Have you ever watched cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s seminal film ‘The Holy Mountain’ or even heard of it? I doubt it. So to save you from watching it, I watched it for you and to summate it’s really weird. Like think of the oddest, strangest thing and then turn the dial on that up until it breaks and then maybe you’ll be somewhere close to the absurdity of this film. But this isn’t about the film, I’m actually here to tell you about Bo Ningen’s album of the same name, which is an alternative soundtrack for the film.
For those of you who don’t know, Bo Ningen is a Japanese four-piece noise-rock/ alternative-rock band made up of Taigen Kawabe (bass/ vocals), Yuki Tsujii (guitar), Kohhei Matsuda (guitar) and Monchan Monna (drums), and although they are all from Japan they coalesced in London. Throughout their career, the band have played festivals such as Glastonbury, Coachella, Fuji Rock, Iceland Airwaves, Summer Sonic, Reading & Leeds Festivals, Primavera, as well as receiving a personal invitation to play Yoko Ono’s Meltdown Festival.
Now as for the album, it’s very much what it says on the tin. It’s a soundtrack for a rather weird film, and the album follows as such. With its waves of noise rolling in one after another it pulls you along and under as it follows the script of The Holy Mountain. With its harsher components and constant drones it’s definitely not for everyone. It usually follows a pattern of eeriness which will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and leave you on edge. The album is grotesque. Pulling out all the stops to make it as uncomfortable a listen as possible. It’s offbeat and rugged and none of it quite seems to make sense. However, in certain tracks such as Saturn 1, we are able to hear more common sounds and a hearty amount of chunky bass lines which make all the earache worth it.
Both the album and the inspiration for it are not for the faint of heart and after all this freakiness I’ve had enough, my brain can’t take it anymore and I’m going to bed.
Bo Ningen: The Holy Mountain Live Score – Out 1st March 2024 (Alcopop! Records)
Meg is a proud Mancunian and Music Journalist. She started out by writing press releases for bands in her free time, but now runs her own website Dyrti which she plans to expand in the near future. She loves Lester Bangs and Tony Wilson and has interviewed bands such as Cabbage, Oceans On Mars and Adult Cinema. You will more often than not find her somewhere in the Northern Quarter.
