Ya know if I was Johnny during this moment and had Diego snap his neck like some kind of demonic owl to look at me I would have legitimately pissed myself on the spot Jesus tap dancing Christ
Two leading purveyors of ecstatic, euphoric drumming rattle the walls on this split LP. Not exactly a collaboration, but more a juxtaposition of kindred spirits, OOIOO’s intricate, gamelan-infused sonic architectures sit alongside Lightning Bolt’s transcendent, giddy punk explosions. You can only imagine what would happen if they ever visited a studio at the same time; this album hints at eruptive, indomitable energies.
The drummers in question are, on the one hand, YoshimiO, a Boredoms linchpin, whose gnosis-inducing rhythms are full of joy, but complicated. They're often couched in arrangements that nod towards jazz, world music and lounge music. For this album, OOIOO drew heavily on gamelan, lacing driving propulsion with interlayered tonal riffs. However, nothing about the complexity of OOIOO’s music stops the groove from, well, grooving. These cuts move and pulse and howl. Singers spin out brief, repetitive descants, occasionally, breaking loose for growling, caterwauling transport; they’re moved by the spirit, and they move us, too.
Lightning Bolt takes over on track #3, “Wavers” announcing its anarchic presence with a drum fill. From there, it’s a rickety cavalcade of hopped up distortion and galloping beats. As usual, Lightning Bolt doesn’t use vocals as a melodic element—it’s hard to pinpoint where they source anything like a tune—but rather as a psychedelic portal, the words buried but echoed to a dream-like polish. There’s genuine power in the underpinnings, Brian Gibson’s marauding bass, Brian Chippendale’s manic, blur-speed drumming, but the cuts have a buoyancy and humor. If you like Lightning Bolt, it’s probably because it makes you happy. It runs as hard and fast as any music on the market, but in a fun way, not an exhausting one.
Lightning Bolt’s “CLOUD CORE” is, perhaps, the acme of this adrenaline-charged rushing aesthetic. The bass swings vertiginously among widely spaced notes. The drums pummel forward, whacking the twos and fours, filling the other beats with splintering explosivity. The singing is like a soccer chant—male, rhythm centered, full of long, celebratory holds. Every element of this music argues for a band getting carried away, and yet, there they are, fully in control at Mach 4 speed.
Whether OOIOO or Lightning Bolt, whether spiraling or going viral, this is not just good drumming, but an exciting, transformative experience. If it were a ride at Six Flags, the line would be around the block.
Squarepusher Kammerkonzert (Warp)
OOIOO/ Lightning Bolt The Horizons Spiral / The Horizons Viral (Thrill Jockey)
Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy Gillespie and The Double Six of Paris (Philips)
taupe waxing / waning (Minority records S.R.O.)
Tristan Murail performed by Argento Chamber Ensemble Winter Fragments (Aeon)
Angine de Poitrine Vol 2 (Angine de Poitrine)
Carl Stone & Asuma Imu Plastos (Room 40)
sunn o))) sunn o))) (SubPop)
Neurosis An undying love for a burning world (Neurot)
Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch Blade Runner 2024 (ASG)
Robert Poss + E-Clark Cornell - Kepler's Choice (No Sides records)
Tim Parkinson General Election (Time With Records)
My New Band Believe My New Band Believe (Rough Trade)
Sonic Youth - Drum Logos, Fukuoka, Japan, February 24, 2001
The endless #SonicSummer rolls on! This week we're back in Japan, as Sonic Youth was bringing the NYC Ghosts & Flowers era to a close. Once again, I'm struck by how absolutely sweet that LP's songs sound in a live setting — they really feel like living, breathing organisms, surging, swelling, transforming, transcending. The jammy sections of "Free City Rhymes" flow beautifully; the one-two punch of "Nevermind" and "Side2Side" is a kaleidoscopic trip; and the title track (here dedicated to the just-departed John Fahey) blossoms into a massive wall of scary/sublime noise, spirits rejoicing in sound.
The audience seems a little subdued — but maybe this is just a polite Japanese crowd. Thurston does lead them all into a rowdy chant for opening act OOIOO, however. Whatever, they're treated to a great show; the older selections are very nice indeed — check out the slide guitar that Jim O'Rourke adds to "Teenage Riot" or Lee's raging vocal on "Mote," a tune that is always welcome in setlists.
The encore features a rad exploration of "Lightnin'" ... who is that on the gloriously dubbed-out/delay-laden trumpet? Yoshimi?!! Maybe, I think she played trumpet on some old Boredoms records. If you were there let me know!
