By the time 2004 arrived, Omar Rodriguez Lopez had already shown hints of the versatile, creative, and dynamic artist that he was. Not only regarding music, but his huge interest on film and plastic arts were aspects that he always expressed on interviews. From being guitarist for At The Drive-In, leading to the experimental aspects of the band's sound, to teaming up with vocalist Cedric Bixler and other talented musicians to create The Mars Volta, where the experimental and musical blends got expanded even further, his ambitions and musical abilities showed an enthusiasm to touch other more personal and even looser territories. Eventually, some time after the release of De-Loused In The Comatorium, the Puerto-rican musician announced that his first solo album was in the works, and in 2004, "A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume One" would finally be released.
The album was built up and elaborated as a soundtrack to a low budget film directed by Omar that starred old bandmate and friend Jeremy Michael Ward in the lead role, making the album part of the soundtrack that was composed for the project. Recordings for both footage and instrumentals took place not long after The Mars Volta was formed, in 2001, with Jeremy having some roles in the music and the presence of one of the first Volta members, Blake Fleming, taking drumming duties. The sudden death of Jeremy lead to the project being put on shelf, until 2004, where, with good production and recording equipment, along side other musicians, like Cedric Bixler and John Frusciante, to help in the soundtrack, some tracks where completed and released as Omar's solo debut album (solo project in the sense that, contrary to other band focused records, he had complete control over the final product).
What A Manual Dexterity, name taken from the first official De Facto album (that is honestly somewhat similar to what this album tried to do regarding the use of varied elements that seemed to be different from each other but that, in the end, make up for a surprisingly cohesive album), brings is a dynamic and mostly instrumental album with a big focus on experimentation, implementing aspects that would later be used in different ways in other projects, but that made up for something different from what the artist had delivered until that point, being a very impressive, but still somewhat difficult to get into, album. The sound and the direction of the album had little to none interference from the musicians that participated on it, or at least, their involvement would be focused on their ability to elaborate mostly instrumental tracks that originated from looser, almost improvisational in some cases, musical pieces (something that was a big focus during these early years of the artist's solo career). It was not about crafting "the next masterpiece", but experimenting freely and without many concerns about what the final product would sound like, throwing many things at the wall, but with a certain precision and care behind. Just someone showing his love for the many styles of music that he appreciated on his own sound, creating tracks that were not perfect, sometimes stretching for too long with their experimentation or just feeling somewhat unpolished around the edges, but that still ended up engaging and intriguing.
Starting things off on a strong way with Around Knuckle White Tile, a seven minute instrumental track that uses an atmospheric introduction, building up things on a quiet way for almost three minutes, while using sound manipulation to increase the volume with each passing moment until introducing some percussion samples, guitar notes, and Blake's drumming; before getting to the main part of the song (this sort of build up being something experimented with in The Mars Volta's second album). An acoustic guitar takes place, mellow melodies being presented, with the production having an experimentation with the layers, before a frantic and energetic electric guitar solo coming to overshadow the mellow tone. Use of voice samples, distortion, focus on playing with sound in psychedelic ways, but all maintaining the main tone throughout the song. There is a lot going on, and ever revisit makes new elements come to attention, but even then, it is more than a fantastic intro, and a more than immersive track. The mellow atmospheric tone is kept on hold, while Dyna Sark Arches introduces a much more upbeat tone, having Cedric on bongo percussion, Jeremy relaxed melodica (resembling his work on De Facto), Blake's rhythmic drumming, and Omar's lively and dynamic guitars; making this a fairly simple track that works on a great way. That melodica extends to the outro with John's manipulated notes on the Minimogg working with the atmosphere, before fading away and transitioning to Here The Tame Go By.
With this track, a mellow ballad comes into play. Acoustic guitars having interaction with the electric guitar manipulated by distortion pedals, with Frusciante's Minimogg having more involvement in helping create that fairly unique atmosphere. It all builds up to the second half, where a drum machine changes the tone slightly, giving space to the guitar solo, before ending and having a distorted transition to Deus Ex Machina. The mood is contrasted heavily, having here a very unique interpretation and performance of Reina De Mi Vida, a salsa theme created by Marcelo Rodche (also known as Angel Marcelo Rodriguez, Omar's father). Comparing this to the original song is like night and day. Marcelo himself performs on vocals here, with people who participated in Rodche Defects (song in De Facto's Megaton Shotblast), like El Professor on percussion and David Lopez on trumpet, working along Omar on the instrumentals. The result is a very psychedelic and experimental version of the track, with minor reverb used in the vocals, along side distortion and experimental dub-like bridges. Full of charm and executed on a very upbeat and unique way, making it a definitive standout track that fades slowly before giving place to Dramatic Theme.
The mellow tone is picked up once again in every instrument, creating a sad atmosphere carried by the piano notes, the subtle drum rhythms, and Omar's guitar and frantic use of pedals. It all carries the mood while also derailing a bit into a free noisy improvisation segment, before lowering the volume a bit and then suddenly presenting Frusciante's guitar with a solo segment where the mood briefly changes, before returning to the already established melancholy. It is all very dynamic, varied, and full of unexpected turns, making it a layered track that is always a joy to come back to in order to discover the many details implemented. A looser track comes in, with the use of a typewriter sample being used throughout all the song, focused more on Omar's guitar free compositions, not offering much besides that, but also managing to be very hypnotic with some of the almost atonal melodies that he is able to pull off. Sensory Decay Part II is the most abrasive track on the record, being an experimental track diving in the electronic territory, managing to be engaging throughout all its run, maintaining a noisy and distorted atmosphere that invites revisiting.
Of Blood Blue Blisters changes the mood once again while, with Ikey Owens on the piano creating an almost western sounding melody carrying the track, with the introduction of the guitar that shifts abruptly to a noise segment where, with the help of Andrew Scheps's trumpet, everything becomes chaotic before returning to the main segment of the song. Everything is carried on with this structure, before introducing the loud and chaotic segment once again but implementing a coherent riff that adds to a unique mood that is pulled off quite well, before the piano closes off the track completely, transitioning into Dream Sequence. A track much more focused on creating atmospheres, introducing its manipulated soundscapes, as well as a sampled loop reminiscent of what would be the part of the transition to L'Via L'Viaquez, on a very engaging way. This particular atmosphere and loop carry through the entire track, while a saxophone improvisation is played in the background, being a part of this unsettling tone that the track manages to take, being very dream-like and light on its textures (but perhaps dragging on for a little bit too long with its six minutes of runtime). It all slowly builds up to a more simple ending that fades out into The Palpitations Form A Limit, the more conventional song of the entire bunch. Cedric comes in vocals, and while it may sound like a Mars Volta outtake at first, with the guitar tones and the presence on Cedric with his more polished vocals, the mood and tone are pretty unique for the album. John Frusciante's guitar contrasting the distorted and frantic tones from Omar, Blake's simple rhythm drum, and the modulation on Cedric's voice, being somewhat watery compared to how his parts were produced at the time. Very enjoyable, and certainly the track most people who would like to see what this is like should check out, closing up the album on a very approachable and energetic way compared to all the experimentation that came prior.
A Manual Dexterity is far from being a perfect album. While it has a lot to offer with the experimentation and the different genres/tones being presented, and still being a consistent listen despite all that variety, its still rough on some aspects. Some songs seem to drag a bit longer than others, but taking into consideration that is all part of a soundtrack then it can be understood. It is not an album to start getting into this artist's solo discography, because its very much different than what he had presented until that point, while also being somewhat difficult, or even abrasive, at the first impressions. But still, its variety brings up a lot of charisma with the different moods portrayed and the way that they are able to be pulled off in such an impressive way (and when everything falls into place, it sure brings out some of the best and most unique material from this solo catalog), showing a lot of elements, production and instrumental wise, that would be used in future Volta and solo material. Volume two of this soundtrack was supposed to be released one year later along side the movie, but due to legal issues, it was put on hold, even though Omar has stated planning to release it at some point. It would be interesting to see the complete approach to this so called "soundtrack for a film", but for now we still have this intriguing debut as a legacy of that unfinished project.
There is certainly a lot of personal meaning, passion, and creativity coming from Omar. And it all blossoms on this intriguing and enjoyable album.
The album was built up and elaborated as a soundtrack to a low budget film directed by Omar that starred old bandmate and friend Jeremy Michael Ward in the lead role, making the album part of the soundtrack that was composed for the project. Recordings for both footage and instrumentals took place not long after The Mars Volta was formed, in 2001, with Jeremy having some roles in the music and the presence of one of the first Volta members, Blake Fleming, taking drumming duties. The sudden death of Jeremy lead to the project being put on shelf, until 2004, where, with good production and recording equipment, along side other musicians, like Cedric Bixler and John Frusciante, to help in the soundtrack, some tracks where completed and released as Omar's solo debut album (solo project in the sense that, contrary to other band focused records, he had complete control over the final product).
What A Manual Dexterity, name taken from the first official De Facto album (that is honestly somewhat similar to what this album tried to do regarding the use of varied elements that seemed to be different from each other but that, in the end, make up for a surprisingly cohesive album), brings is a dynamic and mostly instrumental album with a big focus on experimentation, implementing aspects that would later be used in different ways in other projects, but that made up for something different from what the artist had delivered until that point, being a very impressive, but still somewhat difficult to get into, album. The sound and the direction of the album had little to none interference from the musicians that participated on it, or at least, their involvement would be focused on their ability to elaborate mostly instrumental tracks that originated from looser, almost improvisational in some cases, musical pieces (something that was a big focus during these early years of the artist's solo career). It was not about crafting "the next masterpiece", but experimenting freely and without many concerns about what the final product would sound like, throwing many things at the wall, but with a certain precision and care behind. Just someone showing his love for the many styles of music that he appreciated on his own sound, creating tracks that were not perfect, sometimes stretching for too long with their experimentation or just feeling somewhat unpolished around the edges, but that still ended up engaging and intriguing.
Starting things off on a strong way with Around Knuckle White Tile, a seven minute instrumental track that uses an atmospheric introduction, building up things on a quiet way for almost three minutes, while using sound manipulation to increase the volume with each passing moment until introducing some percussion samples, guitar notes, and Blake's drumming; before getting to the main part of the song (this sort of build up being something experimented with in The Mars Volta's second album). An acoustic guitar takes place, mellow melodies being presented, with the production having an experimentation with the layers, before a frantic and energetic electric guitar solo coming to overshadow the mellow tone. Use of voice samples, distortion, focus on playing with sound in psychedelic ways, but all maintaining the main tone throughout the song. There is a lot going on, and ever revisit makes new elements come to attention, but even then, it is more than a fantastic intro, and a more than immersive track. The mellow atmospheric tone is kept on hold, while Dyna Sark Arches introduces a much more upbeat tone, having Cedric on bongo percussion, Jeremy relaxed melodica (resembling his work on De Facto), Blake's rhythmic drumming, and Omar's lively and dynamic guitars; making this a fairly simple track that works on a great way. That melodica extends to the outro with John's manipulated notes on the Minimogg working with the atmosphere, before fading away and transitioning to Here The Tame Go By.
With this track, a mellow ballad comes into play. Acoustic guitars having interaction with the electric guitar manipulated by distortion pedals, with Frusciante's Minimogg having more involvement in helping create that fairly unique atmosphere. It all builds up to the second half, where a drum machine changes the tone slightly, giving space to the guitar solo, before ending and having a distorted transition to Deus Ex Machina. The mood is contrasted heavily, having here a very unique interpretation and performance of Reina De Mi Vida, a salsa theme created by Marcelo Rodche (also known as Angel Marcelo Rodriguez, Omar's father). Comparing this to the original song is like night and day. Marcelo himself performs on vocals here, with people who participated in Rodche Defects (song in De Facto's Megaton Shotblast), like El Professor on percussion and David Lopez on trumpet, working along Omar on the instrumentals. The result is a very psychedelic and experimental version of the track, with minor reverb used in the vocals, along side distortion and experimental dub-like bridges. Full of charm and executed on a very upbeat and unique way, making it a definitive standout track that fades slowly before giving place to Dramatic Theme.
The mellow tone is picked up once again in every instrument, creating a sad atmosphere carried by the piano notes, the subtle drum rhythms, and Omar's guitar and frantic use of pedals. It all carries the mood while also derailing a bit into a free noisy improvisation segment, before lowering the volume a bit and then suddenly presenting Frusciante's guitar with a solo segment where the mood briefly changes, before returning to the already established melancholy. It is all very dynamic, varied, and full of unexpected turns, making it a layered track that is always a joy to come back to in order to discover the many details implemented. A looser track comes in, with the use of a typewriter sample being used throughout all the song, focused more on Omar's guitar free compositions, not offering much besides that, but also managing to be very hypnotic with some of the almost atonal melodies that he is able to pull off. Sensory Decay Part II is the most abrasive track on the record, being an experimental track diving in the electronic territory, managing to be engaging throughout all its run, maintaining a noisy and distorted atmosphere that invites revisiting.
Of Blood Blue Blisters changes the mood once again while, with Ikey Owens on the piano creating an almost western sounding melody carrying the track, with the introduction of the guitar that shifts abruptly to a noise segment where, with the help of Andrew Scheps's trumpet, everything becomes chaotic before returning to the main segment of the song. Everything is carried on with this structure, before introducing the loud and chaotic segment once again but implementing a coherent riff that adds to a unique mood that is pulled off quite well, before the piano closes off the track completely, transitioning into Dream Sequence. A track much more focused on creating atmospheres, introducing its manipulated soundscapes, as well as a sampled loop reminiscent of what would be the part of the transition to L'Via L'Viaquez, on a very engaging way. This particular atmosphere and loop carry through the entire track, while a saxophone improvisation is played in the background, being a part of this unsettling tone that the track manages to take, being very dream-like and light on its textures (but perhaps dragging on for a little bit too long with its six minutes of runtime). It all slowly builds up to a more simple ending that fades out into The Palpitations Form A Limit, the more conventional song of the entire bunch. Cedric comes in vocals, and while it may sound like a Mars Volta outtake at first, with the guitar tones and the presence on Cedric with his more polished vocals, the mood and tone are pretty unique for the album. John Frusciante's guitar contrasting the distorted and frantic tones from Omar, Blake's simple rhythm drum, and the modulation on Cedric's voice, being somewhat watery compared to how his parts were produced at the time. Very enjoyable, and certainly the track most people who would like to see what this is like should check out, closing up the album on a very approachable and energetic way compared to all the experimentation that came prior.
A Manual Dexterity is far from being a perfect album. While it has a lot to offer with the experimentation and the different genres/tones being presented, and still being a consistent listen despite all that variety, its still rough on some aspects. Some songs seem to drag a bit longer than others, but taking into consideration that is all part of a soundtrack then it can be understood. It is not an album to start getting into this artist's solo discography, because its very much different than what he had presented until that point, while also being somewhat difficult, or even abrasive, at the first impressions. But still, its variety brings up a lot of charisma with the different moods portrayed and the way that they are able to be pulled off in such an impressive way (and when everything falls into place, it sure brings out some of the best and most unique material from this solo catalog), showing a lot of elements, production and instrumental wise, that would be used in future Volta and solo material. Volume two of this soundtrack was supposed to be released one year later along side the movie, but due to legal issues, it was put on hold, even though Omar has stated planning to release it at some point. It would be interesting to see the complete approach to this so called "soundtrack for a film", but for now we still have this intriguing debut as a legacy of that unfinished project.
There is certainly a lot of personal meaning, passion, and creativity coming from Omar. And it all blossoms on this intriguing and enjoyable album.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Favorite Song: Around Knuckle White Tile / Deus Ex Machina / Here The Tame Go By
No comments:
Post a Comment