Rovo

Established in 1996, the Japanese experimental instrumental rock outfit Rovo revolves around the core creative partnership of guitarist Yamamoto Seiichi, an alumnus of the Boredoms, and violinist Katsui Yuji, whose prior work in multiple groups had already immersed him in the Japanese underground music world. The remaining members comprise drummers Yoshigaki Yasuhiro and Okabe Yoichi, bassist Jin Harada, and keyboardist Masuko Tatsuki. Katsui initially sought to blend elements of rave atmosphere with Japanese underground rock, which shaped Rovo’s output around psychedelic grooves carrying dance-music influences while frequently branching into jazz, funk, Afro-beat, dub, Latin music, progressive rock, and Krautrock. The band’s minimalist grooves and repetitive, driving percussion have drawn frequent parallels to Neu!.

Across numerous studio albums and live documents, Rovo cultivated a signature identity anchored chiefly in Katsui’s distinctive electric violin tone and the contrasting rhythmic layers supplied by the dual drummers and percussionists. Their first release, Pico!, appeared in 1998 on Sony Music, followed the next year by Imago, which later received a U.S. edition in 2001. The 2000 album Pyramid pushed the group’s drone-and-repetition approach to dance rock even further, presenting the entire record as one continuous track.

Rovo have occasionally collaborated with more mainstream artists, producing a remix of ex-Judy & Mary vocalist Yuki’s “66db” and another of indie dance act Supercar’s “Fairway”; Katsui later contributed as a guest musician to Supercar’s final album, Answer. In 2001 the band covered “Catch and Release” for a Manuel Gottsching tribute album, supplied a track to a 2003 compilation interpreting the manga and anime character Tetsuwan Atom, and in 2004 recorded a version of the Pop Group’s “We Are Time” for the New Wave tribute collection Fine Times. Despite each member’s involvement in other projects, Rovo sustained a consistent release schedule and regular touring. In 2006 they launched their own imprint, ROVO Organization, which issued Condor and the 2008 album Nuou.

Ravo came out on Wonderground in 2010, with Rovo Dub arriving the following year. After completing tours of Europe and Japan, the group recorded Phase, released the year after. Mutual admiration forged with System 7 during those travels resulted in two joint projects: the 2013 album Phoenix Rising, credited to Rovo System 7, and the subsequent Hinotori EP of remixes and new material.