This is a thread for general discussion of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and the veritable sub-culture of music that revolves around him and his many projects. This includes, but is not limited to: - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez himself (solo albums) - The Mars Volta (his current band) - At the Drive-in (the ashes from which The Mars Volta was formed) - Zechs Marquise* (a band of which some members are immediate family of and are inspired/influenced by him) *Please note the difference in spelling: The band name is Zechs Marquise, and the character's name is Zechs Merquise. (The pronunciation is the same, however, and the band did name themselves after the character.) Omar RodrÃguez-López From Wikipedia: In a nutshell--and it's a difficult thing to put his unique style in one--RodrÃguez-López is an experimental savant, dabbling in nearly every form of music that's ever been described as unorthodox (usually in groups of two or three per song). He is far more unrestrained in his solo works than in his work for the band The Mars Volta, which is somewhat more thematic. Much of his work is influenced by a classical Latin style, as per his background, and a variety of psychedelic drugs. A comprehensive discography of his works--and there are an assload--can be found here. He also has a website entitled Omar RodrÃguez-López Productions. Below are some samples of his work, from the album Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus (2008). Spoiler Unfortunately, the Youtube versions of these songs are not very good quality. Just bear with me, and give the real versions a listen if you like what you hear. "Hands Tied to the Roots of a Hemorrhage" "Sex: Consolation for Misery" The Mars Volta From Wikipedia: The Mars Volta is probably one of my favorite bands ever, if not my very favorite. They bring to the table a lot of things you'd expect from contemporary post-rock, adding to it their Latin-jazzy charm, and their execution is nothing short of flawless. The only thing I can honestly gripe about is the genre-wide complaint: The singing can grate on one's nerves a tad. The lyrics, however, are inspired, albeit making System of a Down sound like a children's nursery rhyme; They could probably suffice on their own as course material for a musical-psychological analysis class. The discography is here and the website is here. Samples of their work below, from various albums. Spoiler "You Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" "L'Via L'Viaquez" Yes, they do sing in Spanish. It's damn awesome. "Goliath" Oh, and as a little bonus, see if you can find the 8-bit cover of "Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)" by renowned chiptunes artist Anamanaguchi. It's pretty amazing. If anyone finds it, I'll post it here. Also, The Mars Volta released a click-escape horror game called "Goliath: The Soothsayer," allegedly based on their experiences with a Ouija board they picked up in Jerusalem. This experience also served at least partially as the framework for their album The Bedlam in Goliath. You can find the game here. (I doubt I need to say it, but it's not for the faint of heart. Although it's not the cutting edge of horror, it can be pretty damn scary, especially if you buy into the story behind it.) At the Drive-in From Wikipedia: To be honest, I don't have any real first-hand experience with At the Drive-in; I never bothered to look up their stuff. From what I can tell by reading the article, they sound pretty similar to The Mars Volta, just more hardcore. Anyway, discography's here, and they actually do have a website, which is here. It kinda looks like they're planning on putting new stuff out under this name. Is this band still active? I really have no idea. Zechs Marquise From Wikipedia: The above is not very informative... Basically, Zechs Marquise is The Mars Volta, only softer, more psychedelic, and without singing. If you dig the style but dislike the abrasiveness of The Mars Volta, or you just want to hear more along the same lines, these guys will do you right. They are much newer, and as such their discography is only two releases long: the "34:26" EP and Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare; and their website is still under construction. I'm really surprised I found any of their stuff on Youtube, but here it is. Spoiler "Chase Scene" "Sirenum Scopuli" Well, no one can ever say I don't try to lay a solid foundation. Now what say we get a little dialogue going? Share your favorite tunes, tout the superiority of At the Drive-in over The Mars Volta, ask for help with Goliath: The Soothsayer, etc.
You should look up At The Drive-In, I enjoyed 'em, though I was never into Mars Volta. Quarantine is a good song to start with. It's pretty much either hit or miss with them, I'm not really into this sort of music, but they had a lot of bass lines and guitar riffs that really caught my attention. They also incorporated psyc rock into their music which I was a huge fan of. I'll look up the other stuff in this thread.
At the Drive-In and the Volta are two of my favorite bands. You should get into ATDI-they are hardcore, but they don't really sound like the Volta. And Cedric screams a lot. Which sounds cool. And they're not active anymore-one of the reasons that the Volta exists is that ATDI doesn't anymore. Oh, and THANK YOU for bothering to put the accents on his name. Not enough people do that.
I'm checking 'em out as we speak. I like what I hear thus far, including "Quarantined." It sounds about like I thought it would; a less polished form of The Mars Volta. Although, it seems like there was some light blues influence at this point, and I wonder why they seem to have dropped that now. Either way, I like it. Definitely distinct from TMV, and I still prefer their sound, but this is worth a listen. Yeah, the screaming is definitely different. I think it works pretty well. The only problem I find is, it starts to sound a little emocore, which is off-putting. I dunno, personal preference I guess. They were obviously talented even at this stage, so I can't fault them for any particular vibe I get from their sound. And to be honest, I often omit the accents as well. But I was attempting formality, and the accented letters were right there on the Wiki page, so it was kinda hard not to. I try not to be sloppy when I can (or at least should) help it.
