SOUNDTRACK: BORIS-Archive Volume Four “Evil Stack Live” (2014/2020).
In early August, Boris digitally released six archival releases. Volume Four is called “Evil Stack Live” and it is a fantastic-sounding concert from 2003. Boris released their fourth and fifth albums in 2002 and 2003. This fifty minute set picks songs from both of these albums: Heavy Rocks and Akuma No Uta.
Full set live recording [NHK Tokyo, 15th May 2003] that was broadcast on Japanese government-owned radio. The setlist is compiled from songs representative of their “Uppercase BORIS” distinction, including tracks from “Heavy Rocks” (2002) and “Akuma no Uta” (2003). (Originally released on March 5, 2014. Included in Archive 2, limited to 1,000 copies)
The show open with some splashing gong and two songs from Heavy Rocks (2002). That instantly recognizable riff from “Heavy Friends” kicks in as Atsuo screams to open the show. The riff continues, eventually picked up by Takeshi on the bass while Wata unveils a soaring guitar solo. It’s segues into the fast and heavy “Korosu.” This song has a catchy chorus that’s punctuated by a nifty riff from Wata.
The set shifts to the blazing rocker “Ibitsu” from Akuma No Uta. The song is three minutes long and has some great guitar licks and solos from Wata while Atsuo and Takeshi sing the lyrics. The really fast riffing at 2 minutes is energizing as they then return to Heavy Rocks for “Death Valley” which combines a classic riff with some great droning verses. The song stretches out to almost seven minutes with some heavy jamming in the middle.
There’s a slight pause before the start of the epic 11 minute “Naki Kyoku.” It starts slowly with some lovely picked guitar from Wata. After two minutes, Wata begins her extended solo. Atsuo and Takeshi jam a simple rhythm while Wata plays her soaring solo. Atsuo sings a catchy line (although I don’t know what he’s saying) as the song jams out around a thumping bass line and Wata’s chill noodling. The middle has a kind of call and response with the guitar and drums as Wata intersperses her licks between Atsuo’s drum fills.
They jump out of the slower song with two from Akuma. First is the fury of “Furi,” a ripping heavy song with lots of chaotic drums and yelps and screams (I think Takeshi is singing lead). A few gong crashes introduce the beginning of “Akuma no Uta.” It’s a slow grooving song with Takeshi’s heavy bass and Wata’s simple riffage. After two minutes the song takes off in a classic heavy jam–ripping guitar work and fast bass and drums.
They end the set with two songs from Heavy Rocks. “Dyna-Sore” is a fast rocker with a catchy guitar riff and chord pattern. The call and response between Takeshi and Atsuo while Wata plays the soloing riffs is only exceeded by the heavy middle drum section that turns into a super fast end riff. The set ends with “1970” another great riff-based rocker. This song features Takeshi and Atsuo singing together and a great rumbling solo bass moment before Wata ends the song with another ripping solo.
The quality of this recording is top notch and the selection of songs is just fantastic. This is a great archival release.
Takeshi: Bass, Guitar & Vocal ; Wata: Guitar & Echo ; Atsuo: Drums & Vocal.
[READ: August 15, 2020] “Knife Play”
This is yet another fragment from Franz Kafka collected in The Lost Writings. The one big surprise for me is how well fleshed-out the part of the story that exists is. It’s unfinished, but the sentences that are there are well composed (depending on how much translator Michael Hofmann has added to or spruced up the original German).
It feels like he he plotted and executed the beginning of the story very thoroughly and then just stopped.
In this fragment, the narrator is sitting next to his wife in a theater box. The play was exciting–a jealous man was raising a knife to stab his wife.
The narrator leaned over to his wife, but what they thought was curtain was actually a man. He and his wife jumped in shock.
They asked the man what he was doing there and he said [rather puzzlingly] “I am an admirer of your wife’s. The sensation of her elbows on my ribs make me happy.”
His wife says, “Emil, protect me.” The man retorts, that his name is Emil too and whispers, “Come here little wifey.” Ew.
The narrator tries to fight him, but the man is very strong. He scoffs at Emil and says the fight wouldn’t be over until his “wife gratified his desires.” Ew!
His wife screamed until her husband says that he’ll stab the man with his knife. But when he can’t find his knife, he thinks he may have left it downstairs. He says he’ll go get it, but his wife says he can’t leave her with this man.
I’m so curious where Kafkas was going to go with this bizarre little story.
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