Orquesta del Desierto--Dos
MeteorCity 2004
In music, there's always a lot of the same ole same ole going on. On their self-titled debut, Orquesta del Desierto bucked that trend, offering a uniquely textured listen. With their follow-up release, Dos, that penchant for the slightly offbeat continues. In fact, it's even more successful than their initial outing was.
Orquesta del Desierto's sound is a mutifaceted amalgam of styles. Still, the heart of it remains rooted in the same earth as Alice In Chains acoustic output. This base is normally fused with tunes which resemble the mellower half of Jane's Addiction's Ritual de lo Habitual or the folkier moments of Led Zeppelin. The result is music that comes off as honest, soothing, and just a wee bit melancholy.
What seperates Dos from the band's self-titled debut is an even greater consistency in terms of songwriting. The album starts off with the superb, celebratory feeling "Life Without Color." This cut is the most Jane's Addiction slanted of Dos. "Reaching Out" and "Someday" both fare well, thanks to their modern approximation of late 60's psych. "Rope" picks things up enough that vocalist Pete Stahl is able to open up his voice and put a bit of soulful grit into the track. The countrified strains of "What In The World," as well as the dreamy desert prog instrumental "Someday," bring the album its greatest success, broadening to a degree Orquesta del Desierto's sound.
For fans of the band's debut, Dos will certainly not dissapoint. In spite of its quirks, newcomers should also warm fairly quickly to this Orquesta del Desierto effort. This is certainly not cookie-cutter, mass-geared music, in spite of its immediacy, and that is a very good thing. A nice change of pace.
Score this CD directly from METEORCITY
|
