I don’t want to brag, but in the last four to five years, I’ve done a lot of pretty fun things. Not once but twice I accidentally ran into John Stamos at an airport! I got a cat! I learned that most magic is not real! To be honest, it’s been a real whirlwind. But you know what, in times of quiet reflection, I often find myself regretting that I never sat down and made that gamelan album I always wanted to make. That’s why, though I’m very excited to announce the new full-length Gamel from Yoshimi P-We’s long-running OOIOO project, I’m also sensing just a little bit of my old friend darkness peeking through the windows in my soul. You see, on Gamel, Yoshimi P-We (who you might recall also drums in Boredoms) and company go ham on some gamelan, integrating Eastern folk rhythms and textures into the structure of Yoshimi’s et al.’s weirdo noise rock, as exemplified both on past OOIOO releases and with Boredoms. Time really does keep on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future, doesn’t it?
Anyhow, this is OOIOO’s first release since 2009’s Armonico Hewa. It’s also the first thing we’ve seen from the Kingdom of Boredoms since that last OOIOO LP. And apparently the long silence from OOIOO in particular is a result of a long period of focused work on Gamel. I can hear you imitating how you think the band’s name is pronounced in order to express wonder at all of this. “Ooh, Eye, Ooh!” you exclaim. Don’t feel bad, I did it too. Control yourself for a minute, though. I’ve still got more to tell you. Like, for example, the fact that on Gamel, OOIOO welcomes two new members — Koheysai Kawamura and Tomoyuki Hamamoto — playing traditional gamelan instruments. And that the release comes on both deluxe 2xLP and CD in a fancy LP-style gatefold package. And how about where you can pre-order the thing, that seems important doesn’t it? Well you can pre-order it right here (it’s out July 1). Now all that’s left to decide is whether I should embed the track “Atatawa” from the album below. Who am I kidding? Of course I’m going to embed it! In fact, I already did! Because, and here’s a trade secret, I usually get all the embeds ready in my news posts before I even write a word. What an interesting factoid, right? Totally worth including in this news post.
Gamel tracklisting:
01. Don Ah
02. Shizuku Gunung Agung
03. Pebarongan
04. Gamel Ninna Yama
05. Gamel Uma Umo
06. Gamel Kamasu
07. Atatawa
08. Jesse Testa
09. Gamel Udahah
10. Kecupat Aneh
11. Gamel Ulda
• OOIOO: http://ooioo.jp
• Thrill Jockey: http://www.thrilljockey.com
More about: OOIOO
