Boredoms - Super Are (7 tracks) +Album Reviews

Human music at its best.

Murphy | Boston, MA | 01/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This music needs to be heard, not read about. That can (and is) said about nearly all music, but it is especially true for the Bordoms (although that is said just as often, I am sure). There is no music I can compare it to. To try and give some idea of what it is like, I would say it is short pieces of music played on electric guitars, combined with voice and noise collage, and little bits and bundles of everything else, although that does it not an inch of justice. Let me try again:

Spiritualism is not dead in the modern world. There are those who go through the reality that is forced on them, submissive and willing; sullen or with a turned head. But there are still those that go screaming, pure wild in human spirit. The Boredoms belong in the latter category (I wish I did too).

The Boredoms have made some of the most powerful music I have ever heard. Listening to it makes me feel how much life there still is in me, roaring through my veins, wanting to be expressed.

The Boredoms are so insane that they are able to do what few people are able to do: they do not worry about sounding sophisticated, appealing to any certain crowd or fitting into a musical genre; they expresses their souls, and it is pure. This music restores my faith in the human spirit and in humanity itself.

With a voice like that the singer has no reason to be scared. Ever."

Hey, it's a boredoms album everybody can enjoy!

geoffrey glass | O-H-I-O | 12/19/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a long time boredoms fan I'm used to being shunned for attempting to play their loud and agressive, totally discumbobulated music around others. When I came home with this new album I was expecting more scattered guitar riffs, fast and manic drums beats and vocal screaches that ultimately combine for a twisted and brilliant parody of music and sounds most "punk rockers" hold dear. I was very surprised to find something entirely different. On what may be this years best album, the band takes long, extensive jams involving rythmic (yes, rythmic boredoms) drum beats, mellow, smooth and dreamy guitar strumming and spiritual verbal chanting. The effect takes the listener on journeys where one can imagine circles of religous zealots joining hands and dancing around the sun or eclectic freaks in a circle hallucinating into laps of a fire while banging away at some rustic instrument. The album seems to be a celebration of a life you choose and a spiritualism you personally create, and the band only occasionally lapses into a wild abandon familiar with their earlier work. Their time lapsing, genre crossing psycadelic meltdowns are intoxicating not only to established boredom fans, but also to folks who previously would turn away from them. If playing the album for one of these type people, don't tell them who it is until after they admit to liking it."

Their masterpiece

Murphy | 06/05/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Boredoms have always been a little hard to pin down. Each album presents a bizarre mishmash of nonsensical song titles, gut wrenching vocals, noises, pops, and all manner of "standard" instrumentation. What they've lacked in musicianship they've always more than made up for in energy, wit, and inventiveness. Super Are sees the band take that energy and inventiveness to more technically creative levels, and shines as their most cohesive and engaging work to date. An absolute must own for Boredoms fans."

Super weird

Wheelchair Assassin | The Great Concavity | 05/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If a group of peyote-addled Meso-American demigods were to try to record a tribute to Can, it would probably end up sounding somewhat similar to Super Ae. Where Boredoms' previous Chocolate Synthesizer was an aural stimulant, restlessly hopping from one genre to another in barely controlled bursts of noise, this album is more like a hallucinogen, gradually enveloping the listener in its hazy, trippy layers of sound. This is avant-garde rock that doesn't hold back on the rock, combining its fearsome heaviness with bizarre song structures in a way that practically makes Mr. Bungle sound commercial. True, most of the songs have a classic guitar and drum backing, but it's what the band members do with those instruments, as well as their penchant for spacey electronic effects and harsh use of tape loops, that elevates Super AE above mundane genre classifications.

First of all, for fans of Boredoms' more immediate earlier material, it should be noted that the tracks on Super AE are loooonnnnnnnggggg. There may only be seven pieces here, but most of them were clearly written for maximum expansiveness, clocking in an an average of about nine minutes apiece. These are some true epics, filled with minimalist grooves and fuzzed-out stoner-metal riffing that wouldn't sound too out of place on a Kyuss album, capped off by a mix of quasi-spirtual tribal chants, demented shrieking, and indecipherable grunts from the one and only Yamatsuka Eye. And while it can get a little playful at times (Super Are You briefly showcases the thrashy approach that made Boredoms notorious during their art-punk days), Super Ae is generally deadly serious when it comes to freaking out listeners. The songs on Super Ae don't really go anywhere, and there's certainly nothing resembling a traditional release or resolution to them, but with Boredoms listening really is a journey rather than a destination. Only the shimmering closer Super Good could be described as anything resembling easy listening, but from a band that's all about screwing with minds that feels just about right."

Ultimate B*O*R*E* trip

J. Holmes | yokohama, japan | 01/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Super AE establishes the Boredoms as a truly profound and phenomanal force of power and sound. the music on this cd will astound you, confuse you, amuse you, and maybe even liberate you. all the wild, unhinged craziness from their past cd's has been harnessed into a rolling, pounding noisy vision that shows unlimited imagination. this is my absolute favorite Boredoms album and it deserves your full attention. to all those who are just discovering this great group, i would suggest starting with this cd or maybe Pop Tatari. although both cd's are completely different (Pop Tatari being more punk-ish, Super AE being a bit more prog-y), they are both very representative of two distinct periods of musical creation for this amazing band."

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	Boredoms Super Are Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock Track Listings (7) - Disc #1 Super You Super Are Super Going Super Coming Super Are You Super Shine - Boredoms B Super Good 2000 reissue of 1998's release from one of the leaders of Japan's wave of noise bands. Very rhythmic and spacey. 2001 release.
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