax than their stuff tends to do on other releases. But the quiet before and after the storm is incredibly beautiful, and the build-up is magnificent.

[Andrew_TSKS]

ok, i guess i'll check out "akuma no uta" and "flood" next! thanks guys.

[WhereTheSlimeLive]

My favorite track on Pink is Blackout.  For a band that doesnt do the drone so much, they do it really well on that track

[Ah_Pook]

my favorite album is the archive 3cd live set personally

[old kentucky shark]

meh-heh-heh, you sneaky no-good, natasha

edit oh sorry that was kind of done already

[Antero]

Boris is cool.  I like Heavy Rocks and Flood a ton, even though they're at opposite ends of their range of sound.  "Korosu," off Heavy Rocks, is one of those tracks that I never get tired of no matter how many times I hear it.

The Archive Live Set is pretty good too, it has a great version of "Flood" on it.

And I discovered Les Rallizes Denudes soon after, and it dragged lesser pretenders out of my head.

This is one of my favorite bands ever.  Ever.  Takashi Mizutani is a genius.  I do not have enough words to describe just how insanely gorgeous their music is.  Absolute fucking textural perfection.

My favorite might be "Night of the Assassins."  You know, the song where Mizutani takes "I Will Follow Him," brutally murders and flays it, and stumbles on stage "disguised" in its bloody skin.  That one has this incredible sense of alllllmost becoming a pop song.

That's a band that bends reality.  The universe smears and melts at the edges of that sound, and all the colors run together.

[difficult]

Yeah, good description.
I have days where Les Rallizes is so self-evidently both the best band ever, and both the justification and the epitome of the possibilities of rock'n roll - if you like,  the alpha and the omega.


Of course, theyre also just so fucking hard out too.

[thedeadChris]

Heavy Rocks is probably the closest to Pink.
Pink's just drenched in backwards reverb and rocks ever so slightly harder in places. Akuma No Uta is like a best of, it touches on a number of Boris styles, it's got that droning intro (outro on the japanese version) which corresponds with their first release Absolutego, 'Ibitsu' which is balls to wall garage rock like Heavy Rocks and Pink, that big spacey two-part psychedelic epic in the middle has touches of Feedbacker to it, and the title track leans closer to the doom they did on Amplifier Worship.

Flood is just immensely beautiful, I can't really understand why they haven't gotten that one an international release...
that and Heavy Rocks were my first two Boris albums and both are probably still my favourites actually.

Akuma No Uta is great, and easy to get hold of, but both Heavy Rocks and Flood are worth the money to import from japan. I haven't heard it yet, but someone mentioned that some of the Walrus/Groon LP they put out is also in the Heavy Rocks vein. Feedbacker, like Flood, is one big epic track, but lives up to its name, and is huge and fuzzed out, where as Flood is sparse and delicate. Just as gorgeous though. Really any of the stuff that has gotten a cd release is worthy of your cash..

But, there's some really good stuff on the Thing Which Solomon Overlooked LPs which also range all over the place, the Archive Set is nice, and the low-fi recording adds something, but I don't think it's worth the prices it commands on ebay, hardly essential, unless you get obsessed with some of the really early songs and need to hear live versions.

I'm quite partial to the Merzbow collaborations (Megatone and Sun Drenched Snow Cave) but your mileage may vary, I dig most of what Boris do... I just don't buy all of it, ha. The live release with the numbers/date for a title is pretty bad, stay clear. There's a new double live cd of the band with Merz about to come out next month, the tracklist looks awesome (stolen from the Southern Lord board):

This is the track list for Rock Dream from the Diwphalanx website, as translated by babelfish:
Disc 1
- Feedbacker
- When blackout
- Evil Stack (album not yet recording)
- the rainbow starts

Disc 2
- Pink
- The woman of the screen
- regardless it is not separately
- Ibitsu
- a bao a qu
- the speed which wishes to cry
- the flower, the sun and the rain (カヴァー of album not yet recording PYG)
- when we is thrown away
- parting

[Bubbachups]

Boris is cool.  I like Heavy Rocks and Flood a ton, even though they're at opposite ends of their range of sound.  "Korosu," off Heavy Rocks, is one of those tracks that I never get tired of no matter how many times I hear it.

The Archive Live Set is pretty good too, it has a great version of "Flood" on it.

And I discovered Les Rallizes Denudes soon after, and it dragged lesser pretenders out of my head.

This is one of my favorite bands ever.  Ever.  Takashi Mizutani is a genius.  I do not have enough words to describe just how insanely gorgeous their music is.  Absolute fucking textural perfection.

My favorite might be "Night of the Assassins."  You know, the song where Mizutani takes "I Will Follow Him," brutally murders and flays it, and stumbles on stage "disguised" in its bloody skin.  That one has this incredible sense of alllllmost becoming a pop song.

That's a band that bends reality.  The universe smears and melts at the edges of that sound, and all the colors run together.

Les Rallizes Denudes is such an awesome band! Their albums are pretty hard to find though. And when you finally find them they're awfully expensive. Currently I only have their '77 album, which is easily one of my favourite albums ever. Where do you get your LRD stuff?

[difficult]

Since they're a band that doesn't actually release records that are available, I feel no compunction whatsoever about downloading them. There's lots on Soulseek, also various blogs will bring up a lot at different points.

I wish I owned the 1977 album!

[Bubbachups]

Yeah, you're right, strangely enough that's probably the most sensible thing to do. Fusetron has a decent stock of LRD releases, but just look at those prices, off the scale expensive. Especially given the fact that most of them are labelled as a "semi-official release". What the f* is that supposed to mean...?

I’ll just have to settle for the 1977 album and turn to more readily available bands like Suishou No Fune to get my fix.

[Andrew_TSKS]

that means it's a bootleg that was pressed in a country whose laws don't forbid bootlegging.

[mabel]

they're playing at chop suey here in seattle on thursday.  damon & naomi are playing too.  should be good.  probably one of the smaller rooms you're likely to see them in.

[diesel_powered]

Yeah, you're right, strangely enough that's probably the most sensible thing to do. Fusetron has a decent stock of LRD releases, but just look at those prices, off the scale expensive. Especially given the fact that most of them are labelled as a "semi-official release". What the f* is that supposed to mean...?

I’ll just have to settle for the 1977 album and turn to more readily available bands like Suishou No Fune to get my fix.

$85 for a 3CDR BOX???

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING JOKING.

[difficult]

The other things with the lrd boots is that nobody actually can be sure they are boots - nobody can track down these guys, especially Mizutani, and they're pretty anti the usual ways of doing stuff, so these might even be regarded by the band as legit relases.

There are, I think, 3 "official releases", and about 30 bootleg ones.

[jebreject]

HEY GUYS I SAW BORIS LAST NIGHT

PROBABLY IN MY TOP 3 BEST SHOWS EVER

ALSO THEY HAD THE MOST EXPENSIVE MERCH I'VE EVER SEEN

THOUGH FOR ONLY $245 YOU CAN BUY THE RAINBOW BOXSET WHERE EACH SONG IS ON ITS OWN SIDE

[Antero]

Les Rallizes Denudes is such an awesome band! Their albums are pretty hard to find though. And when you finally find them they're awfully expensive. Currently I only have their '77 album, which is easily one of my favourite albums ever. Where do you get your LRD stuff?

A really nice lady on the Electrical Audio forum + Sendspace.

Shout at me and I can hook you up.

I've got

quite a bit

ten hours, actually

(one day I'm going to listen to it all in a row.  I will not survive with my sanity intact, much as though I encountered Cthulhu.)