"From the Central Californian town of Merced comes El Olio Wolof, invoking majestic kingdoms where Shel Silverstein's brand of playful poetics meets the ebb and flow of dusky indie rock." - El Olio Wolof
Zac messaged me to see if I would be around to run sound on the 3rd of July. So I looked up who was playing on myspace and realized why the inquiry was sent. This was not your average band.
El Olio Wolof's sound instantly hit me with a full wave of accordions, keys, vocals, flutes, and more. I try not to make a rambling review on any of these postings (the point being to check out the band for what it does: music), but there's a bit of a back story:
You see, El Olio Wolof had the 4th off. The 5th was at the 400 in Minneapolis and they were debating their next move. I was given a copy of their latest album after the show by Brian (their killer accordionist) for running sound. I said my goodbyes, farewells, and thank yous as I left with their amazing album "A Tedious Task" in my pocket. Guilt sets in when there's a band worthy of supporting and you just don't have any money to help out.
The next evening was Skinless' "America Fu@$ Yeah" 4th of July, First Friday extravaganza. There were three bands booked for the evening. I called to see what time everything was starting up and to my suprise, El Olio Wolof had decided to spend the 4th of July with us in Kansas City and play an impromptu second set.
I stopped by the ATM, pulled out some cash, swung down to the gallery, changed one or two things with the mics, and voila: an even better show than the evening before(I know, it doesn't seem possible). After their performance, I passed along enough money to buy them a couple of gallons of gas (might have gotten them out of the city). We talked over a couple of smokes while I learned about the city of Merced and it's Hmong population.
After working the rest of the evening (more on this to come in a future post!), I once again bid adieu to the band. Upon shaking RC's hand he summed up their stay with the following (and I quote loosely):
"We meet wonderful people on the road all of the time; never to see them again. I hope we see each other again someday."
With that, I was off. Point empathized. And a fitting way to end this tale.
What does any of this have to do with the music? I don't know. But you will listen...and you will enjoy.
El Olio Wolof LIVE @ the pink Mailbox in Isla Vista on 12-08-07 from ZackwolK on Vimeo.
Reviews:
- "Their new album is entitled A Tedious Task, ironic when thought of in context to the act of listening to their music, which feels anything but tedious. It feels quite like the perfect use of time. Their songs weave stories as complex as fairy tale spells and as simple as apple trees growing from seed."
- the Bay Bridged - "Immediately the first song I heard took over my ears as nothing had in a long time. Who would have thought a song about a fire-breathing dragon could have such power; it was passive circus music, it was eclectic originality, it was non-pompous indie rock. The only way to categorize it properly would be to put it in the same category as Sgt. Pepper’s, which is a category all to its own. When the organs and accordions drew silent, I frantically grabbed a pen and the first scrap of paper I could find and wrote down what the DJ said, or I thought he said. “El Olio Wolf…El Olio Olof…El Olio…what?”"
- wordsmithlind
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