Manta Ray's 'Estratexa' is masterful
The band performs Saturday
in Portland at Berbati’s Pan
By Carl Sundberg
Pulse Columnist
Manta Ray is a band to keep your eye
on. They may just take the world by
storm with their furiously passionate
polyrhythms, odd-timed stratospheric
riffing and hypnotic, meditative
grooves.
Much like its peers The Mars Volta,
Frans Am, Rumah Sakit or even latter
day Radiohead, Manta Ray embodies
the often ignored notion of musical
progress. This is less akin to some of the
other new "post/punk/indie" rock
„ bands like Jet or The Strokes.
But Manta Ray, coming all the way
from Spain, resembles none of the
aforementioned bands. It merely fits
__ into the no
tion that
progress is a
REVIEW good thing
in music. On
its most re
cent album, "Estratexa," Manta Ray un
leashes some of the most innovative
riffs, textures and songs in contempo
rary rock.
Trippy repetitive keyboard bleeps
and swirling guitar are surrounded by
tribal thunder-drumming and grinding
Courtesy
Manta Ray’s "Estratexa" has innovative
sounds and lyrics in English and Spanish.
bass notes as singer Jose Garda croons
fluidly in English and Spanish.
The songs on "Estratexa" are built
layer upon layer. There are no real
hooks or verse-chorus-verse formats
that are easily picked out.
The opening song, "Take a Look,"
starts out sounding like a telephone
left off the hook but is immediately
followed by a rolling fretless bass line
and vocals, then by a gentle looping
guitar and finally some more key
board sounds. As the song slowly
builds and frolics, the drummer lays
low, like the song is being launched
into space. About three minutes into
the piece, the rhythm changes into
PULSE BRIEF
Skerik’s Critters Buggin’
will play WOW Hall April 18
Critters Buggin' will bring its acid
punk-voodoo-tribal-freak jazz to WOW
Hall on April 18 to support a new al
bum being released on Ropeadope
Records this month. Also on the bill is
special guest Piece of Meat Theatre.
Hailing from Seattle, Critters Buggin'
includes all-star musicians Skerik on
saxophone, Matt Chamberlain on
drums, Brad Houser on bass and Mike
Dillion on percussion.
Skerik made a name for himself
playing with such acts as his recent
Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet, Tu
atara and Les Claypool's Fearless Flying
Frog Brigade. Chamberlain has laid out
the beat for David Bowie, Tori Amos
and Fiona Apple. Houser plays with
Hairy Apes and freelances around
Austin, Texas. Dillion played with Brave
Combo and Garage a Trois.
Doors open at 8 p.m. and showtime
is 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $ 10 in advance,
$12 at the door. WOW Flail is located
at 291W. Eighth Ave.
— Carl Sundberg
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GOT A STORY IDEA? RES H
something completely different, sub
tle and flowing, as if the song has fi
nally reached the edge of the atmos
phere where it orbits until the final
dissolving moments of its existence.
Immediately following "Take A
Look" is the tricky-timed drumming
of the title track, "Estratexa." Like the
first song, this piece is built with lay
ers, giving it an odd, meditative feel.
There are no words on "Estratexa,"
but you don't even really notice be
cause before you know it the third
song, "Que Nino Soy," is upon you
like a rushing animal.
The standout tracks are easily
"Asalto," an instrumental missile attack
lasting just under two minutes, and
"Monotonia," which sounds as if it is
channeling some sort of dark energy
from the core of sound's primal begin
nings. It is brief, eerie and intense.
What strikes you most about Manta
Ray is how they are able to create such
complex-sounding songs with the
most simplistic of playing. There are
no flashy heroes in this band. They
work together brilliantly as a good
team, as a force, which is able to chan
nel the primal sounds of something
more powerful than anyone of them
could do individually. The atmos
pheric textures that Manta Ray create
coupled with the shamanistic-like
rhythms make for one seriously
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profound aural experience.
However, in some regards, the four
members of Manta Ray create more of a
visual experience than an auditory one
They almost induce visions with their
music. In fact, in 2001, at The Gijon In
ternational Film Festival in Spain, Man
ta Ray composed and performed a con
cert entitled "Score" diat later became a
record and a video.
Since 1994, they have recorded four
full length albums, three EPs, and a
bundle of singles. They will perform
April 17 at Berbati's Pan in Portland, lo
cated at 10 SW Third Ave., with the
Sword's Project. Tickets are $7 in ad
vance and $8 the day of the show. The
show begins at 9:30 p.m.
Contact the Pulse columnist
at carlsundberg@dailyemerald.com.
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