El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Cryptomnesia (2009)

Sorry, it has been a while since I’ve wrote a review. I’ve been kind of busy, and kind of lazy, but hopefully now I can continue. So I’ll restart this with “Cryptomnesia,” the highly anticipated album from Omar Rodriguez-Lopez second solo group El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez.

To be honest, there was nothing to really anticipate. I heard about the album and what it would hold. I thought, “Well, if Cedric is going to be singing on it, it might sound like ‘Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo.’” Well…I was wrong. It was basically another ORL solo album. Omar is just playing different riffs through effect pedals, Cedric is singing incoherently, the drummer is doing whatever the fuck he feels like, and the bassist is playing a Latin bass line. As well the effects used in the background is what really turned me off, it just annoys and bugs you till you just eventually just tune it out and then switch to a different album.

But there is always a good side to every album. For those who worship ORL solo albums will just as well cream to it just as they do to all ORL albums. If you have heard any of his albums you know what you are in for. That’s a good thing, right? As well, there are some gems on here that even I could enjoy. Tracks like “Half Kleptos” and “Shake Is for 8th Graders” are pretty forward driving and have some sense to them… very little though.

The drum work on the album is very impressive; it holds a lot of jazz roots and punk styling, amidst the chaos of the rest of the band. The lyrics, from what I could hear or even understand, are laughable in a good way. You could tell that Cedric didn’t really give a shit and just went off on whatever he felt like…wait, isn’t that every Mars Volta album?

Tl;dr? The album is a blender of conflicting tones, styles and ideas, set on “overkill” and served over ice, mixed with smooth spice rum. If you’re an ORL fan-boy, you will no doubt love this album, BUT if you’re an Mars Volta fan and that’s it, you might as well skip it. So while I didn’t enjoy all of it, I did like some of it. Omar is really doing what he set out to do, challenging your ideas and ideals of music; though this could also be hurting him in the long run. I’m giving “Cryptomnesia” 3 out of 5 stars. Not bad, but not good either. Enjoy your ORL drinks, I haven’t trademarked it yet.

Cheers!