Fresno Bootlegs #5: El Olio Wolof
I never got Merced band El Olio Wolof. I saw them at Starline. Didn't get. I saw them at Babylon. Nothin'. "What's the big deal?" is a stupid question I would ask to nobody in particular.
Maybe I just needed a venue change because I saw a version of El Olio at Tokyo Garden recently and finally got them. I think the T Garden's atmosphere fit the music better or something...I dunno. Wolof singer "Radioactive Cauliflower" has a cracked genius way about his songwriting that I really dug.
The point is, I really liked what I heard and I'm on board the Merced indie-train. A train that leaves this month for a short summer tour of the states. A tour that will have Malcolm Sosa playing keyboards. You can hear what that might sound like with our exclusive bootleg clip from Tokyo Garden of a stripped down version of El Olio Wolof playing "A Fire Breathing Dragon":

i love the people caught talking in the background on the audio. totally funny to just hear part of a random conversation.
great stuff, keep up the good work.
i also love this song. always gets me going. although, i'm a bit worried for el olio. lost their bassist after the undercurrent show, now they're out a keyboardist. yikes!
Posted by: ed | June 25, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Yes Ed, let that be warning to all Fresnans at local music shows: be wary of the nerd sitting in the corner with a recorder. Your smack talking during a song might just played on the Fresnan.
Posted by: The Fresnan | June 25, 2008 at 09:18 PM