Album: Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo
Artist: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Year: 2007
4th post and going strong...so far. Lets not get too optimistic yet. This album was released in 2007 and that makes it the newest thing I've talked about so far. After this I want to do something from before my time. ANYWAY. This record is definitely the most experimental, maybe less than Gentle Giant as a band, but the record I chose by them was less experimental and I talked about that... I'll return to Gentle Giant eventually. Some of the things on this record are so experimental its difficult to recognize it as music... but we'll get there.
1. The Lukewarm
This is only twenty-six seconds long and its more of an intro than anything else. I can't even determine what instrument is being played... if it is an instrument. It sounds pretty spiffy though, it definitely has my attention.
2. The Luxury of Infancy
This song is instrumental guitar and bass, with some pretty difficult-to-describe effects. This song is only a minute-thirteen long, so I'm not really even sure if the intro is over.
3. Rapid Fire Tollbooth
Great title for a song. This song is full of wah, and I happen to like wah, so i'll let it go. This song features vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who is in The Mars Volta with Omar, but we'll get to that later. Omar definitely has a recognizable style with the guitar. You can hear it a little bit in At the Drive-In, you can hear it A LOT in the Mars Volta, and here it is overwhelming. This is a very good song though. The lyrics are very good (as usual with this group of musicians), The song itself sounds great, and there is a really good (long) solo that closes the song. A great track, a standout on the record... although it lacks the cohesiveness of a true Mars Volta song... itfeels more like a one of theirs than an Omar Rodriguez-Lopez solo track.
4. Thermometer Drinking the Bussness of Turnstiles
Some titles just don't make good sense. I'm not saying its a bad thing, but Bussness isn't even a word. I guess it makes the song more interesting, I want to listen to see if I can make some sense of it. Once you get past the whirring opening, there are some very cool sounds in this song. If aliens made music and had Omar play guitar for them, this might be what it sounded like. About two minutes into the song, the guitar takes starts this arpeggio march thing and then it fades out suddenly into the background, and is replaced by more alien noises that leads us directly into the next song, which is the title track.
5. Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo
I really like the use of horns in this song. Cedric is back with some more vocals... although this doesn't feel as much like a Mars Volta song... it has a different mark on it. This song has some awesome vocal/piano/guitar interactions. I've never been much of a fan of vocal effects... but here I think it adds something to the song, it has an emotional pull and I think if I were in the right state of mind it might even bring tears to my eyes... hmm. Not what I expected to experience. At the end there's a piano/guitar/drum jam and this is an example of one of those things I'd like to be on stage for, it has so much energy. More signature guitar work from Omar, cue some more haunting vocal melodies from Cedric, and an abrupt closing. Great song, definitely a standout.
6. If Gravity Lulls, I Can Hear the World Pant
This song makes me feel like I'm in a desert on another planet. There are some rude interruptions of some pretty strange noises in this song. In fact, it kind of atrophies into something downright terrifying and then that suddenly quits and its a whole new part... still feel like i'm in that desert. Maybe some huge moons lurking just above the atmosphere, some huge monoliths hanging out in the hazy distance. I like this planet. Cue more alien sounds... and this is probably my favorite instrumental song on the whole record.
7. Please Heat this Eventually
Weighing in at eleven minutes and twenty-four seconds, this song is the beastliest on the record. Its got a slow, lulling start. However, your patience will pay off as the song EXPLODES into a latin-flavored guitar/organ romp. I think we're on another planet, but this one is a fucking party. Everyone is drinking mars-martinis and moon...shine. There is some cool sax in this song, there's one part where it trades for several measures with the guitar this is the way I wish my jazz band sounded. At about 5:00 there is something I cannot describe going on, but it is wonderful. Please listen to this song all the way through if you do listen. Strap on your phasers this is a shit-show (in the best way). Then, as mysteriously as it arrives, the jam begins to fade into a swamp of alien whirrs and beeps that turns into this great bass solo over what sounds like rapidly boiling MAGMA. Seriously good bass solo. Then the bass kind of takes over and does its own thing...after there is a sax(or something like a sax) soloing. Okay I'm not going to overanalyze everything that is going on, the point is, listen to this song all the way through, and be very surprised at how much you enjoy it.
8. Lurking About in a Cold Sweat (Held Together by Venom)
Right off the bat, without even listening to this song... the title makes me think of withdrawal symptoms, and the parenthetical part of the title makes me think of drug dependency. Does the theme of drug abuse from yesterday spill over into today? Okay. This song sounds slow and sad. Perhaps I can imagine myself lurking about in a cold sweat to this song... but it might be more like ballroom dancing across a glass floor of stars or something magnificent like that. There are some unexpected elements here that are not at all displeasing. When the guitars and drums come in, you are ready for it and it has a burning / smoldering effect after the cold, subdued part from before. For some reason I find this record very visual even though there aren't very many vocals. There are a few weird interruptions in the guitar part near the end of the song, it sounds like some sort of evil entity is trying to take over the song... it sounds cool actually, there is one place that has sort of an ingenious overlap. Then it ends... spills pretty well over into the next song
9. Boiling Death Request a Body to Rest its Head On
The percussion in this song is really cool. The guitar sounds a bit different, but its still something you've come to expect from our friend Omar. Nonetheless there are some rad riffs in this song, and it should not be forgotten.
10. La Tirania de la Tradicion
Cedric is back for the closing track of this record, and there is something very punky about this song. Its anxious and quick, quick-picked bass and weird synth give this song a strange 80's feel. Cedric is doing something very different vocally in this song... its got the sweaty strain of a singer from The Eagles of Death Metal or Jon Spencer Blues Explosion or something else I can't really identify. There are a lot of parts in this song that are just completely insane, and every now and then the alien sounds will pop back in and at this point they are almost reassuring. This is the most confrontational song on the record, the most in your face... like if we were in space before that was awesome, but now we've been abducted and we're being yelled at for some reason.
Closing Remarks:
Omar and Cedric are both longtime members of modern-progressive rock band The Mars Volta. Actually, Rapid Fire Tollbooth was rewritten by the band and its name was changed to "Goliath." Its on one of their albums and its a lot different... I have a lot of trouble deciding which version I like better. So listen to this album and you'll probably see lights in the sky... that's right this music actually confirms the existence of UFO's. Notice just UFO's... not aliens. Who knows. This record is underrated and you should get it! If you are a Mars Volta fan at all you will like this... just do it. (Thanks Nike) Or whoever said that
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