 "Boredoms - 'Chocolate Synthesizer' (Reprise)" | 2007-02-15 |
| - Reviewed By mikereedinusa |
| Didn't like this CD quite as much as I did their 'Super Ae' effort (see my review). Perhaps just too noisy experimental for most, I guess. This fifteen track CD doesn't exactly suck. It just isn't as good as the only disc I've heard (so far) from this Japanese ensemble. Couple of the tunes here I thought were decent are "Shock City", "Action Synthesizer" and the odd-sounding "Smoke 7". Still need to explore more of this band's work. |
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 "Insane Japanese experimentalism--me rikey!" | 2005-10-16 |
| - Reviewed By bjmartin21 |
Man, nothing like the Boredoms to remind me I haven't had a good mind-blowing in a while. Led by the mad-genius vocal stylings of Yamatsuka Eye, Chocolate Synthesizer is a wide-ranging, occasionally frightening, and endlessly fascinating listen. It's a messy (yet stangely addictive) pastiche of styles, effortlessly incorporating art punk, ambient, thrash metal, and krautrock, occasionally within the confines of a single song. If you enjoy such sissified devices as melody and "conventional" song structures Chocolate Synthesizer will probably leave you bewildered if not outright disgusted, but if you're in the mood for something different, something that pushes boundaries, challenges perceptions, and all those other cliches, this should fit the bill quite nicely. If you like acts like Can, Mr. Bungle, the Dillinger Escape Plan, and the Flaming Lips and you haven't checked out the Boredoms already, then you're missing out on some primo weirdness with this one.
The Boredoms can do the quiet thing pretty well-the title track is a nice little electronic interlude, and Synthesizer Guide Book has an eerily minimal feel led by hand drums and a hypnotic groove-but Chocolate Synthesizer is at its best when it's at its loudest and most confrontational, serving up bursts of caffeinated noise that should offend well-adjusted people everywhere. The opening Acid Police is a nice example, combining a searing riff and steamrolling rhythm with frightening group chants in either Japanese or gibberish (I can't tell the difference anyway). Similarly, the brilliantly twisted Shock City alternates psychedelic, quasi-spiritual mantras with ear-piercing screams, all while the band pounds away with some gonzo instrumentation in the background. Tomato Synthesizer, for its part, is a sonic beating of a track that provides a perfect representation of the album's no-holds-barred approach, combining harsh atmospherics with Mike Pattonesque vocal riffs and and skewed percussion before giving way to near-total anarchy for its conclusion. B for Boredoms is speed metal you can dance to, featuring a wildly addictive main guitar riff, while I'm Not Synthesizer (Ypy?) includes a lead guitar line that wouldn't sound too out of place on a Tom Waits album before a flurry of high-speed riffs and drum beats reminds you that Chocolate Synthesizer is anything but.
In spite of all the completely arbitrary and equally sudden stylistic shifts, the tracks on Chocolate Synthesizer do manage to hang together pretty well as something bearing a passing resemblance to songs-oddly enough, the boldness and willingness to experiment that led the boredoms to create such schizophrenic sound collages in the first place also provides a common thread even in the midst of all the insanity. What could in lesser hands be little more than a misguided if interesting mishmash of disparate sounds becomes a collection of fully realized pieces of deceptively lowbrow art, each of which manage to stand on their own. While it's by no means my favorite album, Chocolate Synthesizer has earned a special place in my collection by virtue of its sheer individuality. With this album, the Boredoms have a minor outsider-music classic on their hands. |
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| "Postmodern Cartoon Everything-core" | 2005-01-01 |
| - Reviewed By surrealeye |
This cd was released after the mindblowing Pop Tatari.Pop Tatari really took Boredoms to a new level,incorporating all types of different music ground through Boredoms hardcore dada blender.
Compared to Pop Tatari,Chocolate Synthesizer seemed initially kind of weak to me.It seemed too loose and bizarre for it's own good.Although it's not my favorite of all the Bore records,I do see it's charm and I'll TRY to give a picture of what it sounds like.
There has always been a glorious snotty defiance in what Boredoms do.If they were really serious and angry,they could have been one of the most fearsome hardcore bands on the planet.But,these guys just wanna have fun!They never listened to all those sneering critics and "music"fans who screamed"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"
Really,part of what Boredoms do has to be considered performance art,or audio art,sound collage,because it's stretching it to call this pure music in terms of song structure,even by punk/hardcore/thash/garage rock standards.
It really seems Boredoms wanted to make the most obnoxious record of their career.Whereas Pop Tatari was focused and let you hear all the colors,Chocolate Synthesizer is all buzzy,fuzzy,overly distorted,with ear shredding screams and fingers on a chalkboard blasts of white noise.
It's the same formula as Pop Tatari,but they dirty it up even more.Alot of pummeling drums,all manner of lo-fi "trashcan"sounding percussion,lots and lots of screaming,primitive snatches of synths,all topped off with insane psycho cartoon vocals from all involved.
Because it seems more"off the cuff"and loose then Pop Tatari(Pop Tatari is sort of their big kitchen sink Sgt.Pepper)some may prefer this album.There are some great ideas in here although the intent is I guess for you to just be hit by it all,and perhaps abosorb it later.For example,alot of the songs stop out of nowhere,like the Boredoms are some band wandering around Tokyo in the fog late at night,getting lost and periodically stopping to play a song,then stopping THAT song and wondering where they are,and then picking up some OTHER song.
That's a horrible analogy,but needless to say this is an abrasive,noisy,cartoonish monster of sound.
Perhaps Boredoms weren't the most accomplished of musicians,but they were by no means a joke.Maybe some of their songs were meant as jokes,but these people knew what they were doing and had enough precision to pull it off.
As with any Bore album there should be a sticker on the album that says"You've been warned!" |
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 "woo hoo!" | 2004-06-03 |
| - Reviewed By gourmetmothballs |
| Simply amazing, awe-inspiring, and just plain fun! The boredoms have probably the most energetic music i have ever heard in my life. This album is ideal for those of you who are looking to expand your musical horizons. Super, super stuff...definitely going in my hall of fame! |
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| "Super Bore" | 2003-05-09 |
| - Reviewed By darkjacl |
| No review could possibly do this one any amount of justice it deserves... the opening few snippets could nearly bring a tear to my eye with it's supreme absurdity. I love these guys (and girl). It culminates each and every possible style of music, from jewish chants (I guess that's the sound on 4:29 in "Turn Table Boredoms") to noise, to surf music, jazz, lounge and punk... they happily lifted all stops and boundaries, shooting through the gates of creativity at lightening-fast speed. I could name certain cranial pleasers like "Now Dom Go Synthesizer Way (Why?)" and "Shock City", but in (un)reality, each song is an adventure unto itself. "B For Boredoms" is a party anthem that never was. "Anarchy In The UKK" ends with more screaming than a horde of rabid chihuahuas. "Smoke 7" takes you on a ride through the Metro in a bullet train; and "Tomato Synthesizer" is just plain weird. Oh, and they don't have any lyrics... mostly gibberish and vocal sounds by frontman Eye. This release will echo genious for ages to come. Get this, you scummy maggot, or I'll have you for breakfast. |
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| "whoa..." | 2002-03-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2K71GIXPVPITP |
| this totally blew me away, the first i heard of the boredoms was from super (are) and i was hooked, this was the second album i have bought of theirs and it is twice as good as super (are) at least in my opinion, they are an amazing band and this album will uhh, do something good to you, p.s. you must listen to this album at the maximum volume, if your ears hurt put some cotton in um.. but for god sakes turn it up!#@#$! |
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| "my favorite album" | 2000-03-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1XYQ9JWIGZHJH |
| This is my favorite album from my favorite band. When I listen to this I feel as though it was made for me only. I may be wrong. Buy it and see if you think it was made for you. Many call what the Boredoms do "noise." This is dismissive. They create sound from nowhere and everywhere; a sound that does not resemble anything else. It is true art. |
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| "Under the Influence" | 1999-03-22 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| "Chocolate Synthesizer" is for experimental music listeners only. The Boredoms shift through various forms of music to create an album that offers the listener a chance to listen to music unlike any other. the band sounds like a mix between sonic youth, flaming lips, and hard core punk. the vocals are lacking and sound like a monkey is reciting them. on the other hand, the music makes for an adventurous ride through various dimensions. "shock city","b for boredoms", and " mama brain" allow the listener to leave the ground and enter a new planet of sound. give this album a shot if you are tired of the mundane and boring pop acts that fill radio and MTV. |
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