Spine And Sensory (Expanded And Remastered)

Album Review

In August 2004, Better Looking Records reissued and remastered Tristeza's Spine & Sensory with three bonus tracks, all of which, album and tracks, have been out of print for quite some time. Most fans of '90s post-rock are probably familiar with Tristeza, either from their incessant touring or by way of the Album Leaf, Jimmy LaValle's once-side-project-now-full-time-gig. However you got here, Spine & Sensory is a hypnotic journey, layering waves of guitars and keyboards against a steady, syncopated rhythm section. The ripples of dramatic, sonic waves call up the similarities of post-rock gods like Tortoise, Ui, and Directions in Music, but, Tristeza have definitely left their own mark. Tristeza reach across many areas throughout Spine & Sensory, with the dub atmospherics of "RMS 2000," the danceable drive of "Memphis Emphasis," or in the keyboard textures of "Cinematography." Originally released on Rocket Racer Records as a 7", "Macrame" slowly reveals its swirly-noted melody with interplaying guitars against math-y rhythms. The two tracks that Tristeza released on the first edition of the Insound Tour Support #1, "Pink Elephants" and "La Verdad" trudge similar musical ground as the rest of Spine & Sensory, but make for an interesting, hypnotic conclusion to this epic journey. Fans of Tristeza probably have all this material, but with the addition of the bonus tracks and the decent remastering job on the expanded version, it is worth the bucks for any fan of post-rock to pick up this once out of print instrumental stamp.