It's coming...a new Boris LP - Smile - 2008

400-gram 3-disc yellow vinyl triple gatefold with "locator chip" and real fox fur at Aquarius right now for $399

track listing :
1st track, and 3-7: something in japanese.
2nd track:BUZZ-IN.
8th track: bonus track.

and it sounds more or less like a noisier, treblier,less comromising version of "pink". a true assault on yr ears.

Seeing them (finally) in may.

Saw them most recently on the Rainbow tour w/ MK, also a couple years ago for Pink. Good live band, but maybe not a great one? The psych, doom & drone comes off VERY well, but they struggle with the soaring, shoegazey stuff. (Or rather, Atsuo struggles to stay in tune while emoting, in a less-than-endearing way.)

....from the 3 songs that i've heard, that is

(my)xxpost

See, i thought you were just goofin, Zeno, like Whiney. Trax posted w/ approval anywhere on the net? Anyway, if that's the cover, it looks great, per Fangsanalsatan standard. (Better, at least, than the hideous mishmash SL cooked for the American Pink.)

so wait, is this already out in Japan, and has it leaked yet?

real fox fur on the vinyl? i'm a fan, but i don't approve of that :/

wasnt goofin!

me neither! Real fox fur!

Limited to 150 copies tho, so only like 50 foxes had to die.

And they were ill-behaved to begin with.

Translated Track listing:
1. Message
2. BUZZ-IN
3. 放て!
4. Flower Sun Rain (PYG cover song)
5. Next Saturn
6. Dead destination
7. You put up your umbrella
8. Full Song

400 gram vinyl?.
that's amazing.

Link to the order page(?) @ disk UNION's online shop. Make of it what you will. Japanese Amazon lists it as a pre-order item. Plus funny Google translations of promo hype ("the band remains a devastating problem"). Wants title of song #6 to be "Dead Ahead", which seems preferable, but who knows?

Big cover pic - looks like sponge fox:

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/borissmile.jpg

the flower sun rain song was also on the "rock dream" thing,performed live with Merzbow.

what does 400 gram even mean

oh god i want it

real fox fur on the vinyl? i'm a fan, but i don't approve of that :/

-- stephen, Monday, February 4, 2008 8:16 PM

also yes 2 this

can i O_o myself xp

I think it means it's twice as thick as 180-gram. Like just a big yellow slab of Boris. I wager some turntables would strain to even move it!

would 400 gram be as thick as those old 78's?. those are as thick as tile.

fuck these fox-murderin' hoes.

also coming in 2008, 30 other versions of this.

aquarius records profits

japan's GNP rises by 3%

beautiful_day.mp3

I think I'll have to give Pink another go because I am loving this.

Despite their associations, this is about as much a "noise" record as the last Parts and Labor disc.

who cares how much of a "noise" record it is -- if it's good regardless?

Who cares how good it is?

I hear it's 400 grammes and has fur on it, woooty

I just meant that I hope this album gets listened to by folks outside the noise realm, because it's surprisingly accessible.

its way more psych than "pink"

Er, where can you actually order it from? I can't understand Japanese. Also, $300? Way to pre-empt the unavoidable made ebaying once it's out of print. Still kicking myself I didn't get onto a copy of Alter when given the opportunity...

??? Copies of Altar still floating around Seattle at list price. Hell, I think SL're still pressing "special editions" for this or that market.

Boris as a noise band likewise a little mystifying. They've been a doom/psych/rock outfit from the getgo, Merzbow & H. Keiji collabs notwithstanding. Not that it really matters, I guess.

Anyway, looking forward to this.

ahem

*gets the hell outta here*

no foxes killed at least...

http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/snl_wild_and_crazy_guys_small.jpg

No foxes?

Not Alter fuck sorry, I meant Vein which disappeared in under 24hrs.

Oh yeah, Vein. It ain't that great.

I've only heard one of the versions.

Which one? The vacuum cleaner one, or the Japanese HC one? I've got the HC version, which is okay. Cool enough, but far from the best Boris record out there. The other one is sucky.

Anyway, at-work first-listening notes on Smile (Japanese version):

Message:
Fuck, the bass is blown out! Like electric lint. Stonesey, locomotive “woo-hoos” and motorik drum clacking on the intro = awesome. But intro isn’t really the word. Sounded like an intro, but it’s been going on for quite a while. Clackety-clack, clackety clack, woo-hoo... Add some screaming guitar to snap you awake, then, finally, after about three minutes, a vocal & melody. Really damn nice. Then back to the hypnotic clack & drone, minus chanting. Sound, if anything, is getting even more compressed and distorted - like Justice, if they was a Japanese psych band. Now intoning: “Messa-age, messa-age,” over frying guitar. And back to the sweet “chorus” they dropped about three minutes in with extra woo-hoo action. (I like that part.)

BUZZ-IN:
Baby babble. Cuet! Then some sludgy riffrock. Nowhere near as experimental as Message – in keeping w/ the Heavy Rocks style they’ve been working on and off for a few years now. Add some backwards gtr and spoken-word from on high to close things out. Directly into…

(untranslated)!:
On/off chaos rock, with everything except the vocals MASSIVELY in the red. Noisy as hell, but awful damn catchy, too. Boris is not concerned about your ear fatigue. God, now it’s just a wall of guitar distortion and screaming. Aaaaand doubletime. Out of the maelstrom, into some hardcore. Not quite Vein-style, but looking in on that ballpark. After that, we settle into a distorted, booming kick-drum, w/ very pretty psych-folk gtr laced overtop, eventually fading into a pastoral coda. Tweet tweet.

Flower Sun Rain (PYG cover):
Starts off threatening to bring back the noise, but quickly settles down. Echoey psych gtr, yearning vocals, hand percussion. 60s bead-fringe memories, preserved here for you and your loved ones to cherish forever. Monster guitar solo unto infinitee, finally exeunt to a beautiful refrain of layered acapella harmony vocals. Gorgeous, if you like that kind of thing.

Next Saturn:
FUCKING POP! Distorted, almost retro 60s, not quite shoegaze p-o-p, beautiful and catchy as hell. Love how fucked-up rock noisy is while still sounding like candy. For a while at least. Two minutes in, we go down the psych-noise wormhole: an overwhelming, overdriven blur. “Middle 8,” I guess, cuz after that it’s back to the lovely pop, drowned in (angels in) heavy syrup. Seems to end w/ a giggle at four-plus minutes, but before we go, another dose of the headfuck swirl.

Dead Ahead:
Starts off mid-jam: frantic, headlong psychedelic hard rock. Approaching High Rise mania levels, Wata tearing it up down the middle. A soaring, yearning vocal eventually settles somewhere in the middle of the din, which continues unabated, like Flower Sun Rain wrapped in a hurricane. Not too long before it’s back to the epic instrumental jam, which you pretty much saw coming from the first note. Whispery vocals do return to hint mysteriously in the background towards the end. Oh, and a ridiculously majestic, keep-reaching-for-the-stars conclusion.

You Put Up Your Umbrella:
Tick-tock drum track, distant and echoey. Then some bright, gentle gtr picking w/ tons of sustain. Dreamy, with suitably heartsick vocals. A distant, mechanical drone whines in the background, rising and falling. So pretty. A false ending abt 4 min in leads to silence... Then a massive, swollen-sounding lysergic explosion. (Swollen. Throughout this record, the bass is swollen, bulbous, overdistorted and shoved up front. It’s a weird effect, especially on the prettier songs, but it works. Like cruising through heavy clouds. Drumming is distant and metallic, similarly blown out, but thinner sounding.) Man, the ending of this song is so fucking beautiful. It’s like they took all the best parts of their last few records and made them a hundred times better.

Bonus Track:
Starts out as an ambient coda to Umbrella, builds slowly to noise, then quickly fades back to a blissful haze, w/ mournful, moaning vocals. Rallizes, LSD March comedown ache. I’m reminded, indirectly, of Spacemen 3’s Call the Doctor, but this is much more epic and emotionally expressive. Continues in this pleasantly stupefied vein for about nine minutes, before sliding into another ten minutes of powerdrone to soothe us off to the land of nod. Not as immediately gripping as some of the other songs here, but still pretty damn great.

*** *** ***

Best Boris to date? I dunno, it doesn’t even try to complete with Absolutego, Flood, Feedbacker, Dronevil, so you can’t really measure it against them. It’s not a doom drone monolith, it’s a rock & roll record. With pop songs even. Dead Ahead and BUZZ-IN are about the only pieces of riff-metal on here. Everything else lives or dies by melodies, emotion and texture. Message and Next Saturn seem like the obvious standouts. Less beholden to established styles, more catchy and unique (well, Saturn is catchy – Message is just cool). I’ve only heard it once, so I’m wary of conclusions, but I think I love this record.

JACK BURT0N DA GOD

this album's really good when it gets into the can - oh yeah territory. which I guess is just one song.

And the first track, at that. But Message isn't the only worthwhile track on the album.

BTW: All thanks and praises to J@ck Burt0n, whoever you may be.

The leaked version was the Japanese version--different mix, different track listing, different artwork--so your liveblogging was for naught contenderizer.

lol

I know, Whiney, and I assume the US version will differ. Not sure what difference it makes, from a listening-to-it-now standpoint. Still got the Japanese version of Pink on my ipod from last time around...

Yeah I don't even know that I've heard the US version of Pink.

Extended tracks, resequenced. Not sure it's any better, but it lasts longer and looks worse. Paid good money for both the import CD and domestic LP on that one (to say nothing of Vein (fuckers)), so I'm not too tore up about the ethics of pilferage here.

For those of you who thanked me.... you are very welcome. I'm digging the hell outta this too.

However, I cannot take full credit. For I am just a messenger, but perhaps our paths may cross again in the near or distant future.

ADIEU!

*gets the hell outta here*

*googles boris+smile+rar*

*wonders why people are still bootlegging the lily allen album*

*lolz lily allen*

this record is just more of the good old boris,and thats ok by me.

i have it on my flash drive and still haven't listened yet

i envy yr tolerance

Fucking great (I've listened to it about 10 times in the last two days). Easily my favorite of the non-doom-drone Boris records. Nowhere near as raw and immediate as Pink, Akuma No Uta, but much more inventive and challenging/rewarding. I hope it doesn't get written off due to the hype and overmarketing that Boris and SL have gone in for over the last few years, cuz it's one of the best rock records of the 00s. For me, it's been like listening to In a Priest Driven Ambulance, Sister or Kid A for the first time. Wildly experimental, wide-ranging and seriously POP all at the same time. So damn good.

did you cut and paste that from aquarius? cause they always end their reviews with "so damn good" or "so blissful" or "so dark" or whatever. and they always like boris albums.

production on this is kind of blowful and digital. material ok but not better than good, except a couple of spots. typical boris, in other words.

yes it's typical boris but typical is good in their case.either way,it's not akuma no uta or heavy rocks,which are the best records imo

i envy yr tolerance

-- Zeno, Friday, February 8, 2008 2:55 AM

nah dude i wasn't not-listening out of MORALS or anything, i just hadn't opened the .rar yet. now i have, and am listening now.

wow wow way more poppy than i'd expected. vocals that are harmonized AND undistorted? great psych jam to start shit off. can't wait to hear on my real headphones on vinyl in a bit.

psych thrash!!! i love it

I sincerely regret the cheeseball overstatement above, but then I regret everything. And while I agree that the production is awfully artificial, I think it's great. Some dullness to the sound, overall, but I'm gonna assume (hope) that's due to the MP3s.

Not better than good, though? Typical Boris? No way. This is something new for them. Songwriting and arrangements are a big leap past anything they've even attempted before. But then I hate Heavy Rocks.

I want to know what Kerr thinks about ^that post.

I just got this and love it. It's a lot better than Pink, which was great but the production was sometimes over compressed especially on the drums, and lacked the sense of dynamics this album has.

A lot of the shoegazing from Pink is gone replaced with a few straightforward nuggets psych ballads. The first song has either sampled drums or drums clipped to sound like samples with sweet minimal synth and vocals like pharell made it or something. One song has the garage punk plus detached talking and kind of reminds me of The Wipers and MX 80 sound.

They have always seemed more metal like Blue Cheer than Metal like Black Sabbath to me, even if their name is a Melvins nod, maybe because they bang so fast. There are some awesome gnashing of teeth 4 horseman army of the dead in valhalla guitar solos a few times over some pretty much straight forward Alchemy Records style noise that only comes after jamming with Merzbow. And there's some sweet low end samples/synth banging plus soloing on a few tracks.

I'm going to listen to this a bunch more times. It seems like 2/3rds of the album is super awesome things I've heard before done really well and 1/3rd totally new original stuff done really well.

Songwriting and arrangements are a big leap past anything they've even attempted before. But then I hate Heavy Rocks.

Heavy Rocks and Akuma No Uta have way better songs than on Pink and the new one.

I still like Smile on 1st listen though, I think it prob is better than pink. Time will tell.

Each to his own.

Some updates: Smile's sixth track ("Dead Destination") is a re-recording of "No One Grieves (Part II) from The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked Vol. II. Adds vocals, trims the intro, but otherwise pretty much identical.

On first listen, Smile often reminded me of the last few Yura Yura Teikoku albums, especially the more experimental and psychedelic tracks. With good reason, as c-deep on the now-unofficial SL board points out: Smile was produced by Hiroshi Ishihara, of Stars & White Heaven and Ghost's Michio Kurihara (also of Stars/White Heaven) plays guitar on a number of songs. The connection? Ishihara also produced Yura Yura Teikoku's No Memai/No Shibire and Sweet Spot albums, and Kurihara has often played with YYT. For reference, compare "Message" w/ YYT's "Soft Death" or "Penetration".

After listing to it for nearly a week, Smile sounds less WTF brilliant, more a combination of familiar elements. The high points are unique and, I think, some of the band's best work to date, but about half the record consists of more straightforward psych-rock: excellent, but hardly a big surprise.

P.S. I was wrong to call the sound "dull". You just have to play it awful damn loud to get the full effect.

WITH EARBUDS THIS HURTS MY EARS

i think i'm even more disappointed in the production knowing ishihara's responsible. just cause i would expect something much more interesting from him.

There are elements of the fourth song which remind me of the Loved Ones' Sad Dark Eyes. yeeeah.

Got a promo version from SL, different tracknames now:

1. Flower Sun Rain
2. BUZZ-IN
3. Laser Beam
4. Statement
5. My Neighbor Satan
6. KA RE HA TE TA SA KI -No Ones Grieve
7.

Fuuuuck I want to hear this, so bad.

Yes, v. good. Last half especially.

"Statement" on the SL 45 (and presumably LP) is a radically different mix of "Message" from the leaked Japanese version. More Pink-style rock, much less kraut drone. The retitling is weird, too, cuz you can still distinctly hear Takeshi saying "message" and "messa-age" throughout the song.

Anyway, are any of the other US tracks different mixes/versions?

the show in nyc was heavenly amazing.

the american version of "smile" will be different,with different song order and titles
but esp. with "message" that will be replaced with "statement": same song really, different mix: no samples,more catchy guitars rock.

"statement" was released as a single, with "floor shaker" as a b-side.

My Neighbour Satan's pretty sweeeeet

Actual release date: April 29

If you buy it from SLORD, it comes with limited bonus DVD of videos for "Statement," "My Neighbor Satan," and "Pink" -- all for the low low price of SLORD's almost $6 S&H!

And I've ordered mine like a sucker!

the live show was orgasmatic, but i was deaf for half a day later.

You'd buy a recording of asphalt bubbling under the sun in July.

That actually sounds pretty cool can you get me some?

That actually sounds pretty cool. Can you get me some?

I might -- MIFGHT -- if you promise me you'll play it when you're attempting to screw your girl or boyfriend in your apartment.

WOW this kicks ass

I might -- MIGHT -- if you promise me you'll play it when you're attempting to screw your girl or boyfriend in your apartment...

http://www.cinemaeye.com/images/uploads/jay.jpg

...nooch.

Still awesome

will this please get actually released? i want asap

Released tomorrow in the UK.

One minor thing: I like the jolting stops (sometimes false endings) and starts on this (on the Japanese version anyway--the only one I've heard--and I don't know why anyone would want Statement instead of Message).

I don't know why anyone would want Statement instead of Message
-- Rockist

And yet, in this interview they insist that this is what the audience outside Japan needs to hear:

[I can't find the interview now. I wish I had bookmarked it because it was pretty good.]

(Not that I expect artists to be the best judges of their own work, their audience, etc.)

this may be my #1 album of the year, so far.

I really want to like this band's stuff, but it never happens. :(

US version of the vinyl is out on Southern Lord. I want a japanese vinyl though.

Japanese 2xLP vinyl box = $50 on tour right now (if you can snag one, they go fast apparently) or $200 on eBay.

I know. I have been looking for someone to get me one but no luck :(

Cant afford ebay prices. I can just afford $50 + postage. but not those mental ebay prices

i could've gotten one for you, 24 hours ago... :/

are they not coming to yr city?

I live in Scotland. They didn't play here this time. Just a few English dates.

ahh. damn.

Indeed.

Man, Boris were amazing live at Primavera, but when I listen to the two albums I have (Smile and Pink), it just lacks the huge amazing riffs they seemed to be chugging out in their live show. Can anyone recommend more?

check the corrupted/boris thread

Where to start with this band? Pink? The Bryter Layter one? I'm low on cash.

Depends what you're looking for.

Have a read at Boris & Corrupted Classic or Dud?
of course new and old fans have differing opinions as usual

This thread has a lot of good discussion, not to mention a poll which more or less "ranks" the albums (though, as Herman said, there is really no consensus): BeSt BORIS AlBuM PoLL

If I love Smile, what else might I like (other than other Boris, which I'll certainly continue to check out).

One thing to keep in mind: I don't particularly like straight metal, and I certainly don't like most indie rock. You could say I don't like most rock.

But anyway, here is a desription of some of my favorite moments on Smile to help provide an idea of what I like about it:

Favorite moments:

“Message”
Delayed entry of searing guitar: 2:15. Almost sounds like it’s going to be “American Woman”: 2:20.
Two-person “chorus”: 3:24 (etc.) (Absurd attempt to sound cool, which ends up being cool? Not as if they don’t know the games they are playing)
Around 3:41 it starts to become very quasi-industrial sounding and the distortion and drive is great.
Again, vocals come back in with this ridiuclous but great freak rock attitude: 5:52.

“BUZZ-IN”
I am absolutely a sucker for cute kid sounds in music: 0:02-0:12. But what completes it is the foot stamping at 0:12.
“Your mother [mumble mumble]” or something: 2:32

“Shoot!”
Good! Don’t waste any time getting to the next track!: 0:00
I think this is what Scott means by “leads out of nowhere,” one of many: 0:06
We’re back with a more “industrial” (maybe I should say “noise” but why?) pulse in the background: 0:18
[This is also just really good, favorite moments aside, and that goes for everything so far.]
Someone croaking “Rock and roll”: 1:11-1:12
Rough transition: 1:49-2:39
Rock and roll: 2:40
Tribal industrial transition: 3:43
Introduction of pretty theme over top: 3:48
[That whole transition there reminds me of what I used to like on some Psychic TV albums, but this is much better.]
Song disappears

“Flower Sun Rain”
Feedback/distortion: 0:00
which drops away, and now drums: 0:34
Empty bottle rolling in the wind guitar sound: 1:19-1:23
I should probably mention the re-introduction of some harsh guitar at: 2:38
Vocal harmony closer: 4:44-on
(I really like the vocals on this in general. Why do I like them so much and if I could understand Japanese would I like them less?)

“Next Saturn”
Well, nice little rhythm in general. When I think about it, it reminds me of a Joy Division beat, even though the end result is not anything similar.
This sounds pretty cliche, the way the drums lead into this next part, but I like it: 2:05
And this sounds pretty cliche but it really pushes the right buttons for me: 2:09
They do a lot of “texture”oriented stuff, but there’s a lot of control, which you notice in this whole passage. Not just freak out, but lots of attention to melody.
Drums gather things together again, taking us back to the beginning at 2:05, sort of: 3:04-3:06
And again 4:20-4:23
Possible return of cute kid voices, though it might be adult laughter: 4:23-4:24
What’s this?: 4:26

“Dead Destination”
Another jump-start: 0:00
I really like their guitar sounds almost all the time.
Velvet Underground mumbles, but I’m buying it: 4:39, etc.
Unexpected (by me, anyway) vocal melody: 6:09

“You Put Up Your Umbrella (pt.1)”
Good, good sounds.
Nice change of pace.
This gets so beautiful: 2:47-on, for a while
Starts over, muah electric guitar, drums, bass: 4:14
Effects-extended tone ending: 9:09-etc.
“You Put Up Your Umbrella (pt.2)”
Tape loops and quiet guitar intro.
Sudden onslaught out of nowhere: 2:27
Back to nowhere: 3:03
(The edits seem great to me.)
Very engaging feedback (last “half”)

(Especially stuff from the last ten or at least twenty years.)

Kyuss

Boris With Michio Kurihara - Cloud Chamber

has this been mentioned somewhere else and i missed it? i'm looking forward to this.

saw these guys for the first time a few weeks ago

holy fukken loud

I think Cloud Chamber is limited to 1,500 copies. Need to order it soon. There's also a new live, 2CD version of Smile out (called Smile Live, I think) that I've already ordered. Can't wait to get that one!

Cloud Chamber also costs $27 + Postage, which is horrific. Much as I'd like it, that's just too steep at the moment.

drag city reissue in 3...2...1...

Yeah, but no obi = no cred!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Smile. Never heard anything else, where should I go next?

Pink

ta

New Boris album and track