Boris: Roaring Silence Revue

It was one of those things I dreamed of. I'm sure I mentioned it to people. More than likely mentioned it to Frat somewhere in Illinois when we hit traffic for the first time on our cross country trip. Needing a little something to keep our minds off the distance we fired up the DFA '79 debut cover to cover and then Rainbow, the classic collaboration that still hasn't been knocked off the top spot for album of the year honors. So somewhere in Illinois. As the sun set and the traffic thinned. One of us might have said..."fuck, that'd be great if Michio joined Boris on their next US tour."

Ask and you shall receive.

    

MP3: Boris - "Hama"
MP3: Boris - "Ibitsu"
MP3: Boris w. Michio Kurihara - "Shine"
MP3: Damon & Naomi - "Beautiful Close Double"
MP3: Damon & Naomi w. Michio Kurihara - "My Flower"

Dates:

Boris / Damon & Naomi
US Tour 2007
Both Bands Play with Michio Kurihara

9.30 Empty Bottle (Chicago, IL)
10.2 First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA)
10.3 Music Hall of Williamsburg (Brooklyn, NY)
10.4 Kelly-Strayhorn Theater (Pittsburgh, PA)
10.5 Wexner Center For The Arts (Columbus, OH)
10.6 Mad Planet (Milwaukee, WI)
10.7 Triple Rock Social Club (Minneapolis, MN)
10.10 The Nightlight (Bellingham, WA)
10.11 Chop Suey (Seattle, WA)
10.12 Dante's (Portland, OR)
10.14 The Independent (San Francisco, CA)
10.15 Echoplex (Los Angeles, CA)
10.16 The Brickhouse (Phoenix, AZ)
10.18 The Ballroom (Marfa, TX)
10.19 Scoot's Inn (Austin, TX)
10.20 The Spanish Moon (Baton Rouge, LA)
10.21 Bottletree (Birmingham, AL)
10.22 The Earl (Atlanta, GA)
10.23 40 Watt (Athens, GA)
10.24 The Cat's Cradle (Carrboro, NC)
10.25 Satellite Ballroom (Charlottesville, VA)
10.26 Black Cat (Washington, DC)
10.27 Bard College Chapel (Annandale-On-Hudson, NY)
10.28 Bowery Ballroom (New York, NY)
10.29 Middle East Downstairs (Cambridge, MA)

Back Catalog: Boris @ Ottobar, 6.4.06
Back Catalog: Boris @ The Orange Peel, 9.8.06

Trackmarks: Boris w. Michio Kurihara - "Sweet No. 1" from Rainbow

When the guitars and drums finally clash head-on, flashes of Hendrix virtually flood to the forefront, but Michio Kurihara (formally of White Heaven and Ghost, among others) and Wata don't stick to a particular influence or technique for very long.

At the outset, Michio dominates with an explosive guitar solo borne from a brief muted riff that sets both the tempo and prepares everyone involved for ignition. Wata waits patiently in the wings and then arrives in a flourish, about 1:50 in, sounding at first like a human voice, only to give way to Takeshi's vocals that follow :40 later.

The marriage of each guitar's tonal qualities is breathtaking. When they alternate turns, it is more than a simple hand-off - it is give and take - each one appearing to push further than the other. The solos are blistering, crashing in and careening on like buzzsaws cut loose from their axes. The track is Rainbow's climax, the final explosive vision of a power-packed union of one of hard(er) rock's finest bands and one of the most gifted guitarists on the planet.

The following track on the album, Rainbow's ninth and final cut, titled "...And I Want", simply allows the listener to return calmly to their mortal existence, return to their resting heart-rate. If listeners knows what's good for them, they start the cycle over, close their eyes and allow the aural hurricane of Rainobow to lift them once more towards the "Sweet No. 1" apex and out of the throes of all that is ordinary.

MP3: Boris w. Michio Kurihara - "Sweet No. 1"

 

Boris plays four times at SxSW:

3.15 (Thursday)
Stubbs BBQ
w/ Melvins, Pelican and The Panthers

3.16 (Friday)
Vice Party
w/ Earthless, Big Business, Fucked Up, CPC Gangbangs, Black Lips, Annihilation Time, Against Me! and more

3.16 (Friday)
Spiro's Eclipse SxSW Show
w/ Zoroaster, Noxagt, Mark D (sunno)))/Ex-Melvins) Super Sonic Festival Projections & special guest!

3.17 (Saturday)
SxSW Presents
Mastodon & Boris at the Town River Lake

Boris Heavy Rocks

Exactly 2:00 in to this song it's going to hit you. Like a brick. It is an out of body experience. A rush. It is the way it should be.

I wasn't tracking another Boris collaboration. But here they are. Again. Endless touring. Endless releases. Do we really want it any other way? Pitchfork was on it and they liked it (8.2). In fact, it re-energized their Boris love. I don't need re-energizing. They were easily one of the best shows last year and they are beginning to hit that phase in my brain where I track their every move like a hawk (see TV On The Radio, Pearl Jam, John Frusciante, The Mars Volta).

This track is something else. It's probably because it's a union of epic proportions with acclaimed guitarist Michio Kurihara entering the fold with one of the most respected psychedelic drone rock outfits on the scene today. The track is a little more refined then the stuff you will find on Pink, but it still has that raw edge.

I, for one, am busting out the checkbook and dropping $35.00 on this two disc album because, well, no one else is making music like this. You can join me over at Amp Camp.

Boris, along with These Arms Are Snakes, is helping Isis wreak havoc throughout Japan in late January. In May they are doing 5 dates in Japan with Sunn o))). If they bring it back this way this spring or summer I pray my ears are ready for the beating.

Thanks to Fluxblog for always keeping me in the know. Without Fluxblog, BrooklynVegan, and some others I'd be still be signing up for 12 free CDs for the price of 1 at BMG every three months (using different names and addresses) and still finding very little that I liked.

MP3: Boris w. Michio Kurihara - "Starship Narrator"