Bordedoms - Super Roots 9 (Thrill Jockey)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
As with each Super Roots EP, this is the sound of the Boredoms getting something out of their system. The difference is that this particular thing has taken years to escape on to a record.
The latest edition to the Super Roots catalogue, started way back in 1993 as a method of Boredoms releasing the very weirdest, most half formed, dare I say it experimental music of theirs, is essentially the same live set the band have been playing for the past four or so years, or at least since the 2004 All Tomorrow's Parties festival when I first encountered it. The times I've seen them since, they've done exactly the same thing. Granted, it's been decidedly top notch every time. But now it's been set to disc, they can move on. I'm delighted about that.
The only major variation between this and the last few years worth of Boredoms live shows, other than this being a record and not an experience one could place in time or space, is that the Boredoms use a choir here, for the very first time, they boast, to startlingly brilliant effect. To be annoyingly precise, the first four minutes of it are almost entirely vocal, head Boredom Eye directing his choral crew adeptly before bringing in some gently tickling cymbals. The crowd roars, and it's probably the only time you'll ever notice this is a live recording, so choreographed and perfected is every move in this set. Well, it should be - they've been doing it for years.
You know it'll kick in at some point. But when, Eye? When!? Seven minutes in to this forty minute saga, that's when. And from there on in, it's the most relentlessly relaxing record in my collection. Just let it do its thing whilst you go about yours, you'll be amazed at how much attention you end up paying to it. In essence, it's a record / live set in which Eye samples the choir and makes them do 'weird shit', the terminology necessary to describe I do not have. The rest of the Boredoms, all of them playing drums, go like trains.
28 minutes in it stops and goes half time for a few bars before racing off again after having caught its breath, but other than that there aren't many real surprises here. You just strap yourself in and let Boredoms take you where they take you - it's about the journey, not about what you see or learn along the way. It would sound improvised if it weren't for the fact that occasionally, everyone in the band does exactly the same thing at exactly the same time, just for a millisecond, as if to pin the listener to some kind of sense of reality. 'Don't worry - this is rehearsed', they're saying. 'We're not this good in our sleep. Sure, we're pretty good in our sleep. But not this good.'
Such is the density of this performance, the all encompassing sound of it, you'll want to refer to the noise made as a physical object. Super Roots 9 is the sound of a band transcending music, becoming something.
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment