Omar Rodriguez-Lopez: Classic or Dud, Search & Destroy

I know this thread is going to be limited to the very few ilxors without a kneejerk hatred for anything even tangentially related to the Mars Volta, but this dude's rapidly expanding discography deserves a little discussion. Over the past couple of years, he has been shitting out solo projects at a pace that would make even Bob Pollard squirm, but every now and then he hits on something that sounds absolutely fantastic.

This thread was prompted by this morning's spin of Mantra Hiroshima, a fantastic sounding trio featuring ORL on guitars and synths, Juan de la Pena on bass, and the ever exciting Zach Hill on drums. It has a loose, improvisational feel that reminds me of some of TMV's better live moments.

Search: Mantra Hiroshima, El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Cryptomnesia (also featuring Zach Hill), Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo
Destroy: Tychozorente - a guitarless album with DJ Nobody and Mexican pop singer Ximena Sarinara

Search: Relationship of Command

Destroy: oh, where to start...

(sorry, i'll let someone more knowledgeable chime in now!)

I was actually trying to avoid the ATDI and Mars Volta stuff, since we already have threads for both and talk a little more about his solo stuff.

His Calle 13 collaboration "Calma Puebla" was. . . okay.

Didn't know he collaborated with them, I hadn't gotten around to hearing that latest album yet. I could see such a collaboration being either really good or really awful, tbh.

I've only listened to a few of his solo albums, but I liked them: Cryptomnesia, Old Money (I think that's what it was called), and the live album with the Japanese title. In some cases, they seemed even slightly less experimental than the Mars Volta. I kinda wanna hear the one he did with Damo Suzuki.

I think I need the 2CD "best-of" he's putting out this week, so I can figure out which full-lengths I need to download from his Bandcamp site.

Yeah, Old Money wasn't bad. I need to hear that Damo Suzuki collab as well. I thought that "best of" thing was only going to be digital, outside of a super limited number of vinyl copies for Record Store Day.

You may be right about that.

I was hoping you'd chime in to this thread, I knew you had more time for the Mars Volta than most posters around here.

(sorry, can't help myself, but acrobatic tenement>>>>>>>in casino out>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>relationship of command)

The Damo collab is ok except that Damo less than fun to listen to now--he sounds like the cookie monster. It sounds like a one-take jam, worth a spin.

I remember liking 'Calibration' but truthfully I don't think I've listened to it in its entirety.

Didn't know he collaborated with them, I hadn't gotten around to hearing that latest album yet.

It's probably more a case of his being a guest on that track, than it being a genuine collaboration, though I think fauxmarc picked out that it was him right away, without having known he was going to be on it. The last Calle 13 album ultimately disappointed me, though it's worth checking out I suppose.