It’s a 40 minute song... but hear me out: It's a beast. At no point does this song even come close to sounding tedious. I played this in the background while I argued with my girlfriend about ethics, feminism, and Abrahamic faiths… in relation to hentai. I’m not into hentai, but I am curious about what the religious and the feminists might think about it. Is it a loophole to standard porn? Is it as offensive? Let me know.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because as I was typing an essay to my girlfriend, arguig for why I’m still worth putting up with, I stopped for a moment to admire how unbelievably good this song is. Right around the 18 minute mark, this sing rises to a spectacular peak. One of many. And it’s not even the song's climax. Yes, it's
that good. Obviously, you be the judge. But let me tell ya, pal: This is as good as “noisy, Japanese, Krautrock-adjacent/post-punk-adjacent, “I like Faust and This Heat” — or in today’s terms — “I like Black Midi”…. type of music gets. In other words, It’s a Boredoms release. As a new, but enthusiastic fan, I am realizing they may be incapable of doing wrong. Please assume extreme bias here. However, it is indeed a good'n.
It’s got a grandiose, “high brow” psychedelic attitude. It's quasi-"spiritual" music that utilizes art-hoe theatrics mixed with straight-up spectacular krautrock/D&B-style drumming. It’s the kind of sound The Flaming Lips would attempt a few years later with
Embryonic, but Boredoms’ American colleagues, like Swans, are really the only ones who sound like true kindred spirits, at least from an American (and by that I mean
my perspective). Right down to the atmospheric build-ups, drones, "tribal ritual" energy and drumming. I still need a deeper dive into this Japanese noise-adjacent art rock scene. To those that are familiar with their Western counterparts and influences, and you loved the tribal worshiping in
The Seer, but somehow wished it matched Black Midi’s proggy hyperactivity… this is for you.
