Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Old Money
by Maarten Schiethart
published: 20 / 1 / 2009
Label:
Stones Throw
Format: CD
intro
Experimental latest solo album from Mars Volta guitarist, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, which after other unsatisfactory solo albums, proves to be a partial retrun to form
Freeform jazzrock comes in spurts on 'Old Money' and since the 'Old Money' album is his first for Stones Throw, Omar Rodriguez Lopez now somehow has become a part of the establishment even though with this 'Old Money' album he intended to denounce the establishment as being exactly that. As a member of - sic - established noise outfit the Mars Volta, Lopez has released several albums before and his solo efforts must be regarded as lengthy sidesteps along the path that Señor Lopez once chose to be his. Lucky for Stones Throw Records that the San Francisco label has got the better of Omar Rodriguez here. At one stage, when I had been listening to his earlier music, I considered reporting him gone missing. Busy schemes demand full attention from the first moment 'Old Money' gets underway as freakouts from the 1970s combine with slide guitar clashes. The album's true merit, and cement, is, however, one of funky oblivion. Sat in the middle of the album 'Private Fortunes' offers a change in style. The mere picking of snares offers another highlight amidst all the muddy psychosis. From that moment on, there is no escape. True orgasmic value is saved towards the end of 'Old Money'. The Rockefellers take the stage on the penultimate track title when they receive a mention as if they were a band on 'I Like The Rockefellers' First Two Records, But After That ... , yet our frenzied man from The Mars Volta continues to dwell in unmatched bewilderment.
Track Listing:-
1 The Power Of Myth2 How To Bill The Bilderberg Group
3 Population Council's Wet Dream
4 Private Fortunes
5 Trilateral Commission As Dinner Guests
6 1921
7 Family War Funding (Love Those Rothschilds)
8 Vipers In The Bosom
9 I Like The Rockefellers’ First Two Albums, But After That…
10 Old Money
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