[Review] Bosnian Rainbows - Bosnian Rainbows

Most of us know Omar Rodriguez-López for the super-prolific multi-intrumentalist madman he has become in the years after At The Drive In's break up, never really focusing in just one project at the time. Having released an album and formed a "temporary" band with every musician he has come in contact with so far, no one expected Bosnian Rainbows would become his main project in so little time.

Many fans anticipated The Mars Volta's breakup since the release of their 2009 album Octahedron, but a few hiatuses later TMV was still going, and with the incorporation of Deantoni Parks on drums, Omar and Cathy Pellow (head of Sargent House and Omar's partner in his own label) heralded the arrival of a new TMV.

At the same time, Omar adopted Teri Gender Bender's band Le Butcherettes into his own label, so it was a matter of time before both had an album of sorts. It wasn't a surprise when it was announced that the newest incarnation of Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group would feature Teri Gender Bender, but the group soon had it's own name and after a few months of silence it was announced that The Mars Volta was no more.

Naturally there's has been a lot of hype about the two bands risen from the ashes of TMV (Cedric Bixler Zavala went on to form Zavalaz with Juan Alderete and a few friends), so now that the album has dropped there's no doubt Bosnian Rainbows is anything but "a new TMV", but some elements still remain.

Their self titled debut is somewhere between Noctourniquet and Omar's experiments with electronic music in albums like Tychozorente (2010) and Saber, Querer, Osar y Callar (2012). The bass has been replaced by synths, Teri Gender Bender lays down some dark, more conventional (and often punk infused) vocals instead of Cedric's anguished wails, Deantoni plays a stripped down kit while also playing keys and Omar, surprisingly, rarely stands out over his bandmates. Every instrument has the same level of protagonism, Omar's guitar playing has become subtler in the last year to the point where he's just another part of their aural spectrum.

This new equilibrium isn't all for the good though. While the album starts with a few really solid songs, it soons begins to feel a little too flat, there's few suprises after the first three or four songs, and while there's a nice variety of tunes here it feels like Bosnian Rainbows is missing an element that raises the band above their self imposed limitations. This why I feel the strongest tracks on the record are opener "Eli", which slowly builds up into it's great chorus and "Worthless", featuring an infectious drum beat by Parks, a great "solo" by Omar and again a great outro by Deantoni in the closing seconds, along with a solid performanced my Teri Gender Bender through and through.

Bosnian Rainbows could become so much more if they let themselves shine some more individually, but for now it feels like a band whose sound still doesn't feel greater than the sum of it's parts.

7.5/10

(7.5/10) Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Un Corazón De Nadie

After 2011's unusual blank space in Omar's release calendar comes the first album since 2010's Un Escorpion Perfumado, following the overall aesthetic of said release but this time featuring Omar behind all the music, from vocals, through bass to live drums and showing a bit more of his electronic side which he has been exploring briefly in the last year, aside from the completely electronic 2010 album Tychozorente, the first to feature no guitars, that is, of course, ignoring his past ventures into noisy territory with Despair and ORL&JMW.
Un Corazón De Nadie was released (as usually) as a surprise upload in Omar's Bandcamp page with cd preorders following a few days later. The release was probably planned as a tribute to his mother who passed away a few months before (she's holding Omar in the cover and is credited with creating the collage picture).

Like in Un Escorpion Perfumado the album consists in about half a dozen songs often separated by electronic/noise interludes and experiments featuring pulsating bass lines and sinister sounding synth arrangements, the fifth track (Colmillo) is the first to stray from that definition, offering a nostalgic and light hearted synth melody, briefly followed by the sound of hammering percussion and odd beats in Querer, featuring Omar on piano. Most of the vocals are often unmelodic and delivered in the form of low register whispers, something that Omar seems to feel comfortable about and that has been present in other recent releases. After Querer the albums dives into noisy and mostly instrumental territory until the closer Adiós arrives, while still delivering some interesting landscapes like Hez. 

Overall Un Corazón De Nadie is a good statement in Omar's branching career and a good stepping stone for his recent obsession for synths and electronic music, I just wouldn't recommend to those looking for an accesible entry to his catalogue or for those more accustomed to his "guitar" albums.

The Mars Volta - The Malkin Jewel (Single)

The Mars Volta's new single from their upcoming album Noctourniquet. You can buy the tracks from iTunes or Amazon or get a free instand download in 320kbps MP3 if you pre-order the album here (btw I'm getting that T-Shirt!). You can meanwhile listen to the song and play a fun mini game at the same time here or just watch it on Youtube.