Orquesta del Desterto
Orquesta del Desierto was conceived by songwriter Dandy Brown in Palm Springs, CA, the locale that spawned proto-stoner heavies Kyuss and alterna-rock magnates Queens of The Stone Age. Brown’s vision of sun-drenched, latin-tinged acoustic rock drew a plethora of Palm Desert icons, including ex-Kyuss/QoTSA drummer Alfredo Hernandez and Fatso Jetson guitarist Mario Lalli, the latter of whom Kyuss/QoTSA ringleader Josh Homme cites as "my favorite guitar player in the world, ‘cause he’s soooo original" (LA Weekly). The final addition was singer Pete Stahl, whose career began with leftist hardcore outfit Scream (alongside a teenage Dave Grohl), and has since encompassed forays into heavy pysch-pop with Wool and The Desert Sessions, Sabbath-bred doom in Goatsnake, and mainstream flirtation via performances with QoTSA. Stahl divides himself these days between the experi-melodic Earthlings?, Orquesta, and tour-managing friends like Cave-In and Rammstein. Orquesta being decidedly mellower than his past work, the attraction for Pete lay precisely there. "It was an opportunity to sing over something acoustic," Stahl explains, "and also a chance to play with Alfredo and especially Mario -- that really interested me ‘cause I’d never been in bands with them." Lollipop Magazine described Orquesta’s del Desierto’s self-titeld 2002 debut as "likely to inspire one of those brief, brilliant moments of overpowering happiness where you can’t help but feel that everything is good in the world." The Charleston Post & Courier added, "these guys, even when limited to acoustic guitars, still manage to rock harder than some of today’s fully amplified mainstream rock stars." Dos, the new album, is more refined sonically, a credit to the quasi-legendary Rancho de La Luna studios in Joshua Tree, CA where the album was recorded. Says Brown, listening to the Kyuss, Earthlings? and QoTSA recordings that came out of there, I could definitely hear something in the texture of those records that was placed there by the studio itself. The sessions were also enhanced by the contribution of Cave-In singer Steven Brodsky. "We’d been on tour together for a year and a half, so we’re always around each other," Stahl says. "I asked if there was a song he dug and wanted to put words to, and if he wanted to do some backing vocals, and it just worked out— which is pretty much the way stuff happens at Rancho." MeteorCity will release Orquesta del Desierto Dos on February 24, 2004. The band is shooting a video in December for the album’s first single, Above The Big Wide, with director Cale Bunker.
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Above The Big Wide
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Dos
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