Buckethead
Monument Valley

Release Date: 2014 | Tracklist

By now, everyone must be fed up with Buckethead's relentless album releases. The Pikes series started less than three years ago and it already produced 49 pieces at an inhuman pace, with no signs of stopping. Putting out a lifetime's worth of material, times five, inevitably attracts its own issues. A huge amount of tracks are forgotten since the listener's being bombarded with a new pike almost each week, while a lot of experiments feel like leftovers that even though they share the man's signature guitar prowess and diversity, they should've best been shelved or reworked to differentiate themselves from others.

Besides this, most of these records have fallen into a certain musical trap, just because they offer either a half hour of manic shredding over some heavy background patterns, some lovely, mournful semi-acoustic tunes or weird experimenting with sound manipulation, resulting into some creepy, dark ambient stuff. There's little to no diversity on each pike itself, as Buckethead clearly wants the audience to separately absorb them as big chunks, rather than a more dynamic, cohesive journey. Consequently, they often fall flat, especially when listened to in a larger number. Of course there is that small number of efforts where he mixes things a bit, getting off auto-pilot and those show best just how good this guitar prodigy can be. Unfortunately, such highlights are harder to find in the ever increasing sea of pikes. I have to admit, I tried my best to keep the pace with him last year, yet I can't remember 80% of the songs. Probably by the time anyone reads this at least two new pikes will already be available, so, sadly, the attention will be focused on those (if any left).

Even so, there's an amazing amount of solid material found in the series alone and when Buckethead is in great shape, he churns some really awesome tunes. Much like Pearson's Square, Worms For The Garden, Twisterlend, Pikes #13, Coat Of Charms, Rise Of The Blue Lotus or insert others here, Monument Valley is another gorgeous addition to the catalog. Again a subdued affair, it could easily be the soundtrack to a visit in the desert at sunset (as evidenced on the cover) or a nostalgic remembrance of the summer days. 'Fembot', 'Lirtson Nostril' and the title track offer some awesome background rhythms for him to solo at will and he really manages to hit some heartwarming notes. On top, there are several sharp riffs, nice crescendos and sudden breaks, which along with subtle changes and variations, keep things flowing at a lovely, steady pace throughout the 30 minutes. The beautiful guitar interludes that pop up a couple of times in the first four minutes of 'Lirtson Nostril' are arguably Buckethead's most serene moments since Electric Sea.

Taken into small doses, the pikes are a lot of the time some nice, short trips that don't require a lot of time and patience to be enjoyed. Thankfully, Monument Valley ranks up high with the best ones so far, becoming the most charming from the low-key category. However, dropping so many on the internet almost every week, it's a tough task to check every one of them, so it's understandable why a lot of people have given up. Also, the weird experiments that haunt the series are most of the time some real turn-offs that should best be avoided, if one's not interested in abstract, dark ambient sounds. Trimming would be essential, yet the man doesn't care and keeps releasing music at his own will and pace for others to select what they want from the collection.

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4 excellent

Rank: #133 for 2014