YOSHIMI Big Toast 7 inch 1993

 

Discogs

Prolific Japanese drummer, Yokota Yoshimi, of the bands Boredoms, UFO Or Die, Free Kitten, OOIOO and plenty of other musical groups released this Boredoms-influenced 2 song seven inch of noise interspersed with growls alongside trumpet and drums. - Blogatrix

Tracklist

A		Speaker
B		Tuna Power

OOIOO Feather Float 1999

 

Discogs

 

Artist Biography by Heather Phares

Led by percussionist/guitarist/vocalist YoshimiO -- also a founding member of Japanese experimental greats Boredoms -- OOIOO's music is united by the enthusiasm powering their wide-ranging explorations. They borrow from and reimagine fusion, kosmische, prog rock, and sounds from around the globe in ever-changing ways that are all the more exciting for their unpredictability. While 1997's OOIOO grew from the same noisy, psychedelic roots as Boredoms' music from that time, the band soon took that album's call-and-response vocals, rangy song structures, and transcendent rhythms in very different directions. On 1999's Feather Float, OOIOO found bliss in motorik repetition; on the following year's Gold and Green, they immersed themselves in elongated, pastoral excursions. Later, they dug into African inspirations on 2006's Taiga and Javanese gamelan music on 2014's Gamel, then stripped their instrumentation down to guitar, bass, and drums for 2020's Nijimusi. Despite, or perhaps because of, their constant state of flux, OOIOO burst forth with excitement and vivacity in a way few other groups do.

OOIOO began in 1995, when YoshimiO assembled a fake band for a magazine photo shoot. However, the group -- which also included guitarist/vocalist Kyoko, bassist/vocalist Maki, and drummer/vocalist Yoshiko -- soon began playing together for real. In 1997, they opened for Sonic Youth on that band's tour of Japan and released their self-titled debut album. Featuring cameos by Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz, Cornelius' Keigo Oyamada, and Boredoms' Yamantaka Eye, OOIOO bore a resemblance to the music YoshimiO's other group was making at the time, but balanced their forays into noise with equally prominent melodies. Kill Rock Stars released the album in the U.S. in 1998, and the band followed it with the more streamlined yet dynamic Feather Float a year later.

The group's music continued to evolve quickly with 2000's Gold and Green, a more delicate, reflective set that introduced longtime guitarist Kayan and featured contributions by Sean Lennon and Yuka Honda. The following year, the remix collection Shock City Shockers 2 included a cover of Flora Purim's "Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly." Another veteran member of the band, bassist Aya, debuted on 2003's Kila Kila Kila, an album whose sparse yet expansive tracks included drummer Yuka Yoshimura, also of DMBQ and Metalchicks. Both Feather Float and Kila Kila Kila were issued in the States by Birdman Records; Gold and Green was released in the U.S. by Thrill Jockey in 2005. Thrill Jockey also issued 2006's sprawling, nature-inspired Taiga, which marked the debut of drummer Ai. OOEYEOO, an album of remixes by Eye, arrived in early 2007.

OOIOO returned with 2009's Armonico Hewa, a slightly heavier album whose title was a mix of Spanish and Swahili words meaning "air in a harmonious state." Their next studio outing was 2014's Gamel, an album loosely inspired by Javanese gamelan music. The following year, founding member Kyoko died. In 2016, the band introduced drummer Mishina to the fold. Her first album with OOIOO was 2020's Nijimusi, the group's first set of songs to focus on standard rock instrumentation in some time.

Tracklist 

1	Be Sure To Loop	7:45
2	Oizumio	3:38
3	Ina 咲くの唄	4:23
4	Ah Yeah!	2:25
5	Switch On	2:16
6	Jackson's Club "Sunspot"	2:17
7	Asozan	5:11
8	Baby Bamboo From Nose	6:53
9	1000 Frogs And 3 Sun In A House	10:27
10	Ring Ring Lee	3:07
11	ハッピピピ OOIOO	0:11

 

PREGO '97 VIEW-MASTER Various Artists 1997

 

Discogs

 

Japanese compilation featuring mostly Japanese bands

 

Tracklist

1	–Trattoria '97	Hello, We Are The World!
2	–Citrus (5)	Rockin' Cruise
3	–Rocketship	I Love You Like The Way That I Used To
4	–Hideki Kaji	La Boum ~ My Boom Is Me ~
5	–The Apples In Stereo	Seems So
6	–Kahimi Karie	Le Roi Soleil
7	–Cornelius	Brand New Season (Giant Ear Remix)
8	–Papas Fritas	Just To See You
9	–Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her	School Lunch
10	–Omoide Hatoba	Sugar Clip
11	–OOIOO	Right Hand Ponk
12	–Salon Music	Stompin' Wheel -Way Out-
13	–Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her	Asking For It
14	–Marbles (2)	Go Marilee
15	–Hideki Kaji	Eggstone (Single Version)
16	–The Hang Ups*	Top Of Morning
17	–Citrus (5)	Big Day Coming From Northwest
18	–Rah Band	Clouds Across The Moon
19	–Cornelius	Star Fruits Surf Rider

 

UFO OR DIE Cassettetape Superstar 1996

 

 

 

Discogs

 

AllMusic Review by Brian Whitener

UFO or Die is a side project of two Boredoms members, drummer Yoshimmy P-We (who also fronts OOIOO) and frontman and resident genius Yamatsuka Eye. Rounding out the group is Katsumi, guitarist for the noise rock band Omoide Hatoba. At its inception, Yoshimmy P-We and Eye called the band Hasty Snail Baby, but after the inclusion of Katsumi they settled on the more evocative but less visceral UFO or Die. This record, Cassettetape Superstar, was originally released by Public Bath in 1993; for some reason they decided on a re-release in 2000. As the title indicates, it's at once a throwback to the early days of punk, when it was predicted that the punk-inspired craze of taping albums would ruin the record industry (sound familiar?), and an indication of the album's lo-fi aesthetic. Twenty-three tracks of Eye thrashing around in a bathtub with toys strapped to him (that's what he does) -- so yeah, it's another cool album. As an album, it holds together with little recurrent titles and sounds, giving the record a sprawling, post-apocalyptic feel. While not as hot of a side project as OOIOO, it's also not a Courtney Love/South of France/AC/DC one-off. 

 Tracklist 

	Side A
1	Tokyo City	1:54
2	UFO Or Live	2:44
3	Dog Wave	2:54
4	Ghetto DNA (Motorhead Mix)	1:57
	Side B
5	Kendō Machine Smokin'	1:49
6	My Germ Is Big	1:26
7	We Are Rice	1:31
8	Barny Love Tape (Big Frame)	1:53
	Side C
9	Exploding Toilet Action	3:05
10	MC 5 Or 6	4:08
11	Karate Party	2:40
12	Rader Eyes	3:27
13	Ant Is Super Ultra Big Giant	1:32
	Side D
14	Osaka Moonlight Combo	2:10
15	Fly Photo Session	2:11
16	Instant Touch	0:57
17	No Amp	2:04
18	0 Or 1ers	0:48
19	Hell Boat	1:30
	Side E
20	Old Cold Meat	1:51
	Side F
21	Live Dog E.S.P.	2:03
	Side G
22	Anti-Full Of No Empty	2:43
	Side H
23	Demo Tape Time	0:40

 

BOREDOMS Pop Tatari 1992

Discogs

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

Of all the artists in Japan's thriving noise-music community, the Boredoms undoubtedly had the most fun. Although their maniacally extreme cacophony was by no means accessible listening, it was underpinned by a gleeful sense of humor that helped them find a limited (but still surprisingly wide) audience among alternative rockers. A typical Boredoms track might feature massively distorted guitars, squealing synths, any number of odd found-object noisemakers, or studio-manipulation effects; conventional song structures are thrown out the window in favor of abrupt, whiplash-inducing changes of direction. With Sonic Youth and Nirvana counting themselves among the Boredoms' fans, the group actually signed major-label deals during the early '90s, both in Japan and the U.S., and played the Lollapalooza main stage. Although the Boredoms' American deal eventually fell through, they continued to record steadily in Japan, progressing into a sort of trance-inducing, psychedelia-tinged experimental rock indebted to the '70s Krautrock movement. 

Tracklist  

1	Noise Ramones	0:30
2	Nice B-O-R-E Guy & Boyoyo Touch	0:55
3	Hey Bore Hey	1:40
4	Bo Go	7:20
5	Bore Now Bore	2:42
6	Okinawa Rasta Beef (Mockin' Fuzz2)	3:58
7	Which Dooyoo Like?	2:08
8	Molecicco	2:47
9	Telehorse Uma	4:36
10	Hoy	4:32
11	Bocabola	3:54
12	Heeba	3:21
13	Poy (Mockin' Fuzz1)	4:26
14	Bod	1:19
15	Cheeba	9:00
16	Pop Tatari	1:58
17	Cory & The Mandara Suicide Pyramid Action Or Gas Satori	10:10

UFO OR DIE Shock Shoppers 1994

Upped by Martin

Discogs

Tracklist

A	Shock Shoppers
B	Zombie Tube

 

BOREDOMS Super Ae 1998

Contributed by Sean

Discogs

Tracklist  

1	Super You	7:37
2	Super Are	8:30
3	Super Going	12:24
4	Super Coming	12:17
5	Super Are You	8:47
6	Super Shine	12:45
7	Super Good	6:06