Originally posted on Fat Planet.
mp3: OOIOO grow tree sound
mp3: OOIOO live at empty bottle, chicago (part one)
mp3: OOIOO live at empty bottle, chicago (part two)
i couldn’t let this run of japanese fat planet posts go by without a mention of my other favourite band besides boredoms, namely ooioo (pronounced oh-oh-i-oh-oh). they both share a member in yoshimi p-we, whose fame took a stellar leap when the flaming lips name-checked her in the title of their album ‘yoshimi battles the pink robots’.
yoshimi, who has now been the core drummer of the boredoms for nearly 20 years, started ooioo as a joke. she was due to be photographed for a japanese magazine, and – not wishing to captured alone on film – took her girlfriends with her and they promptly pretended to be a band; yoshimi playing front-woman and lead guitairst. they enjoyed the session so much that they decided to form the band for real – the only issue being that ai (the drummer) was the only one who could play their designated instrument. in true yoshimi style, such a small matter didn’t stop them from supporting sonic youth on a japanese tour in 1997. says yoshimi: “we had to put stickers all over our guitar fretboards because we didn’t know how to play the chords. it turned out the stage lights were so bright that we couldn’t see the stickers, so we played all the wrong notes. it was so messed up that it became interesting. i still have stickers on my fretboard.”
in addition to a couple of live tracks found on the thrill jockey site, the mp3 above is taken from 2002’s ‘gold and green’, which finally received a long overdue international release last year through thrill jockey. the album, which features contributions from other boredoms members along with yuka honda (from cibo matto) and sean lennon, blends the familiar tribal sensibility of the boredoms with a more varied mix of influences – ranging from pure pop and psychedelia to krautrock and free jazz. ‘gold and green’, like the band themselves, willfully avoids being pigeon-holed – when you take an innovative musician like yoshimi and provoke her to both play and sing outside her percussive comfort zone, the results are never less than compelling. there are no bands like this outside of japan – in fact, there are no bands like this, period.
their new album ‘taiga’ was the feature album on last week’s fat planet radio show and further explores the hidden territories between free-folk, tribal rhythm and experimental punk. as with most of both ooioo and the boredoms’ output, these sounds constantly challenge the listener – but however exponential the brutal moments may feel, underneath there’s a deep well of textures and ideas waited to be explored. if by love or brute determination you can make it through the whole set in one listen, you will be richly rewarded.
i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, the world’s a finer place for having yoshimi around.
ooioo @ thrill jockey
ooioo myspace