Omar And Cedric

“Omar Rodríguez-López Group is a long term friend of our studio. Our series "…Live at Clouds Hill" started in 2011 with an improvised “Krautrock” performance of extraordinaire: Faust & Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Jean-Hervé Perón fell backwards with a running chainsaw and slit Rodriguez-Lopez' jeans and only with luck not his leg open.”

The Mars Volta - Scabdates (2005) [Universal Distribution]
EACRip | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 529 MB | MP3 @320 -> 173 MB | Full HQ Artwork Scans-> 3.4 MB
© Universal Distribution | 564402 | Experimental Rock / Progressive Rock / Hard Rock

Most of the more wandering elements of De-Loused and Frances the Mute disappear for this live document, replaced by hails of screaming organ, increased thump to the rhythm section, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala showing off the insane volatility in his voice. They still get jammy in places, but the extended guitar solos and softer textures lead to inevitable explosions. As nothing's ever been traditional with the Mars Volta, it's no surprise that their live albums aren't, either. The songs flow seamlessly and take subtitled digressions just like the studio records. In the liners, Rodriguez-Lopez describes how field recordings he made while on tour found their way into the mix, and there are no "How ya doin', Phoenix?!" or "Let me see you jump, San Diego!" from Bixler-Zavala to discern where the songs were recorded. All you get are dates – "recorded between May 2004 and May 2005" – and the occasional bit of crowd chatter to tell you this is live. (Well, the sound quality is a little off, too – sometimes the drums sound terribly flat.) This means that Scab Dates is yet another intriguing window into the Mars Volta's world, instead of just a live album holdover.

Se Dice Bisonte, No Bгfalo is Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's (The Mars Volta) third full-length recording. The players on this set include Mars Volta members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Juan Alderete de la Peña, and Adrián Terrazas-González, with guest appearances by "Money Mark" Ramos-Nishita and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. It was recorded mostly in Amsterdam with supplemental recording and mixing done in Los Angeles. The set opens with two brief sketches, the 26-second improvisation "The Lukewarm" and "Luxury of Infancy," a Spanish blues melody played over skeletal interlaced guitars. It may only be a minute and 15 seconds long, but it carries within it all the heart one needs to know that something special is in store…

The Mars Volta have never taken the easy route. Their sixth album since Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala quit seminal post-hardcore outfit At The Drive-In in 2001, ‘Noctourniquet’ is framed around a narrative based both on Superman villain Solomon Grundy and the Greek myth of Hyacinthus. If you need refreshing, that’s the one in which Hyacinth, the (male) lover of the god Apollo, attempts to impress Apollo by catching his discus, but gets struck by it and dies. The music follows the same recondite, abstruse path as the lyrics - an ambitious, avant-garde swirl of prog, rock, post-rock and quasi-metal that carries the weight of such intense cerebral pressure. Suffice to say, there are no songs about wearing the same jeans for four days…

When Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala silenced At the Drive-In in the midst of its popular emergence, there was no question that the two artists would return with new music as exciting as their previous band. However, there was plenty of discussion in corners and over drinks about what, exactly, that music would sound like. It was clear that much more was happening under those Afros than biting, post-hardcore anthemics laced with psychedelia. In 2002, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala returned with the single "Tremulant," attributed to their new project, the Mars Volta. Its shifting soundscapes were certainly a hint, but with the Mars Volta's ambitious De-Loused in the Comatorium, it's clear the ATDI expats' mushroom-headed hairstyles hide bulging brains that pulsate with ideas, influences, and a fever-pitch desire to take music forward, even if they're occasionally led too far afield for the audience to follow…

The Mars Volta's 2003 debut was a dense, experimental run-on sentence of science fiction and musical exploration. But though it ultimately rewarded patience with stretches of unbuckled rock & roll genius, De-Loused in the Comatorium was also a maze-like and obtuse migraine dealer that made people frustrated and crazy. For 2005's Frances the Mute, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala worked principally with their touring band, but "joining the band for selected moments" are strings, horns, electronic programming, pals Flea and John Frusciante, and the coqui frogs of Puerto Rico. There are no song breaks, making the track listing more of an outline. But Mute's printed lyrics are a helpful guide, a map of Mars that's meant to both direct and fascinate…

Scabdates' accompanying photography is a frenetic blur of instruments and sweaty hair. Singers stand on amplifiers, and keyboardists stare intently at the veins popping in their hands; drummers reach over snares to tweak guitar strings, and saxophones appear out of the ether. It's an accurate portrayal of the Mars Volta's collagist sound, their subtitled and bullet-pointed avant metal that increasingly seems like the soundtrack to a film only Omar Rodriguez-Lopez can see. Still, even at their most insular (some would say self-indulgent), the Mars Volta seethe with intensity. Scab Dates proves this. Most of the more wandering elements of De-Loused and Frances the Mute disappear for this live document, replaced by hails of screaming organ, increased thump to the rhythm section, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala showing off the insane volatility in his voice…