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Boris with Michio Kurihara, "Rainbow"
Much of Rainbow is the next logical step after Boris' fantastic Pink album, there is the same mixture of heaviness and melody but with a greater emphasis on the latter. With Ghost's Michio Kurihara on board there is a greater exploration of what a guitar and an amp is musically capable of as opposed to physically capable of. This is easily one of the best albums Boris have put their name to, there is not one boring moment at any point during the album.
Drag City
Coming early on in the album, the title track features Wata on vocals and, while the Japanese language is lost on me, whatever she is singing about sounds lovely. Kurihara's solo is hot and piercing, totally at odds with the slinky rhythms of the song but working perfectly nonetheless. Kurihara complements the trio far better than I had hoped, without trying to doom up his playing but retaining his distinctive playing style throughout. His expressive and elaborate technique plays off Wata's equally impressive but radically different approach to the guitar.
Kurihara conjures up solo after solo, each one more magical than the last. Not letting him take all the limelight, Boris throw together some of the best songs of their career. The shortest piece on Rainbow, "My Rain," and the longest, "You Laughed like a Water Mark," sees Boris focus firmly on uplifting rhythms and gorgeous melodies: two things neither entity have a reputation for but pull off brilliantly. The collaboration bears its most succulent fruit towards the end of the album with "Sweet No.1." Here, on top of a blindingly simple riff, all four musicians let loose. The storm of guitars that has been brewing all album finally unleashes its powers. The fever of Kurihara's guitar playing towards the end of the song comes through so forcefully that it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
There is no doubt that Rainbow is a gem of an album, definitely a highlight of both Boris and Kurihara's back catalogues. It is a far cry from the doom of Boris' past and more in line with Ghost's more ballsy moments—some sort of strange middle ground between the more etherial Ghost and fuzzed out bliss of Boris. Thankfully Rainbow was not made into a stupid limited edition like so much of Boris' recent releases, as it's screaming to be a strong contender for album of the year.
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