Pitchfork

There's a huge disconnect between the spastic, ADD-addled bursts of noise that brought the Boredoms to America's attention in the early 1990s (and later, inexplicably, to attendees of Lollapalooza in 1994) and the trippy extended jams that the band favors nowadays.

Somewhere in the Boredoms evolutionary trail there was a missing link (Boredom Erectus?) that connected the two sounds. This fall, Vice Records begins filling in that gap with reissues of five 90s Boredoms records, four of which have never been released in the U.S. Super Roots 3 (1994), and Super Roots 5 (1995) come first, followed by Super Roots 6 (1996), previously released in the US by Reprise but now out of print, and the combination of singles and remixes contained on Super Roots 7 (1998) and Super Roots 8 (1999). None of the reissues will have any of that bonus track nonsense.

(Hey, where's Super Roots 4? Was it so evil that it had to be destroyed???)

Rooty:

Super Roots 3:

01 Hard Trance Away (Karaoke of Cosmos)

Super Roots 5:

01 Go!!!!!

Super Roots 6:

01 01
02 0 (x12)
03 6
04 2
05 3
06 9
07 4
08 7
09 8
10 5
11 10
12 11
13 12
14 13
15 14
16 15
17 1

Super Roots 7:

01 7~ (Ewe Remix)
02 7--> (Boriginal)
03 7+ (Eye Remix)

Super Roots 8:

01 Jungle Taitei
02 Jungle Taitei [DJ Let's Try & D.I.Y. - Drum Machine Mix by Eye]
03 Jungle Taitei [Laughter Robot's Hemp Mix - remixed by Yann Tomita]

Some folks (OK maybe just me) expressed apprehension about seeing the Boredoms on their American mini-tour last year due to their drastic change in sound; well, we were all suckers. Luckily, the band is coming back for a second round of dates with the same touring line-up of front-man Yamatsuka Eye, drummers Yojiro and Yoshimi (yes, the robot fighter), and new Boredoms member Muneomi Senju. Word of advice about their hour-plus set: Take the pee break before they start.

Love it loud:

05-20 Camber Sands, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (All Tomorrow's Parties) *$
05-22 Berlin, Germany - Maria am Ostbahnhof
05-26 Dublin, Ireland - Temple Bar Music Centre
05-29 London, England - Shepherds Bush Empire #
06-01 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival
06-24 Chicago, IL - Intonation Music Festival
06-25 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club (End Times Festival)
06-27 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
06-28 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
06-30 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom *
07-07 New York, NY - Deitch Projects
07-08 New York, NY - Deitch Projects

* with Lightning Bolt
$ with Sleater-Kinney, David Cross, the Gossip, Spoon, Joanna Newsom, Dungen, Radar Bros., 1990's, Black Heart Procession, Fiery Furnaces
# with Alexander Tucker

Anyone in New York wanting to see the Boredoms this time around but who already has his/her money pegged for snow cones and Italian ice, don't fret. Those two Deitch Projects shows are completely free. They're part of Yamatsuka Eye's 77 Drum installation, which features, yes, 77 drum kits, which Eye will use for "artwork, architecture, and principally for activation." Of course, "activation" means "to wail on and make an awesome racket."

Eye has done double-duty over the years, both leading Boredoms and working as an artist, the latter evidenced mainly in the U.S. by his cover art and liner notes for Boredoms albums. This exhibition at 18 Wooster Street sees him joined by a slew of additional artists to round out the spectacle, including Hisham Bharoocha (ex-Black Dice, now of Soft Circle) and Mark Borthwick (who made the Cat Power Speaking for Trees movie).

* Pitchfork News: Boredoms to Tour Europe, America