SOUNDTRACK: BORIS: Boris at last -Feedbacker- (2003).
Boris’ sixth album is pretty iconic, what with the bloodied head of Wata on the cover and all.
The album contains one song–43 minutes of “Feedbacker.” But it is broken into five surprisingly discernable parts.
Part 1 (9:38) opens with low feedback and slowly played chords that ring out. Then single notes pick out a melody that recurs throughout. Low bass notes and low harmonic frequencies play out through the bulk of the track until it segues into Part 2 (14:54). That’s when the drum is added. It’s a slow beat at first with the low feedbacking tones. Then the guitars start playing a slow chord progression. Eventually there’s some quiet lead guitar noodling added. After about 8 minutes, Wata start one of her big slow solos. Then around 12 minutes, Takeshi starts sings softly. But after a minute and a half of this, the song shifts gears and gets much louder–big chords, crashing drums and louder vocals.
Part 3 (5:52) opens with serious crashing of cymbals which turns into noisy chaos. There’s some high-pitched feedback and and then a seriously heavy riff starts up. The rocking part of the song takes over with heavy distorted guitars and rumbling bass and drums. A really noisy guitar solo is followed by a buzzy riff after which things slow down for quiet vocals once again. The drums are still heavy but the guitars are quietly echoing. The end gets louder again with roaring and chanted vocals. (I have no idea what they are saying but it’s easy to sing along to).
Part 4 (9:52) is basically a wall of noise and feedback with echoing distorted cymbals and crackling sounds. Near the end, noisy piercing feedback soars through until it segues into Part 5 (3:34). As the feedback fades, the song resumes part 2, with soft drums and slow guitar chords and a quiet feedback floating over everything.
It’s a pretty monumental record. Not as abrasive as the cover would suggest, but with enough heavy parts so that it’s not just a pretty drone record.
[READ: April 30, 2021] “The Rivals”
I feel like I tend to read stories that are written in a convoluted way. Either with multiple time lines, or multiple threads that eventually come together. So it was nice to get a story that was pretty straightforward.
Sure, it started in the middle, but it flashed back, got to the opening scene, and continued along in a pretty straight line. And it was very enjoyable.
The story is set in Madagascar. Floristella, a plump Italian man, sees his former friend Pianon, a skinny Italian man, and jumps out at him, hitting him with a walking stick. It takes a bunch of servants to pull these older men apart.
The narrator then fills us in on what’s going on. Pianon and Floristella were at one time very good friends. Pianon is from Verona. He is a widower who always dresses nicely. He is the bookkeeper and rental manager at the Red House. Floristella is from Sicily. He comes from a small fortune and acts like it, even if his money is mostly gone now. His house is next to the Red House.
Floristella’s wife was bored of Madagascar, so she returned home, allowing Floristella to enjoy the beach and all of its perks. Like Noelline. She was his secretary and then his mistress. She was no longer young, but she was voluptuous and stylish. She also flouted all conventions on the island.
Each morning she came to his place, did work for him, had sex with him and then went home.
Most of the women on the island hated her.
The trouble between the two men occurred when Floristella had a heart attack. He was flown to Sicily and, during his recuperation, Noelline started assisting Pianon. Originally she simply helped Pianon with is paperwork, but it eventually led to the bedroom as well.
People were even more upset about this new arrangement–both with Noelline and Pianon (but mostly Noelline).
Eventually Floristella returned to Madagascar. Soon after, Pianon confessed. But not in the normal way. He did not declare that he was passionately in love with her and that he couldn’t help himself. Rather he said that had grown to respect her. Floristella was cuckolded and insulted. Revenge was his only option.
And that catches us up to the beginning of the story,.
When the fight is over, Pianon says that Noelline has left him anyway (after she secured enough money for her own house, it seems).
The story concludes a year later with the destruction of this lovers triangle. First Floristella is sent back to Sicily for more medical tests.
A the same time, political unrest in the region has kept tourists away. And with Noelline’s hotel job disappearing, she takes up with Pianon again. Pinion also starts doing work that is questionable–perhaps trying to compensate for his new expenses.
As the story ends, the question is, just who is the winner in this triangle?
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