Word-play wonder, harmonies to swoon to, and rhythms to drive you mad.
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This is a case where the name most definitely fits the band. Imagine mixing Henry Cow and John Vanderslice with David Bowie and Captain Beefheart (?!?)...and you might begin to have a slight idea of what the band Morex Optimo sounds like. Art rockers in the coolest sense of the word, these folks are playing music that truly does not sound like anyone else out there. Many bands could make the claim that their music is unique and different...but how many of those bands actually record music that is credible...? Songs are what make the difference...and there are plenty of absolutely killer tunes to be found on Beast of Reflection. The folks in this band use jagged arrangements and peculiar instrumental phrasings to flesh out their songs. The vocals are slightly subdued and indifferent...yet they fit the music perfectly (the doubled-tracked vocals work wonderfully). Some musical segments are sparse and nervous...while others are rather thick, dark, and intense. Obtuse and peculiar...this is an album for thinking listeners. Cool and curious cuts include "Burkina Faso," "The Exactly Commensurate Abattoir," "Kosmonaut," "Exhaust," and "Wild Over." Great stuff.
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Morex Optimo from their psychedelic side have transcended traditional rock music for a cornucopia of fused influences that tinkle about the bizarre and avant garde without seeking to be labeled. Wildly creative, “Beast of Reflection” is indeed a mirror into the soul of the listener—will they be transfixed or will they shift away straying towards something perhaps more approachable and less dynamic? The answer is probably the odds of a guess at a true-and-false question, you’re assured of reaching an almost-majority but not isolating a majority either. What’s nice is this isn’t something you have to “get” but rather experience. After all they seemed to have captured David Bowie in his splendid ‘70s glam to bottle him up, shake it about, and spit forth a hegemony that will exist within the intelligent music world. Excellent indie rock with all the spicy flavors of intelligent conversation.
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Morex Optimo... is a wild and brainy rush and provides a refreshing change of pace from the quotidian. Listen: feel yourself beginning to take a psychic holiday from the get-go; "Burkino Faso, Kung Fu" sets the tone---it's like a cross between XTC inventive dissonance and B-52s style crazed tomfoolery. The vocalizations are inspired and some truly intricate jazz-level guitar bass and percussion parts render this musical project a decided cut above. Fans of Beefheart and Baby Ray will find a good deal to like here. The sweeping "Kosmonaut" has the sort of epic sound some would call ponderous but devotees of Savage Republic and the like will lap it up. This is possibly too esoteric for some
benighted tastes, but who cares about THOSE shitheads? As per Harvey Pekar, average is the new dumb. And the undumb and discerning will vastly appreciate these musical stylings, which are themselves a type of ingenious calculus
of contrariwise. (Francis DiMenno)
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