I’m inclined to think of Omar Rodriguez as the first official ORL solo record, even though that’s not technically correct. And yet, my predilection for proving myself to be the best kind of correct is overridden when I consider a couple of factors. A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume I preceded it by a year and a half, but I think there’s a clear delineation between representing the aural side of a visual medium and an album that creates its own cohesive universe, rather than serving to enhance existing media.
Another factor is that Omar Rodriguez is the first in the Amsterdam series (including Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo, The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange and Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)), which was recorded when he lived in that city. The cover artwork is by Julio Venegas, who was fictionalised as Cerpin Taxt for the Mars Volta’s debut Deloused in the Comatorium, and I think it’s worth noting that while most of the ORL oeuvre was provided with updated covers when his back catalogue was pressed (or re-pressed), Omar Rodriguez is one of the few that remained unchanged. It probably has something to do with IP/legal crap when the digital catalogue issued by Ipecac Recordings passed to Clouds Hill, but I prefer to think that for various sentimental reasons, Omar Rodriguez is a bit like the DNA set in amber, to be preserved for antiquity, marking the first official album-album and launching the start of his parallel solo career.
Personnel is broadly aligned with the Mars Volta Group lineup of that era, including Cedric Bixler-Zavala guesting his tambora skills, which also gives heft to my argument that this is the moral-first ORL record, since the line betwixt ORL and TMV at this time was very blurry indeed. Like much of the Amsterdam series, a good deal of the material was improvised, with Pitchfork calling it ‘jazz-oriented’, while Sputnikmusic preferred ‘jazz fusion’, although I suppose it amounts to the same thing. Incidentally, for your edification, the first time I learned about ‘jazz fusion’ as a genre was in an oft-run Comedy Central commercial with a clip of a stand-up routine where the comic was dunking on overly stylised answering machine messages (“Ooh – Joel’s into jazz fusion!”). Every single time I saw that commercial – which, I cannot stress enough, was often, since I spent most of my teenage years obsessed with Comedy Central – I rolled my eyes because The Kids In The Hall already did, and did it better, dammit!
It’s something of a happy coincidence that I waited until the series has almost finished before writing about Omar Rodriguez, because I suspect if I’d written this series in chronological order to the album release, I wouldn’t have noticed how much of a template this record sets for early era ORL solo albums. The jazz elements of improvisation and a strong focus on woodwinds for songs that are reworked for Mars Volta material is par for the course for this period, and I suspect the shorter segue tracks were composed afterwards to tie them together into a cohesive piece.
“Een Ode Aan Ed van der Elsken” opens with a crystalline splash through sleigh bells and minimal thrumming, while the penultimate track “Vondelpark Bij Nacht” is a slow, ponderous dance between squeaky intrusion and airy sitar that is reminiscent of the opening and closing tracks on Amputechture. “Regenbogen Stelen Van Prostituees” throws more guitar into the mix, although it is just a scooch crowded out with some pretty aggressive shrillness, though there is enough movement and progression to compensate. I envy the live versions performed at this time, which I imagine could easily be a glorious three-quarters of an hour.
The first movement of “Jacob van Lennepkade” is coquettish and understated, gradually coaxing in some funky guitar to spar with the woodwinds, and anchored by the “Viscera Eyes” bassline. While this version is less shred-heavy than its sequel, The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange’s “Jacob van Lennepkade II”, the second movement does share the salsa grooves and crunchier texture. Around the six-minute mark is one of my happiest of happy places, where I have to stop what I’m doing every time I hear it just to grin like the prize-winning dork I am. The final movement demands to be played as loudly as possible, and while normally for a track this long I’d struggle with this level of shrill, the alternating textures across the movements help usher in a near discordant conclusion. I really enjoyed listening to “Jacob van Lennepkade II” directly afterwards, and then “Viscera Eyes” for the aural history lesson in how an improv jam session developed into a version that added a denser texture and heavier beat, and in turn, became a vehicle for Cedric Bixler-Zavala to have a pop at organised religion.
I listen to music for almost entirely emotional reasons, even if the emotion is ‘I need to concentrate on this piece of writing’ or ‘I need to mask the sound of the man in the flat below effing and jeffing at someone so loudly it penetrates the maisonette directly below me, like a scary version of Brian Blessed and Simon Cowell playing chess’. “Spookrijden Op Het Fietspad” is music for HOORAY FUN. Most of this album gives heavy Amputechture vibes, for good reason, but I’m feeling lots of Old Money here, and as must be very evident by now, this is a wonderful thing. All the ingredients for a classic ORL instrumental groove are present and correct: a sick beat that demands attention, a salsa groove that’s almost impossible not to wriggle-chair dance to, bountiful shred, Juan’s magical stamina and woodwinds on the cusp of belligerence. It’s the perfect kind of outro, one that invigorates even with a soft, tinkly fade-out.
Omar Rodriguez represents the middle section of the Venn diagram between jazz and rock, and while parts of it border on taxing without ever being hard work, it’s never for very long. Because it’s such a comprehensive example of ORL’s process, I must insist this is the first ORL solo record, even though it isn’t. It makes me appreciate – and want to listen to – Amputechture; this album is its origin story and one I feel privileged to experience.
Track listing:
Een Ode Aan Ed van der Elsken
Regenbogen Stelen Van Prostituees
Jacob van Lennepkade
Vondelpark Bij Nacht
Spookrijden Op Het Fietspad
Omar Rodriguez is good