I should preface this post by saying I love Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's creativity and music. That being said, I'm not that into Sepulcros De Miel (the May 30th release is a bit late for Just in...but it's still pretty new). Other recent albums, however, like Old Money (2008), Megaritual (2009), Cryptomnesia (2009), Xenophanes (2009), Solar Gambling (2009) and Ciencia de los Inútiles (2010), are fantastic! Yes, he put out that many albums within 2 years, and then three more: Despair (2009), which is more like sludgy ambient electronic music from John Cage; a live album Los Sueños de un Higado (2009) and a collaboration Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante (2010). Plus, another is in the works for a July release, Un Escorpion Perfumado.
Omar is a self producing artist, under Rodriguez-Lopez Productions (http://rodriguezlopezproductions.com/) but also produces for other bands family related or that include members of one of Omar's groups. The above albums have been put out under the guise of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, El Trío de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, El Grupo Neuvo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet--all depending on the formation of the group. He does collaborate quite often too, and those albums are usually just titled like the above John Frusciante, who is the former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist. Omar is for sure most famous for being one of the two main members of The Mars Volta, with which he put out, most recently, The Bedlam in Goliath (2008) and Octahedron (2009), with another album rumored in the works. I've never known a more active multi-instrument musician, composer/songwriter, producer, film director or actor (yes he even starred in his latest 2010 directorial debut of The Sentimental Engine Slayer). All of Omar's albums with their really cool cover art can be seen at http://omardigital.rodriguezlopezproductions.com/, plus they can be downloaded, some for free with an optional donation to benefit "Keep Music in Schools".
Sepulcros De Miel is hard to categorize as a type of rock. It is definitely progressive, experimental, somewhat psychedelic, somewhat funk or fusion and somewhat electronic. The eight tracks are labeled Part I-VIII and flow seamlessly together, which will make choosing one to put in the MixPod difficult. For me, the character of this album can be too chaotic, almost like free jazz can be, with too much echo, reverb or distortion (not in the typical sense with a guitar, but just kind of muddled with perhaps everything else going on). There are no lyrics, it's purely instrumental, which I miss (even if most of Omar's albums lately have been in Spanish) and has very little discernible melody. This is truly avant-garde rock music and if I could be so bold as to say, at it's best. I can honestly bet that you will not hear any other group quite like Omar Rodriguez-Lopez or the Mars Volta or any of his collaborations or side groups. Free download, or contribute to "Keep Music in Schools" at: http://omardigital.rodriguezlopezproductions.com/album/sepulcros-de-miel. "Part VIII" is in the MixPod and ends with an electronic beat that the album started off with. Enjoy...or at least expand your definition of music I guess.
Monday, June 14, 2010
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