''Colma'' is the fourth studio album by guitarist

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative and virtuosic electric guitar playing. Buckethead's extensive solo discography currentl ...

. It was released on March 24, 1998, on CyberOctave records. The album was recorded for Buckethead's mother, who at the time was sick with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

, and he wanted to make an album which she would enjoy listening to while recovering.

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

alumna Teri Untalan appeared as a guest musician on two tracks of the album. In a 2009 interview, she recalled Buckethead as being "an odd one, an elusive character."

Background

''Colma'' is somewhat of a departure for the artist, featuring more

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

than is typical of his albums. Additionally, ''Colma'' mostly contains simple bass guitar, lead guitar, and drum patterns, in contrast to much of Buckethead's music that emphasizes speed and virtuosity.

Reception

Critical reception was mixed to positive. James Lien of ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'' writes that ''Colmas melodies are "geometric and mathematical-sounding, almost like Bach or modern classical music." Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' describes the mood of the album as "reflective" saying, " uckethead usesthe dry, neutral tone favoured by jazz guitarists on a series of discreet instrumentals." Gill describes the tracks "Ghost" and "Hills of Eternity" as being "ruminative, sluggish pieces sprinkled with limpid droplets of guitar." He also thought the title-track, "Colma", closed the album "like the twinkle of a long-dead star." Reviewer Jeff Clutterbuck of ''The Daily Vault'' considers "Watching the Boats With My Dad" to be an authentic, emotional track writing that " tis so wistful and flows so gently, you have to believe it was inspired by a real moment." On the other hand, "Big Sur Moon" offers a change of style in guitar playing showcasing Buckethead's consistent quick rhythmic ability on acoustic guitar. Rick Anderson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album three stars out of a possible five, writing "the material is surprisingly pleasant" for Buckethead, with a "contemplative" quality to most songs. Anderson criticized the "unimaginative production" and thought Buckethead's lackluster bass playing was disappointing compared to his guitar work.

Track listing

Notes

*The song "Hills of Eternity" is named after the cemetery, Hills of Eternity Memorial Park where

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

is buried. *The song "Wishing Well" is identical to the Pieces song "Danyel", but excludes Buckethead's vocals.

Personnel

;Performers *

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(on all tracks, except "Machete") *

Brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

tape loops In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among con ...

DJ Disk DJ Disk is a turntablist from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is of Panamanian, Colombian, and Nicaraguan descent. Born Luis Quintanilla on October 7, 1970, in San Francisco, Disk began scratching and mixing vinyl at a young age. In 1992, he joine ...

–

turntables A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

(on "Machete," "Hills of Eternity," and "Lone Sal Bug") *

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

– bass guitar (on "Machete") * Terry Untalan –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

(on "Wondering" and "Lone Sal Bug") ;Production *Recorded and mixed by Xtrack at Embalming Plant, Oakland, CA. *Track 6 recorded and mixed by Robert Musso at Orange Music, West Orange, New Jersey. *Produced by Buckethead and Xtrack. Track 6 produced by Bill Laswell and Buckethead.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colma (Album) 1998 albums Buckethead albums Albums produced by Bill Laswell Colma, California