Boris 2011 - New Album, Heavy Rocks, Attention Please

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/New_Album_%28Boris%29.jpg

My friend Yoshiki got the import in the mail today and snaked me a copy. All he said is it was very different. I expected the pop direction, but I didn't expect to like it this much. There's some J-Pop/Rock, psych, and even industrial era synths, and, and I think it all works! It seems like they put more thought into the arrangements. I definitely like it better than Smile on first listen. Possibly different versions of four of the tracks will appear on US release Attention Please and two on Heavy Rocks, leaving "Flare," "Black Original," "Pardon?" and "Looprider" the unique titles on this album. Much to look forward to!

was too late to get the vinyl (again)

the albums better than it should be

but i did have very low expectations for it and i dunno if i'd want to see this stuff live.

hope heavy rocks is a banger tho

Heavy Rocks is yr average Boris jammer. Other one sounds liken the xx and is dope

From Sargent House page:

Heavy Rocks Apr 26

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The Japanese trio’s classic 2002 album, Heavy Rocks is a landmark of their mastery. So, it’s fitting that the group’s new album sharing the same title and very similar artwork to that disc, Heavy Rocks (2011) seeks to redefine “heavy” music in a culmination of the band’s tireless efforts over the past two decades. This year’s Heavy Rocks is beyond heavy, it firmly establishes Boris as a pillar of innovation and integrity in guitar-based music.

Attention Please Apr 26

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Attention Please is more like a complete redefining of their potential in several ways. First and foremost, it is the first album on which all vocals are sung by lead guitarist, Wata. While she has previously sung on a couple of songs for singles and her solo outings, the entire 10-song album features her intimate, multifaceted vocal style. Secondly, the songs on Attention Please have a sultry, intoxicating catchiness to them. It’s melodic without sounding pop. It’s psychedelic without sounding dated. It’s heavy without relying on barre chord riffs.

i am excited to hear all of these

Both albums have been pushed back to May 24th.

is there anyplace selling 'New Album' yet? looks like it's on Tearbridge Records but i can't find a damn thing on their site re: Boris

ah nevermind, looks like it's on Inoxia

yes please

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgqgxk06hh1qg2879.jpg

Artist: Boris
Album: Attention Please
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: May 24th, 2011

01. Attention Please
02. Hope
03. Party Boy
04. See You Next Week
05. Tokyo Wonder Land
06. You
07. Aileron
08. Les Paul Custom '86
09. Spoon
10. Hand in Hand

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgqgvfG4L61qg2879.jpg

Artist: Boris
Album: Heavy Rocks
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: May 24th, 2011

01. Riot Sugar
02. Leak -Truth, yesnoyesnoyes-
03. GALAXIANS
04. Jackson Head
05. Missing Pieces
06. Key
07. Window Shopping
08. Tu, la la
09. Aileron
10. Czechoslovakia

^ here are the updated/final track listings for the new albums

also of note:

The vinyl version of Heavy Rocks will feature extended versions of "Missing Pieces" and "Czechoslovakia".

ummm... so this is one of the best live bands i've ever seen but everything i've heard by them on CD is shite.

weird i h8d boris live & love 3 of their albums a lot

depends on what cds you guys have

lots of stuff up to Pink is awesome

uh Smile is excellent too, wtf

im guessing people prefer the live versions of those songs than the cd versions

I have Pink and Smile (two version I think) and both of them sound kind of weak compared to the rifferama of the live show i saw.

pink rulz

"Naki Kyoku" off Akuma no Uta is one of my favourite things ever

Damn, want to hear full version of "Czechoslovakia" I mean vintage thrash, damn.

Damn, NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/25/136240462/first-listen-boris-attention-please

Now that I've heard all three, I don't like any of this year's albums.

i haven't heard 'new album' but wasn't 100% sold on the other two on my first listens

so there's been very little ILM interest in these albums, or so it seems. and i wasn't very interested myself, having grown distant from boris over the past four or five years. i loved both pink and smile when they first came out and happily spent a good deal of time with each, but i haven't often returned to them in recent years and haven't enjoyed them much when i did. they can be oppressively dense, and perhaps neither sufficiently compartmentalized nor synthesized in their pursuit of pop pleasure, punk aggression and psychedelic drift. still love rainbow though.

anyway, i went over to a friend's house last night and he played me the LP version of new album. it's incredible. love the hard left to full-blown commercial pop, and in that the surprising mastery of a number of previously unexplored styles. fucking J-POP ANIME THEME BORIS on "flare" nearly broke my fucking brane, but i kind of love it, especially as metal & powerpop creep in towards the end. the whole first half of the album is great, through "hope" and "party boy" to "black original", showing the band pushing much farther into the minimal kraut-pop and club music territory previously explored on "floorhshaker" and the original japanese version of smile's "message". they keep up a flood of catchy hooks, successful experiments and beautiful sounds, the sonic texture constantly shifting, wrapped up sweet in rich, adventurous production ― and they do all this without ever sacrificing the sense that there's a kick-ass, heads down, hard rock band behind the wheel. love this shit.

the album drifts a little after that, but only a little. the stretch from "spoon" through "jackson head" to "les paul custom '86" holds its own with the best songs up front, running the basic boris soundbox through gauzy shoegaze indie, industrial hard rock, and subtractive dance music filters.

okay, so new album, the Big Pop Experiment, comes accompanied by two sister albums: attention please, a more thorough exploration of the shoegaze indie sound deployed on "spoon" ― with all songs sung in a breathy whisper by their female lead guitarist, wata ― and heavy rocks, ostensibly a faith-keeping hard rock album named somewhat confusingly after a milestone release in the band's storied past (2002's, uh, heavy rocks). neither's as circumscribed as those package descriptions might imply, however. they each share songs with new album and with one another, and both experiment quite a bit within their purview, constantly pushing out toward new album's jaw-dropping pop eclecticism.

the problem is that this is a lot to swallow all at once, much too much, really, and as inevitably happens with enormous, ambitious package releases like this (think use your illusion or speakerboxxx/the love below), the quality of the best material is diluted somewhat by the sheer sprawling mass of what's on offer. personally, much as i do love the songs that make up new album and love too its fearless experimental reach, i think that the rawer, looser attention please and heavy rocks versions of the shared tracks are superior in every case. furthermore, several of the very best tracks are unique to each of the three albums, so that no one really works as THEE album proper (though new album does contain all of the most focused pop tunes, if not always in ideal form). as a result, you either have to accept the ungainly whole, or else get your hands dirty cutting it down to a form that suits you. but hey, this is the future. we all make playlists, right?

imo, a reduced and resequenced version of the strongest tracks from all three releases easily holds its own with the best albums released so far in 2011. some of the finest, most adventurous and accessible rock-as-pop produced in this new century. 76-minute serving suggestion, using new album's track sequence as a skeleton:

01 - flare (new album - track 01)
02 - hope (attention please - track 02)
03 - party boy (attention please - track 03)
04 - black original (new album - track 04)
05 - tokyo wonder land (attention please - track 05)
06 - spoon (attention please - track 09)
07 - les paul custom '86 (attention please - track 08)
08 - riot sugar (heavy rocks - track 01)
09 - jackson head (heavy rocks - track 04)
10 - missing pieces (heavy rocks - track 05)
11 - looprider (new album - track 10)
12 - leak (heavy rocks - track 02)
13 - window shopping (heavy rocks - track 07)
14 - aileron (heavy rocks - track 09)

short form: if you're ever liked boris or have any interest in forward-thinking rock & pop music, LISTEN TO THESE ALBUMS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzFLiO5hIKA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pByo0WOLRhg&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4RDBiSpB68

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyuDYqqL8Po

Great post. I've been really struggling to wrap my head around all this new material, but I just programmed that playlist into my iPod and I plan to give it a good go. I know there's some really strong material on these three, but you really nailed it about how hard it is to get into it all.

was planning to focus on Attention Please since that seems to be the one everybody I'm talking to on here seems to prefer (including the Quietus) but maybe I'll give New Album a shot too...

feelin the new boris

http://www.lovemusiconline.com/images/T/DJBorisBelieveInME.jpg

Giant Remington electric shaver

cool contenderizer post up there i had totally forgotten about all this