Japan has a reputation for being unique, wacky, weird, mysterious, and extreme. These same words also help attempts to describe the musical madness, the inspired insanity, the Jello-flavor genius that is Boredoms. Boredoms were formed in 1986 by vocalist Eye Yamatsuka, who had previous performed in the band Hanatarashi (loosely translated as “snot-nosed kid”), who were known for their insanely intense and violent shows. During one show Eye seriously cut himself with a circular saw, although it seems he was unaware of it. Another time he drove a backhoe thru the venue, serious damaging the building and machine. The original Boredoms line-up also featured Hanatarashi drummer Taketani, as well as guitarist Mara Tabata and bassist Hosoi. All of the members quit or were fired except for Eye. Mara quit to join Zeni Geva, and was replaced by Seiichi Yamamoto (sometimes listed as Yama-Motor). Toyohito Yoshikawa took over on drums and Hira on bass. In case you ever try to make a timeline of the band's history please remember that band members use multiple spellings of their names, have multiple names, some members quit and join numerous times, and printed credits may not exist or be inaccurate. Also albums are available in various countries, sometimes with different tracklistings, and sometimes different artwork/packaging. Eye himself changed his family name for no apparent reason to Yamantaka, and later Yamataka, and as a result is almost always called simply Eye (which he somet...
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Japan has a reputation for being unique, wacky, weird, mysterious, and extreme. These same words also help attempts to describe the musical madness, the inspired insanity, the Jello-flavor genius that is Boredoms. Boredoms were formed in 1986 by vocalist Eye Yamatsuka, who had previous performed in the band Hanatarashi (loosely translated as “snot-nosed kid”), who were known for their insanely intense and violent shows. During one show Eye seriously cut himself with a circular saw, although it seems he was unaware of it. Another time he drove a backhoe thru the venue, serious damaging the building and machine. The original Boredoms line-up also featured Hanatarashi drummer Taketani, as well as guitarist Mara Tabata and bassist Hosoi. All of the members quit or were fired except for Eye. Mara quit to join Zeni Geva, and was replaced by Seiichi Yamamoto (sometimes listed as Yama-Motor). Toyohito Yoshikawa took over on drums and Hira on bass. In case you ever try to make a timeline of the band's history please remember that band members use multiple spellings of their names, have multiple names, some members quit and join numerous times, and printed credits may not exist or be inaccurate. Also albums are available in various countries, sometimes with different tracklistings, and sometimes different artwork/packaging. Eye himself changed his family name for no apparent reason to Yamantaka, and later Yamataka, and as a result is almost always called simply Eye (which he sometimes spells with the final “e” reversed). The name Eye he has been explained as being inspired by his sister’s name, Aiko. Boredoms music changes constantly, depending on the era, members, setting, mood and who knows what else. While some parts are elaborately arranged, other parts are improvised, and the pre-planned parts may be more chaotic than the improvised. From album to album or song to song, or even moment to moment, their sound may change drastically. The groups to which they are most often compared are Sun Ra, Butthole Surfers, The Residents, Jesus Lizard, Lee Perry, Funkadelic and Stereolab. Put all of these in a blender, and you are perhaps in the ballpark. The band's first recorded work was the EP
Anal by Anal, released in 1986. It was followed by the album
Osozeran No Stooges Kyo (
The Stooges Craze in Ozozeran - a mountain where ghosts are said to gather). These two records were later coupled and released as
Onanie Bomb Meets the Sex Pistols. In 1988 Yoshimi Yokoya (AKA Yoshimi P-WE) joined as drummer and trumpet player, the first female to join the band, and eventually the most permanent member besides Eye. Soon more member changes took place, and Eye spent some time working with John Zorn. In 1990 the band recorded
Soul Discharge, which was released in the States on Shimmy Disc. This album made them well-known in underground and college radio circles in the States. One of the band’s early supporters was Nirvana, who had them as an opening band for eight shows starting in October 1993. The following year they joined Smashing Pumpkins, Flaming Lips, and the Beastie Boys on the then very hot Lollapolooza tour. Amazingly, Boredoms were signed to a major label, Warner, where they released
Pop Tatari, which has been called the least commercially viable album released on a major label since
Metal Machine Music, Lou Reed’s infamous feedback drenched double album which many are convinced was made to break his contract with RCA. Since around 2000 the group seems to have become more electronic and drum oriented, and somewhat less noisy. When they performed at Fuji Rock in 2003 they played as a drum circle with Eye on synthesizer. The band members, past and present, have many side projects, many of them quite obscure. Nobody knows, including the members, how many, or even the names of all of these projects. Amongst the better known Boredoms-related side projects are Yoshimi’s bands Free Kitten and
OOIOO. It seems likely that Boredoms have released at least 14 albums. They are, by the way, officially no longer called Boredoms, in Japan at least, where they are Vooredoms, with the double o’s connected to make an infinity sign. Vooredoms, most recently with four members, released the two track album
Seadrum/ House of Sun in 2004, their first album since 2001. For this recording they recorded drums near and submerged in the ocean, resulting in substantial damage to the equipment. While Boredoms have never sold albums in large numbers, their reputation as an inspired live band allows them to draw sizable crowds in many countries around the world.
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