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ROVO
Yamamoto Seiichi
Yoshigaki Yasuhiro
Masuko Tatsuki
Okabe Youichi
Harada Jin
Nakanishi Hiroshi
Katsui Yuji
Guitar
Percussion
Synth, FX, Production
Percussion
Bass, Harmonica
Synth
Violin
Profile
Spiritual-core, trance-rock, jazz-rock, space rock, prog, krautrock, jungle music, psych. These are just a sampling of the genres foisted on ROVO, a seven-member ensemble that has arisen from the Tokyo underground scene to critical success and prominence in electronica circles. ROVO draws on considerable instrumental talent from its members, whose pedigrees include the Boredoms (Yamamoto), Ground Zero and Date Course Pentagon Royal Garden (Yoshigaki) and Bondage Fruits (Okabe) to make its self-touted "man-driven drum 'n bass" come alive.

True to its mantra, ROVO songs are typically anchored by highly complex, dynamic percussion, heavy on polyrhythms and punctuated by breakbeats, all made possible by the group's two drummers. The percussion is further spiced up by the inclusion of tribal rhythms and traditional drums. The main melody, generally improvised, can require several minutes to develop, often following two general paths. The first, more typical of ROVO's earlier work, uses synthesized instruments buried under effects to achieve a spacey, detached feel. When ROVO heads in the opposite direction, though, the melody unfurls into a lush, compelling aggregate of synth and classical instruments, though still embellished with numerous effects. Regardless of the path taken, ROVO's compositions are sprawling and epic, but backed by spontaneity and energy to keep even the shortest attention spans plugged in.

ROVO was initially formed as a small project in 1995 by Yamamoto and Katsui, with Masuko signing onboard soon after. The founding members agreed they wanted to "play something big and spacey." By 1997, ROVO's lineup had expanded to include everyone in their current roster aside from Nakanishi (who later joined in 2001). Their maiden performance was held at Tokyo's Ebisu Milk in 1997, co-hosted by DJ Force and Moochy. The following, year the group issued a 12-inch EP Vitamin!/Cisco! and mini album PICO! before delivering their spacey full-length debut Imago in 1999 with Sony. Imago received critical press internationally, and a pair of DJs at San Francisco's KUSF were so taken by a ROVO performance that they started a label, Incidental Music, to bring Imago stateside and to Europe.

In 2000, ROVO started filling out their events calendar, beginning with the Fuji Rock Festival. They also appeared with Supercar at soundohb in October, which started a relationship with the band. They collaborated later to produce "Fairway (White Speed mix)" which appeared as a b-side on Supercar's Fairway single. ROVO took their act overseas in July of 2001, playing at a few select venues in the United States, which resulted in a double-disc live recording on John Zorn's Tzadik label. Until present, ROVO has continued an ambitious release schedule, with nearly one major album of new material each year, all the while marching into more melodic territory. Their 2001 and 2002 albums Sai and Flage, respectively, are currently slated for reissue in 2005 by Universal, after the band's label change from Warner. Meanwhile, during the remainder of 2005 the band has been performing constantly, while Yamamoto Seiichi released a solo album in November.

- James Route (published 2005.05.17, updated 2005.12.20)
Links
Artist homepage
Universal Music Japan
Samples
Discography list
Albums
TZ-7239 Tonic 2001
ESCB-3228 PICO!
ESCB-3241 imago
AICT-1214 PYRAMID
WINN-82073 SAI
RVLN-001 LIVE at Liquid Room 2001.05.16
WINN-82117 FLAGE
WRD-5 LIVE at Hibiya Oono 2003.05.05 ~Man Drive Trance Special~
POCE-2507 MON

Singles
ESCB-3246 Fairway
ESCL-2312 66db

EPs
EIZJ-0007 VITAMIN!/CISCO! (12")
SYUM-0096 HORSES!/KMARA!

Compilations
PSCR-5687 SHOCK CITY SHOCKERS
PCD-18501 Sino (DCPRG Split)
SALD-003 E2-E4 2001 -inspiration from Manuel Gotsching's E2-E4
WRD-2 MAN DRIVE TRANCE COMPILATION vol.1
ISCP-1008 Hotaka Matsuri '01'02
WPC6-10231 Anima Mundi
MRBT-1 ELECTRIC-BRAIN feat.Astro boy
KSCL-646 FINE TIMES ~A Tribute to NEW WAVE
VSAC-2002 BOYCOTT RHYTHM MACHINE

DVDs
POBE-2500 LIVE at Hibiya Oono 2004.05.05 ~Man Drive Trance Special~
Discography
cover image BOYCOTT RHYTHM MACHINE (Compilation)

Released: 2004.12.15 (VSAC-2002)
Label: vinylsoyuz

Tracklist
7. Fumo
cover image MON (Album)

Released: 2004.11.10 (POCE-2507)
Label: Universal Japan

Tracklist
1. URMA 2. LOQUIX 3. HAOMA 4. NOV 5. SARACA 6. REOM
cover image LIVE at Hibiya Oono 2004.05.05 ~Man Drive Trance Special~ (DVD)

Released: 2004.10.27 (POBE-2500)
Label: Universal Japan

Tracklist
1. LARVA 2. URMA 3. LOQUIX 4. HAOMA 5. REOM 6. WARP SESSION→ 7. PYRAMID 8. SUKHNA
cover image FINE TIMES ~A Tribute to NEW WAVE (Compilation)

Released: 2004.02.25 (KSCL-646)
Label: Ki/oon

Tracklist
(Disc 2) 8. We are Time (The Pop Group)
cover image LIVE at Hibiya Oono 2003.05.05 ~Man Drive Trance Special~ (Album)

Released: 2003.10.10 (WRD-5)
Label: wonderground

Tracklist
(Disc 1) 1. HORSESS 2. KHMARA 3. CANVAS 4. SUKHNA (Disc 2) 1. WARP SESSION→ 2. WOOF SESSION→ 3. NA-X 4. Kyokuboshi 5. KoNuMu
cover image ELECTRIC-BRAIN feat.Astro boy (Compilation)

Released: 2003.04.07 (MRBT-1)
Label: music robita

Tracklist
11. ASTROVO
cover image Anima Mundi (Compilation)

Released: 2002.12.28 (WPC6-10231)
Label: Warner Music

Tracklist
2. AUMA
cover image Hotaka Matsuri '01'02 (Compilation)

Released: 2002.12.21 (ISCP-1008)
Label: Universal Japan

Tracklist
(Disc 1) 3. Larvah (DVD) 1. Rovo and Rei Harakami Session
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