想い出波止場

by Erik Hage
The Japanese group the Boredoms -- who meld punk/hardcore frenzy, the cosmic free-form of Sun Ra's Arkestra and downright silliness -- was founded on the principle that the individual members would never be restricted to one band. Guitarist Yamamoto Seiichi, who joined the Boredoms in 1986, has embraced this notion to a dizzying degree, having been involved in as many as nine projects at once. (As a parallel to his music career, Yamamoto has long been running the Osaka, Japan club Bears, which is sort of Osaka's version of CBGB.) Omoide Hatoba is one such non-Boredoms venture, providing Yamamoto with an outlet for noise experiments and extended guitar freakouts. As the prolific nature of the group attests, this is far more than simply a side project for Yamamoto; the group has served as a primary outlet for the guitarist's more abstract compositions. Omoide Hatoba debuted with the album Daiongaku in 1990, following that with Suchi Joe in 1991. 1992's Black Hawaii represents some of the group's finest work -- and includes a cover version of Country Joe and the Fish's "Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag." (At least that's their story and they're sticking to it; the listener may have a hard time discerning the song.) Mantako came out in 1994, while the follow-up, 1995's Kinsei, saw the group's lineup expanded beyond a trio, with sax and tuba augmenting the sound.