Omar Rodriguez Lopez
Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo

Grouping certain artists into a single musical thread is certainly a way to classify specific stylistic coordinates, but this must be done in a way that fully reflects the intentions of the composer. Talking about "total" music might be more constructive, but at the same time a bit confusing; some labels certainly have a reason to exist, and artists must be placed within such genres in relation to the true characteristics of their attitudes.

 Why bring this up in a review of Omar Rodriguez Lopez? I will explain it immediately. From the '90s to today, the artists I prefer are those who combine or at least fall within one or more musical attitudes. Omar and Cedric, before forming The Mars Volta, were in At The Drive In; in a very formal way, one could claim a transition from Post-Hardcore to modern Progressive Rock (at least, that's how some understand it). Omar and his peers do not accept the Progressive label unless it refers to "stylistic evolution." Personally, I wouldn’t entirely categorize The Mars Volta within the genre, but among the many pseudo-Prog bands that have alternated over the years, they are surely my favorites and the only ones I don’t complain about too much when defined as integral parts.

That good Omar as a solo artist has been a "bit" excessive in recent years with discographic releases, almost as if affected by Zornian bulimia, is known to many. Nevertheless, there's no lack of quality even in these works of his, of which I've managed to recover only a few, as each album, whatever the genre, must be assimilated through various listens and evaluated over time, and this funny guitarist from El Paso with big-screen glasses has not allowed this to happen easily.

"Se dice Bisonte, No Bufalo" is the particular title of this solo work from 2007, which doesn’t really stray too far from the Marsvoltian sound. Featured collaborations in this third solo work, as mentioned, include the faithful singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, often described as a Plant version Emo-Core (this term, for those who don’t know, exists for a reason, and the usual clichés might lead to thoughts of certain present-day uselessness), besides him, there is John Frusciante and the historical drummer of the band in question, Jon Theodore.

The stylistic coordinates of this formation have as their backbone Omar's guitar playing, a kind of frantic Frippian cerebrality with a South American flavor, which at times proves to be really effective, in others a bit self-serving. The title track is the moment I appreciate the most of this work; Cedric's vocalizations recall those of "The Widow", the instrumental part is certainly better than the cited piece, where Omar proves to be contained with his instrumental rages in favor of a piece moderately well-composed. "Rapid Fire Tollbooth", although pleasant, is a prototype of "Goliath" (which we will find in "The Bedlam in Goliath") and therefore turns out to be rather insignificant if listened to after the latter piece. In this work, consisting of ten tracks, among the most successful pieces worth mentioning is "Please Heat This Eventually", not far from some of their "Frances The Mute" mixtures. Very original elements characterizing their style are represented by certain South American sounds, percussive and keyboard elements that partially seem to evoke certain episodes of the best Santana.

This specific solo work might appeal to those who appreciate the sound of The Mars Volta, but not their instrumental "exaggerations" (which I nonetheless greatly enjoy) and who are looking for something more contained and less dispersed, which could enhance the compositional work of the guitarist.