The gentle quasi-neoclassical intro piece is something of a red herring, given that moments later the album bursts into a rollicking western tune in the form of ‘Zebulon’, part Ennio Morricone, part Chris Isaac, and with a galloping rhythm. Wait, now it’s The Shadows... no, it’s Guano Padano’s ‘One Man Bank’, although there’s more than a hint of ‘Apache’ to it.
On the one hand, it shouldn’t work – it’s not only spaghetti cliché, but heavily doused in cheese. But that’s precisely why it does work: musically, it’s as audacious as it is accomplished, every track familiar yet at the same time strange.
Joining the core trio on this outing is a string of noteworthy collaborators: Marc Ribot (John Zorn, Tom Waits), Chris Speed (best known for his work with john Zorn), Paolo Botti, Vincenzo Vasi, and Paul Niehaus (Lambchop). Then, of course, there’s the inimitable Mike Patton, who crops up everywhere, especially on Ipecac releases. Funny, that.
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As they cut and weave their way through a sand-blasted desert shot in the washed-out colours of vintage Panavision – from ‘Gran Bazaar’ which combines a surf twang with a Latin twist to the low-slung swagger of ‘Prairie Fire’ (which features Patton providing the only vocals on the album and coming on like Jim Thirlwell) via the crazy country hoedown of ‘Bellavista’, the eclecticism is mastered and somehow channelled into something that hangs together as an album, rather than haphazard or disjointed mess of ideas.
Guano Padano Online
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