Pitchfork

Over there in Japan, they do things a little differently. Instead of the usual chorus to "Old MacDonald", they sing "OOIOO". And instead of the plucky banjo and fiddle arrangement, it has this sort of free-form, tribal feel, with lots of erratic shrieking. Oh, and they don't call it "Old MacDonald" at all-- round there it's referred to as Taiga.

Yep, we're totally full of crap. But one thing remains true: Experimental rhythm quartet OOIOO, led by Yoshimi of Boredoms and pink-robot-battling fame, kick off a brief but welcome U.S. tour on March 20 in New York City. They'll play six dates over here in support of last year's Thrill Jockey LP Taiga, aka [OMG] one of Sufjan Steven's favorite records of 2006!!! [/OMG]

Even more exciting, Boredoms' Eye has remixed a pair of tunes off Taiga-- "UMO" and "UMA"-- for a new EP informatively titled Eye Remix EP. Look for it in CD and 12" formats on April 24 via Thrill Jockey.

OOIOO also released a DVD music video collection in Japan back in January.

OOIOO:

03-20 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *
03-21 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
03-23 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey ^
03-24 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
03-26 San Francisco, CA - The Independent %
03-27 Los Angeles, CA - Echo %

* with I.U.D. (member of Gang Gang Dance)
# with Lichens
^ with Eyvind Kang, Kinski
% with Neung Phak