Boredoms

Introducing Japan, land of karaoke madness, weird porn fetishes and ludicrously violent movies. I'm guessing Japanese culture has a lot more to offer other than this triad of seemingly ill-conceived concepts but as far as personal experience goes, I really don't know any better. Nevertheless, the extravagant nature of these is evidence enough of the cultural distance between us, civilized keep-it-on-the-safe-side-of-things westerners and those crazy what-the-fuck-were-they-thinking Japanese.

So, having developed over the years a taste for, let's say, eccentric music (because weird just sounds mean), Japan seemed like a good place to turn to, because, you know, they're freaky like that.

The photo was taken during a concert (if you can call it that) of Hanatarash, an early project of Yamatanka Eye who specialized in spreading terror-inducing noise while putting at risk the lives of those brave enough to attend their shows. In one particular gig, he actually ran a bulldozer into the audience. It just goes to show the fine line between art and attempted murder.

Eye then founded Boredoms, an ever-mutating musical outfit that has suffered several line-up changes and that has been renovating its sound since their early stages. From noise-rock to full blown psychedelia and back to tribal drumming, they have tampered with many sounds, leaving a long and confusing discography along the way. Their music is hard to digest and not something to take on a whim.

I'm at a loss for words to describe their sound (should have thought of it before you started writing this, eh champ?). It's all so massive and schizophrenic, bearing no ties to any distinctive style of music. You'll be confused, perhaps even aggravated by all those shrieks and blips and inane riffs but there's a chance that somehow, at some point, it starts making sense. When that happens, you're in for a treat.