Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog

Party Intellectuals (Pi Recordings)

By Catherine Cole
Published: July 2nd, 2008 | 9:00am

To use the words of Marc Ribot (pronounced REE-bow) himself, the sound of Party Intellectuals is that of a "a quasi-freakout." The album is Ribot and Ceramic Dog's debut release (on noted jazz label Pi Recordings), but Ribot's name is already the stuff of legend in the music industry. He's been playing multi-genre guitar since the ‘70s and has worked with the likes of Elvis Costello; Medeski, Martin & Wood; and Tom Waits. But Ribot's near guitar-God status doesn't mean the guy can assemble a cohesive album — it's almost as if each track of Party Intellectuals catapults the record into an entirely different galaxy.

However, Ribot does impressively manage to assure that every one of those galaxies is uniquely enjoyable: the album opener is none other than a cover of the Doors' "Break On Through," a worthy introduction to the title track, "Party Intellectuals." Part math, part avant-garde noise, the song showcases an electrifying and exciting sound that Ribot clearly does well. The next track, "Todo el Mundo Es Kitsch," lets his modern lounge hair down and even has airy vocals almost akin to Morcheeba. “When We Were Young And We Were Freaks” launches you onto yet another planet: random spoken word. The lyrics on top of the various electric noises emit a truly “out there” feeling with lines like, “Listen man; people are fuckin’ sleep walking, man … they’re just sleep walkin’ man!”

Thankfully, Ribot brings back the guitar-heavy solos and math rock a few more times on tracks like "Digital Handshake" and "Midost," while “For Malena” shows off some of Ribot’s Cuban/Latin sounds, complete with a hip-swaying tempo and low-level horns. "ShSh ShSh" is one of the album’s psychedelic tracks with enchanting, layered, barely audible vocals — which are treated more as a noise interest, rather than a crucial narrative.

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog is on tour this summer, and if they should land their many planets on a planet near you, it's worth toting your guitar-genius friends along to soak up Ribot’s brilliance. Or, simply rock Party Intellectuals on the iPod while pondering trivial matters — like the universe or quantum physics.

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