Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Encyclopedia
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López (born September 1, 1975) is a multi-instrumentalist
, songwriter
, producer
, writer
, actor
and film director
who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
. He is the composer, guitarist and producer for the progressive rock
group The Mars Volta
, and the former bassist and guitarist for the dub reggae band De Facto
and the post-hardcore
outfit At The Drive-In
respectively. He has also embarked on a solo career, both in studio and in concert, frequently described as experimental, avant-garde and/or progressive. He has collaborated with numerous artists spanning from John Frusciante
to El-P.
and grew up in El Paso, Texas
, but spent some of his childhood in South Carolina
. He began playing the bass at age 12, but then switched to guitar at 15 because he "needed more strings". It was during this time that Rodríguez-López met Cedric Bixler-Zavala
while practicing with friend Paul Hinojos
. Since then Rodríguez-López has spent most of his career living and working with his close friend Bixler-Zavala. During this time he frequently collaborated with his friends and future bandmates from El Paso
, which included people such as Paul Hinojos
, Cedric Bixler-Zavala
, Julio Venegas and the now late Jeremy Michael Ward
. He attended Coronado High School in El Paso
. Although his free time away from his obligations to the band, says he enjoys the company of his close friends and family.
who suggested he come back to El Paso. With the help of Bixler-Zavala, he was able to return to El Paso where he could begin to reclaim his life from addiction and join At the Drive-In
as backup vocalist and bass guitarist. After receiving a record deal with Flipside Records and recording Acrobatic Tenement
with the band, he became their full-time bassist before switching to guitar. After several years and two more critically acclaimed albums, for a variety of reasons, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala left At the Drive-In and the band went on "indefinite hiatus". The remaining members, Paul Hinojos
, Tony Hajjar
, and Jim Ward
went on to form Sparta
while the duo focused on other projects.
which also included Jeremy Michael Ward
and Ikey Owens which they had started years before while still in At The Drive-In. Eventually the same collective of musicians in De Facto would be expanded into Rodriguez-Lopez's new band, The Mars Volta
. Once again starting from scratch he wrote and toured with the band which consumed almost all his time and money.
On May 25, 2003 less than a month before the release of their first full-length album, De-Loused in the Comatorium
, bandmate and close friend Jeremy Ward was found dead of a heroin overdose. This event, coupled with the memories of the suicide of his friend Julio Venegas years earlier, finally convinced both him and Bixler-Zavala to quit using hard narcotics. Since then he has been clean and credited his newfound musical work ethic on his new lifestyle. The Mars Volta's second album, Frances the Mute
, would later be dedicated to Ward.
During the early years of the band he also worked on a low budget movie called A Manual Dexterity which starred Jeremy Ward. The soundtrack A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1 was released in 2004. The release of the second volume, which was originally planned for Spring of 2005, and the film were both delayed indefinitely due to legal problems. Conflicts over ownership of certain footage and Rodríguez-López's reluctance to revisit the project which featured his late friend Jeremy Michael Ward were both cited as reasons for the delay. However, Rodríguez-López stated that he does intend to release both Volume 2 and the film at some point in the future.
On February 8, 2009, he and his fellow The Mars Volta
bandmates won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
with his quintet, which in 2005 also included three members of The Mars Volta Group (Juan Alderete
, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
and Adrián Terrazas-González) and Money Mark
.
The songs featured on this tour later appeared on the album Omar Rodriguez
. It was characterized by long, improvisational songs with Dutch
titles and no lyrics. The Quintet also performed live with Damo Suzuki
, parts of which were recorded and incorporated into a 25-minute EP
titled Please Heat This Eventually
, which was released in 2007.
During this time Rodríguez-López was also working on The Mars Volta's 2006 record Amputechture
and composing the score to the film El Búfalo de la Noche
, a film by Guillermo Arriaga
and Jorge Hernandez Aldana simultaneously to his work with the quintet.
On May 29, 2007 Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo
was released. It was the third full-length solo album by Rodriguez-Lopez. It featured performances by Mars Volta members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marcel Rodríguez-López, Juan Alderete, Adrián Terrazas-González as well as cameos by Money Mark, John Frusciante, and John Theodore. It was written and recorded between 2005-2006 in California and Amsterdam.
The Quintet later resurfaced in 2007, now known as "The Rodríguez-López Group" to perform on the "white" stage at The Fuji Rock Festival
in Japan
on July 28. Performing with the group for the first time were singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and drummer, Thomas Pridgen
.
, a collaboration with spoken word poet Lydia Lunch
, was released. The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange
is a double LP featuring the original quintet and was released on vinyl November 20, 2007. It was also released for digital download. Calibration, a record that Rodriguez-Lopez recorded during his stay in Amsterdam, was released February 5, 2008. It was described as being influenced by electronic music
and acid-jazz.
On June 10, 2008 a recording titled Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Jeremy Michael Ward
was released. It was a collaboration between the two and was recorded in 2001 before the formation of The Mars Volta. The LP consists of various ambient tracks based on field recordings in the musique concrète tradition. Rodriguez-Lopez has continued to release a series of albums recorded in 2001 which include Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus
and Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead
, both released in late 2008.
Another new album, Old Money
was released in October 2008, with a vinyl version becoming available in early 2009 on the Stones Throw record label. Sonny Kay
, co-owner of the former Gold Standard Labs label with Omar, created the album covers (and has done so for all future Omar releases). Two Omar Rodriguez-Lopez solo albums were released in Europe on January 26, 2009 from Holland-based record label Willie Anderson Recordings: Megaritual
and Despair
. Despair is best described as a field recording
, while Megaritual is a collaboration jam between Omar and his brother, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
.
In mid-2009, a new entity has been created called El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
(the New Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group) to release the first in a series of three recordings completed in 2006. Thus far these recordings have only been known as the Omar and Zach Hill
collaborations. The first recording titled Cryptomnesia
was released on May 5, 2009. Vocals written and performed by Bixler-Zavala were recorded in 2008. The lineup for this entity is: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez on guitar, Cedric Bixler-Zavala
on vocals, Zach Hill on drums, Jonathan Hischke on synth bass, and Juan Alderete
on bass.
The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group toured Europe in March 2009, supported by Zechs Marquise.
At the end of 2009, Rodriguez-Lopez released three albums, Los Sueños de un Hígado
, Xenophanes
and Solar Gambling
digitally through Rodriguez-Lopez Productions. While Xenophanes was also released on CD and vinyl, Los Suenos De Un Higado and Solar Gambling only had a limited vinyl release. Rodriguez-Lopez also created a video for "Asco Que Conmueve los Puntos Erógenos", from Xenophanes, and posted it on YouTube on November 30, 2009.
In January 2010, Ciencia de los Inútiles
was released under a new group, El Trio de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. The trio features Rodriguez-Lopez on acoustic guitar, Ximena Sariñana
on vocals and Aaron Cruz on upright bass. A video for "Miércoles" was also released. In May 2010, he released a collaboration entitled Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante
with John Frusciante
, free of charge through his website, with the option to donate. All money raised will go to the Keep Music In Schools programs. On May 30, 2010, the album Sepulcros de Miel
by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quartet was digitally released, which also featured Frusciante.
The album Tychozorente
was scheduled for release on November 1, 2010; however, it received an early release on September 14, 2010 as a digital download. Another album, entitled Cizaña de los Amores
, was digitally released on October 11, 2010. CD and vinyl versions of both albums are only available in Europe. Mantra Hiroshima
, another Omar and Zach Hill collaboration, was digitally released on November 29, followed next day by Dōitashimashite
, album of live material recorded in September during Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
first US tour. A video for "Agua Dulce de Pulpo" from the upcoming album Un Escorpión Perfumado
was also released during that period, and the album itself was released on December 20 in digital form, with CD and vinyl versions to follow.
On April 16, 2011, Omar released Telesterion
a compilation album featuring 38 songs from Omar's solo albums. Although this has been the only release of 2011 so far, other projects have been hinted at, such as Двойственность вздохов (Russian for Duality of Sighs), a documentary about Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
Russian mini-tour, directed by Omar and shot by Paco Ibarra. The Vinyl edition of Telesterion also contained artwork for 6 solo albums that have yet to be released, and featured a new track, "Cásate Colmillo", off of an album supposedly titled The Somnambulists.
. The film premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
in February 2010, and is being screened in various theatres across North America. The Sentimental Engine Slayer is reportedly the third film Rodriguez-Lopez has created, although whether his first two films will ever be released is still unknown.
Furthermore, Rodriguez-Lopez and Hans Zimmer
worked together to compose the score for the 2009 Guillermo Arriaga
film The Burning Plain
. The film was his second collaboration with the writer/director after scoring the 2007 film El Búfalo de la Noche
with The Mars Volta. In addition to some original material, the score consists largely of material used in Amputechture.
s (in particular a heavy use of the tritone
), chromatic passages
, serial composition and lengthy improvisation
. He is also known for his vast array of effects pedals; in a feature appearing in Guitar World
, Rodriguez-Lopez stated that he "began to see effects as allies in my war against the guitar". In that interview he also stated that he hated the guitar for a very long time. He only utilized it because it was the instrument his bandmates could "relate to". He said he "wrestled" guitar by adding effects and playing oddly to attempt "making it sound like anything besides this thing I hate—the guitar!". However, he claimed to feel more comfortable with the instrument on Amputechture
.
Rodriguez-Lopez plays guitar left-handed. He has cited salsa
pianist and bandleader Larry Harlow as his primary influence. Both
Rodriguez-Lopez and bandmate Cedric
have often stated their admiration for early 1970s krautrock group Can
, and have even recorded with former Can lead singer Damo Suzuki
for the Please Heat This Eventually
EP. In the progressive rock
genre in which The Mars Volta
are often categorized, he has professed that he "like[s] a lot of those groups, particularly King Crimson
and early Genesis
." As such, he has cited Crimson's Robert Fripp
as an influence, as well as jazz fusion
guitarists John McLaughlin
and Jimi Hendrix
. He has also stated that film is a primary influence on him, likening his recording style to that of a film director, where the "scenes are shot out of sequence and the final creation is in the hands of the director.".
will be the final album he records in this "gun-in-your-face mentality" as "gonna have to come up with something new, because everybody's getting used to it.". He has claimed that he is "ignorant of music theory" and that thus he lacks knowledge in writing music in sheet music form, claiming that his songwriting "comes from emotion completely". Rodriguez claims to write all of the music for his projects, then dictates the performance to the musicians involved.
In addition to his producing credits with The Mars Volta
and his solo albums, he also produced the only LP from the defunct LA-based band Radio Vago and in 2009, handled the production of a recording titled "Terra Incognita" from actress/singer Juliette Lewis
' band The New Romantiques. Omar also produced (as well as contributed bass to) Sin Sin Sin, the debut LP from the band Le Butcherettes, which is set to be released in 2011 on Rodriguez-Lopez Productions.
Collaborations
With Startled Calf
With At the Drive-In
With De Facto
With The Mars Volta
Guest appearances
As producer
Music videos
Collaborations
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. He is the composer, guitarist and producer for the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
group The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
, and the former bassist and guitarist for the dub reggae band De Facto
De Facto (band)
De Facto was a dub reggae band which included Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López, Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and Jeremy Michael Ward.- Biography :...
and the post-hardcore
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
outfit At The Drive-In
At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
respectively. He has also embarked on a solo career, both in studio and in concert, frequently described as experimental, avant-garde and/or progressive. He has collaborated with numerous artists spanning from John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
to El-P.
Biography
Rodríguez-López was born in Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and grew up in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, but spent some of his childhood in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. He began playing the bass at age 12, but then switched to guitar at 15 because he "needed more strings". It was during this time that Rodríguez-López met Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
while practicing with friend Paul Hinojos
Paul Hinojos
Pablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez is a Grammy award winning musician, and former member of The Mars Volta, Sparta and At The Drive In. Sometimes credited under the name Paul Hinojos, he was the bass guitarist of At the Drive-In...
. Since then Rodríguez-López has spent most of his career living and working with his close friend Bixler-Zavala. During this time he frequently collaborated with his friends and future bandmates from El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
, which included people such as Paul Hinojos
Paul Hinojos
Pablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez is a Grammy award winning musician, and former member of The Mars Volta, Sparta and At The Drive In. Sometimes credited under the name Paul Hinojos, he was the bass guitarist of At the Drive-In...
, Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
, Julio Venegas and the now late Jeremy Michael Ward
Jeremy Michael Ward
Jeremy Michael Ward was the sound technician and vocal operator for The Mars Volta and for the dub outfit De Facto. He created many of the soundscapes heard on The Mars Volta's album De-Loused in the Comatorium...
. He attended Coronado High School in El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
. Although his free time away from his obligations to the band, says he enjoys the company of his close friends and family.
At the Drive-In
At 17, Rodríguez-López left El Paso to hitchhike around the country for a year in the early 90's, during which he acquired an addiction to opiates. Eventually he got in touch with friend Cedric Bixler-ZavalaCedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
who suggested he come back to El Paso. With the help of Bixler-Zavala, he was able to return to El Paso where he could begin to reclaim his life from addiction and join At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
as backup vocalist and bass guitarist. After receiving a record deal with Flipside Records and recording Acrobatic Tenement
Acrobatic Tenement
Acrobatic Tenement is the debut album from At the Drive-In, released in 1996. Only one of the album's tracks made it to the 2005 compilation album This Station Is Non-Operational, with "Initiation" appearing as a live BBC recording...
with the band, he became their full-time bassist before switching to guitar. After several years and two more critically acclaimed albums, for a variety of reasons, Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala left At the Drive-In and the band went on "indefinite hiatus". The remaining members, Paul Hinojos
Paul Hinojos
Pablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez is a Grammy award winning musician, and former member of The Mars Volta, Sparta and At The Drive In. Sometimes credited under the name Paul Hinojos, he was the bass guitarist of At the Drive-In...
, Tony Hajjar
Tony Hajjar
Tony Hajjar is a Lebanese American drummer, best known for playing in At the Drive-In and Sparta.-Biography:...
, and Jim Ward
Jim Ward (musician)
James David Ward is an American musician. A self-taught guitarist and pianist, he was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the band Sparta; he was also the co-founder of the seminal post-hardcore band At the Drive-In.-At the Drive-In:While in At the Drive-In, Ward played rhythm guitar and...
went on to form Sparta
Sparta (band)
Sparta is an American band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. Founding members Jim Ward and Tony Hajjar are former members of post-hardcore group At the Drive-In...
while the duo focused on other projects.
The Mars Volta
They refocused their efforts on the dub reggae outfit called De FactoDe Facto (band)
De Facto was a dub reggae band which included Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López, Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and Jeremy Michael Ward.- Biography :...
which also included Jeremy Michael Ward
Jeremy Michael Ward
Jeremy Michael Ward was the sound technician and vocal operator for The Mars Volta and for the dub outfit De Facto. He created many of the soundscapes heard on The Mars Volta's album De-Loused in the Comatorium...
and Ikey Owens which they had started years before while still in At The Drive-In. Eventually the same collective of musicians in De Facto would be expanded into Rodriguez-Lopez's new band, The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
. Once again starting from scratch he wrote and toured with the band which consumed almost all his time and money.
On May 25, 2003 less than a month before the release of their first full-length album, De-Loused in the Comatorium
De-Loused in the Comatorium
De-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta. Released on June 24, 2003 on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records, De-loused is based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy...
, bandmate and close friend Jeremy Ward was found dead of a heroin overdose. This event, coupled with the memories of the suicide of his friend Julio Venegas years earlier, finally convinced both him and Bixler-Zavala to quit using hard narcotics. Since then he has been clean and credited his newfound musical work ethic on his new lifestyle. The Mars Volta's second album, Frances the Mute
Frances the Mute
Frances the Mute is the second studio album by progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in the US on March 1, 2005. Though not as commercially successful as De-Loused in the Comatorium, it received considerable critical praise...
, would later be dedicated to Ward.
During the early years of the band he also worked on a low budget movie called A Manual Dexterity which starred Jeremy Ward. The soundtrack A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1 was released in 2004. The release of the second volume, which was originally planned for Spring of 2005, and the film were both delayed indefinitely due to legal problems. Conflicts over ownership of certain footage and Rodríguez-López's reluctance to revisit the project which featured his late friend Jeremy Michael Ward were both cited as reasons for the delay. However, Rodríguez-López stated that he does intend to release both Volume 2 and the film at some point in the future.
On February 8, 2009, he and his fellow The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
bandmates won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quintet
In 2005 Rodríguez-López relocated to Amsterdam, where he eventually wrote and recorded four separate albums. His first solo project was the "Omar Rodríguez-López Quintet". Rodríguez-López played several live shows in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with his quintet, which in 2005 also included three members of The Mars Volta Group (Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete is an American bassist known for his work with the band The Mars Volta. Prior to his work with that band, he was known for playing in Racer X, where he received credit as John Alderete.-Biography:...
, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
Marcellus Rodriguez-Lopez is a multi-instrumentalist musician and younger brother of Omar Rodríguez-López.- Biography :He has been noted as to playing the bongos, congas, Drums, cymbals, Maracas, keyboards and Shekere....
and Adrián Terrazas-González) and Money Mark
Money Mark
Mark Ramos-Nishita aka Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. He also appears on the first Banyan album in 1997 as the "Freeway Keyboardist".-Career:...
.
The songs featured on this tour later appeared on the album Omar Rodriguez
Omar Rodriguez (album)
Omar Rodriguez is the self titled second solo album by The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and the first in the "Amsterdam series" . Most of the overdubs and mixing were done on the road in September 2005...
. It was characterized by long, improvisational songs with Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
titles and no lyrics. The Quintet also performed live with Damo Suzuki
Damo Suzuki
, universally known as Damo Suzuki , is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can.-Biography:As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking....
, parts of which were recorded and incorporated into a 25-minute EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
titled Please Heat This Eventually
Please Heat This Eventually
Please Heat This Eventually is a 12" EP from Gold Standard Laboratories and is a collaboration between Omar Rodríguez-López Group and Damo Suzuki of the group Can. It features both live performance from a date of the group's first "Quintet" tour of Europe in 2005, and studio recorded elements...
, which was released in 2007.
During this time Rodríguez-López was also working on The Mars Volta's 2006 record Amputechture
Amputechture
-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
and composing the score to the film El Búfalo de la Noche
El Búfalo de la Noche (film)
El Búfalo de la Noche is a 2007 film directed by Jorge Hernandez Aldana and based on the novel by the same name written by Guillermo Arriaga. It is based on the novel by Guillermo Arriaga and stars Diego Luna. It was released in Mexico on August 17, 2007. The U.S...
, a film by Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of...
and Jorge Hernandez Aldana simultaneously to his work with the quintet.
On May 29, 2007 Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo
Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo
Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo is a 10-track full-length album by Omar Rodríguez-López and the second in the "Amsterdam series". It was written and recorded in 2005 in California and Amsterdam, and was released May 29, 2007 by Gold Standard Labs on both vinyl and CD. A limited edition, brown marble...
was released. It was the third full-length solo album by Rodriguez-Lopez. It featured performances by Mars Volta members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marcel Rodríguez-López, Juan Alderete, Adrián Terrazas-González as well as cameos by Money Mark, John Frusciante, and John Theodore. It was written and recorded between 2005-2006 in California and Amsterdam.
The Quintet later resurfaced in 2007, now known as "The Rodríguez-López Group" to perform on the "white" stage at The Fuji Rock Festival
Fuji Rock Festival
Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The 3 day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on July 28. Performing with the group for the first time were singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala and drummer, Thomas Pridgen
Thomas Pridgen
Thomas Armon Pridgen is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from October 31, 2006 until October 23, 2009, and currently the drummer for his own project The Memorials as well as hard rock supergroup Giraffe Tongue Orchestra.-Biography:Pridgen won the Guitar...
.
Solo releases
On October 8, 2007 the EP Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Lydia LunchOmar Rodriguez-Lopez & Lydia Lunch
Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Lydia Lunch is a collaboration between Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group and spoken word artist Lydia Lunch. The EP was released on October 8, 2007 in Europe....
, a collaboration with spoken word poet Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
, was released. The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange
The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange
The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange is the fourth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the third released in the "Amsterdam series". The double LP was released on November 20, 2007. The CD version followed in March 2008...
is a double LP featuring the original quintet and was released on vinyl November 20, 2007. It was also released for digital download. Calibration, a record that Rodriguez-Lopez recorded during his stay in Amsterdam, was released February 5, 2008. It was described as being influenced by electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and acid-jazz.
On June 10, 2008 a recording titled Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Jeremy Michael Ward
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Jeremy Michael Ward
Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Jeremy Michael Ward is a collaboration between Omar Rodríguez-López and the late Jeremy Michael Ward. It was recorded in May 2001 during the interim period following the demise of At the Drive-In and the formation of The Mars Volta and originally available only to friends and...
was released. It was a collaboration between the two and was recorded in 2001 before the formation of The Mars Volta. The LP consists of various ambient tracks based on field recordings in the musique concrète tradition. Rodriguez-Lopez has continued to release a series of albums recorded in 2001 which include Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus is an instrumental record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Infrasonic Sound. It is one of four solo albums completed in 2001 by Omar Rodríguez-López during the interim period following the demise of At the Drive-In and the formation of The Mars Volta...
and Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead
Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead
Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead is a mostly instrumental record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings. Recorded in 2001-2002, shortly after completing the Tremulant EP, the album was initially made available only to friends on minidisc format.-Track listing:#...
, both released in late 2008.
Another new album, Old Money
Old Money (album)
Old Money is a studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Stones Throw Records in November 2008, and is the musician's first album on that label...
was released in October 2008, with a vinyl version becoming available in early 2009 on the Stones Throw record label. Sonny Kay
Sonny Kay
Sonny Kay is a visual artist/musician currently residing in Los Angeles, California.Kay was born in London, England on March 13, 1972 and raised in various locations including the UK, Barcelona , and Johannesburg . His family relocated to Los Angeles in 1979, and to Colorado in 1987...
, co-owner of the former Gold Standard Labs label with Omar, created the album covers (and has done so for all future Omar releases). Two Omar Rodriguez-Lopez solo albums were released in Europe on January 26, 2009 from Holland-based record label Willie Anderson Recordings: Megaritual
Megaritual
Megaritual is a record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings.Megaritual is the fifth and final album in the series initiated and recorded by Omar Rodriguez Lopez in Amsterdam in 2005...
and Despair
Despair (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)
Despair is the tenth solo record by The Mars Volta Guitarist/Composer Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings. Prior to beginning the studio sessions for The Bedlam in Goliath, Rodriguez-Lopez recorded Despair, inspired by his experiences in and around Jerusalem and using...
. Despair is best described as a field recording
Field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside of a recording studio. The recording is typically recorded in the same channel format as the desired result, for instance, stereo recording equipment will yield a stereo product...
, while Megaritual is a collaboration jam between Omar and his brother, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez
Marcellus Rodriguez-Lopez is a multi-instrumentalist musician and younger brother of Omar Rodríguez-López.- Biography :He has been noted as to playing the bongos, congas, Drums, cymbals, Maracas, keyboards and Shekere....
.
In mid-2009, a new entity has been created called El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez is a band consisting of Omar Rodriguez Lopez , Cedric Bixler-Zavala , Juan Alderete de la Peña , Jonathan Hischke and Zach Hill .-History:...
(the New Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group) to release the first in a series of three recordings completed in 2006. Thus far these recordings have only been known as the Omar and Zach Hill
Zach Hill
Zach Hill is a musician residing in Sacramento, California. Primarily known for his drumming, he performs/has performed in numerous Pacific Coast based groups, including his primary group, Hella, as well as Holy Smokes, Nervous Cop, and a diverse range of others including El Grupo Nuevo de Omar...
collaborations. The first recording titled Cryptomnesia
Cryptomnesia (album)
Cryptomnesia is the debut studio album by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, released on May 5, 2009. The album is the first of three albums recorded by the band, and is Rodriguez-Lopez' eleventh solo record overall. According to Rodriguez-Lopez, the album was "recorded in the summer of 2006,...
was released on May 5, 2009. Vocals written and performed by Bixler-Zavala were recorded in 2008. The lineup for this entity is: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez on guitar, Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
on vocals, Zach Hill on drums, Jonathan Hischke on synth bass, and Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete is an American bassist known for his work with the band The Mars Volta. Prior to his work with that band, he was known for playing in Racer X, where he received credit as John Alderete.-Biography:...
on bass.
The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group toured Europe in March 2009, supported by Zechs Marquise.
At the end of 2009, Rodriguez-Lopez released three albums, Los Sueños de un Hígado
Los Sueños de un Higado
Los Sueños de un Hígado is a live album by Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group which was recorded for the BBC on March 11, 2009 at Maida Vale Studios, England. The album features Omar Rodríguez-López, Thomas Pridgen, Juan Alderete de la Peña, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Ximena Sariñana and Mark Aanderud and...
, Xenophanes
Xenophanes (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)
-Release history:...
and Solar Gambling
Solar Gambling
Solar Gambling is the thirteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. On December 1, 2009 the recording was released digitally via the Rodriguez Lopez Productions website along with a limited pressing of 1,500 colored vinyl...
digitally through Rodriguez-Lopez Productions. While Xenophanes was also released on CD and vinyl, Los Suenos De Un Higado and Solar Gambling only had a limited vinyl release. Rodriguez-Lopez also created a video for "Asco Que Conmueve los Puntos Erógenos", from Xenophanes, and posted it on YouTube on November 30, 2009.
In January 2010, Ciencia de los Inútiles
Ciencia de los Inútiles
Ciencia de los Inútiles is the fourteenth solo album by Omar Rodríguez-López, this time under the name El Trío de Omar Rodríguez-López...
was released under a new group, El Trio de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. The trio features Rodriguez-Lopez on acoustic guitar, Ximena Sariñana
Ximena Sariñana
Ximena Sariñana Rivera is a Mexican singer-songwriter and actress. Sariñana's musical career was launched in 2008 with the release of her first studio album Mediocre, an adult contemporary pop-rock/vocal jazz album that has been critically acclaimed and nominated for various awards, including two...
on vocals and Aaron Cruz on upright bass. A video for "Miércoles" was also released. In May 2010, he released a collaboration entitled Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante
Omar Rodriguez Lopez & John Frusciante is a collaborative studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, guitarist of The Mars Volta Group, and the former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, John Frusciante. The record was digitally released on April 30, 2010...
with John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
, free of charge through his website, with the option to donate. All money raised will go to the Keep Music In Schools programs. On May 30, 2010, the album Sepulcros de Miel
Sepulcros de Miel
Sepulcros de Miel is the twenty-first release by Omar Rodríguez-López, guitarist, band leader, and producer of The Mars Volta Group. Released under the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quartet name, this record features fellow Mars Volta members Juan Alderete & Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez as well as John Frusciante...
by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quartet was digitally released, which also featured Frusciante.
The album Tychozorente
Tychozorente
Tychozorente is an album by Omar Rodríguez-López. It was digitally released on September 14, 2010, and physically released by Rodriguez Lopez Productions in Europe on November 18, 2010. This record is Omar's first collaboration with DJ Nobody and, oddly enough, one of the few Omar's releases to...
was scheduled for release on November 1, 2010; however, it received an early release on September 14, 2010 as a digital download. Another album, entitled Cizaña de los Amores
Cizaña de los Amores
Cizaña de los Amores is the seventeenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. The was released on October 18, 2010 on CD and vinyl by Rodriguez Lopez Productions on Koncurrent in Europe, then November 18 through the US hello merch store...
, was digitally released on October 11, 2010. CD and vinyl versions of both albums are only available in Europe. Mantra Hiroshima
Mantra Hiroshima
Mantra Hiroshima is the eighteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. It is his second record to feature Zach Hill on drums, the first of which was by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, titled Cryptomnesia....
, another Omar and Zach Hill collaboration, was digitally released on November 29, followed next day by Dōitashimashite
Dōitashimashite
is a live album released by artist Omar Rodríguez-López which was recorded in USA over four nights in September 2010. It is the second live album to be released by the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, with the first being the live BBC studio session Los Sueños de un Hígado...
, album of live material recorded in September during Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
The Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group is the main side project of Omar Rodríguez-López. The group is most often a live entity to perform the various outlets of his solo music aside from The Mars Volta.-History:...
first US tour. A video for "Agua Dulce de Pulpo" from the upcoming album Un Escorpión Perfumado
Un Escorpion Perfumado
Un Escorpión Perfumado is the nineteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. Marcel Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks, who toured with the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group in 2010, are featured on the album...
was also released during that period, and the album itself was released on December 20 in digital form, with CD and vinyl versions to follow.
On April 16, 2011, Omar released Telesterion
Telesterion (album)
Telesterion is the first compilation album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. It is a 2 CD, 4 LP release, featuring tracks throughout all of Omar's records and serves as an introduction to Omar's vast collection of solo releases: "Everything I do is a celebration...
a compilation album featuring 38 songs from Omar's solo albums. Although this has been the only release of 2011 so far, other projects have been hinted at, such as Двойственность вздохов (Russian for Duality of Sighs), a documentary about Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group
The Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group is the main side project of Omar Rodríguez-López. The group is most often a live entity to perform the various outlets of his solo music aside from The Mars Volta.-History:...
Russian mini-tour, directed by Omar and shot by Paco Ibarra. The Vinyl edition of Telesterion also contained artwork for 6 solo albums that have yet to be released, and featured a new track, "Cásate Colmillo", off of an album supposedly titled The Somnambulists.
Creative Expansion
Alongside his musical career, Rodriguez-Lopez wrote, directed, produced and starred in The Sentimental Engine SlayerThe Sentimental Engine Slayer
The Sentimental Engine Slayer is the directorial film debut of Omar Rodríguez-López, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock group The Mars Volta. Rodríguez-López wrote, produced and scored the film, as well as starring as its protagonist, Barlam...
. The film premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...
in February 2010, and is being screened in various theatres across North America. The Sentimental Engine Slayer is reportedly the third film Rodriguez-Lopez has created, although whether his first two films will ever be released is still unknown.
Furthermore, Rodriguez-Lopez and Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
worked together to compose the score for the 2009 Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of...
film The Burning Plain
The Burning Plain
The Burning Plain is a 2008 drama film directed and written by Guillermo Arriaga, the screenwriter of Amores perros , 21 Grams , and Babel . The film stars Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Basinger and Joaquim de Almeida...
. The film was his second collaboration with the writer/director after scoring the 2007 film El Búfalo de la Noche
El Búfalo de la Noche (film)
El Búfalo de la Noche is a 2007 film directed by Jorge Hernandez Aldana and based on the novel by the same name written by Guillermo Arriaga. It is based on the novel by Guillermo Arriaga and stars Diego Luna. It was released in Mexico on August 17, 2007. The U.S...
with The Mars Volta. In addition to some original material, the score consists largely of material used in Amputechture.
Musicianship
Style
Rodriguez-Lopez's compositional and playing style is characterized by, among other factors, riffs, melodies based in minor modes, changing meters, unresolving dissonanceDissonance
Dissonance has several meanings, all related to conflict or incongruity:*Consonance and dissonance in music are properties of an interval or chord*Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental conflict...
s (in particular a heavy use of the tritone
Tritone
In classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones...
), chromatic passages
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
, serial composition and lengthy improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
. He is also known for his vast array of effects pedals; in a feature appearing in Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
, Rodriguez-Lopez stated that he "began to see effects as allies in my war against the guitar". In that interview he also stated that he hated the guitar for a very long time. He only utilized it because it was the instrument his bandmates could "relate to". He said he "wrestled" guitar by adding effects and playing oddly to attempt "making it sound like anything besides this thing I hate—the guitar!". However, he claimed to feel more comfortable with the instrument on Amputechture
Amputechture
-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
.
Rodriguez-Lopez plays guitar left-handed. He has cited salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
pianist and bandleader Larry Harlow as his primary influence. Both
Rodriguez-Lopez and bandmate Cedric
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
have often stated their admiration for early 1970s krautrock group Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
, and have even recorded with former Can lead singer Damo Suzuki
Damo Suzuki
, universally known as Damo Suzuki , is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can.-Biography:As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking....
for the Please Heat This Eventually
Please Heat This Eventually
Please Heat This Eventually is a 12" EP from Gold Standard Laboratories and is a collaboration between Omar Rodríguez-López Group and Damo Suzuki of the group Can. It features both live performance from a date of the group's first "Quintet" tour of Europe in 2005, and studio recorded elements...
EP. In the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
genre in which The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
are often categorized, he has professed that he "like[s] a lot of those groups, particularly King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and early Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
." As such, he has cited Crimson's Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
as an influence, as well as jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
guitarists John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
. He has also stated that film is a primary influence on him, likening his recording style to that of a film director, where the "scenes are shot out of sequence and the final creation is in the hands of the director.".
As producer
Rodriguez is also notable for his recording, producing and songwriting techniques. He has been known to refuse to let other musicians in a session hear each other's parts, or the context of their own part, thus forcing them to play each part as if it's a self-sufficient song. Yet Rodriguez has stated that he believes OctahedronOctahedron (album)
Octahedron is the fifth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on June 23, 2009. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records in North America and Mercury Records worldwide...
will be the final album he records in this "gun-in-your-face mentality" as "gonna have to come up with something new, because everybody's getting used to it.". He has claimed that he is "ignorant of music theory" and that thus he lacks knowledge in writing music in sheet music form, claiming that his songwriting "comes from emotion completely". Rodriguez claims to write all of the music for his projects, then dictates the performance to the musicians involved.
In addition to his producing credits with The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
and his solo albums, he also produced the only LP from the defunct LA-based band Radio Vago and in 2009, handled the production of a recording titled "Terra Incognita" from actress/singer Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
' band The New Romantiques. Omar also produced (as well as contributed bass to) Sin Sin Sin, the debut LP from the band Le Butcherettes, which is set to be released in 2011 on Rodriguez-Lopez Productions.
Discography
As a solo artist- A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume OneA Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume OneA Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume One, the solo debut from The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López, was recorded in 2001 after the breakup of former band At the Drive-In and released in 2004. A Manual Dexterity is the first of a two part soundtrack set to go along to a film directed by...
(2004) - Omar RodriguezOmar Rodriguez (album)Omar Rodriguez is the self titled second solo album by The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and the first in the "Amsterdam series" . Most of the overdubs and mixing were done on the road in September 2005...
(2005) - Se Dice Bisonte, No BùfaloSe Dice Bisonte, No BùfaloSe Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo is a 10-track full-length album by Omar Rodríguez-López and the second in the "Amsterdam series". It was written and recorded in 2005 in California and Amsterdam, and was released May 29, 2007 by Gold Standard Labs on both vinyl and CD. A limited edition, brown marble...
(2007) - The Apocalypse Inside of an OrangeThe Apocalypse Inside of an OrangeThe Apocalypse Inside of an Orange is the fourth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the third released in the "Amsterdam series". The double LP was released on November 20, 2007. The CD version followed in March 2008...
(2007; as "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quintet") - Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)Calibration is the fifth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the fourth released in the "Amsterdam series". The album was released in Japan on December 15, 2007 with a following U.S. release later on February 5, 2008, merely a week after The Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Goliath...
(2007) - Absence Makes the Heart Grow FungusAbsence Makes the Heart Grow FungusAbsence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus is an instrumental record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Infrasonic Sound. It is one of four solo albums completed in 2001 by Omar Rodríguez-López during the interim period following the demise of At the Drive-In and the formation of The Mars Volta...
(2008) - Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes AheadMinor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes AheadMinor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead is a mostly instrumental record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings. Recorded in 2001-2002, shortly after completing the Tremulant EP, the album was initially made available only to friends on minidisc format.-Track listing:#...
(2008) - Old MoneyOld Money (album)Old Money is a studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Stones Throw Records in November 2008, and is the musician's first album on that label...
(2008) - MegaritualMegaritualMegaritual is a record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings.Megaritual is the fifth and final album in the series initiated and recorded by Omar Rodriguez Lopez in Amsterdam in 2005...
(2009) - DespairDespair (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)Despair is the tenth solo record by The Mars Volta Guitarist/Composer Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings. Prior to beginning the studio sessions for The Bedlam in Goliath, Rodriguez-Lopez recorded Despair, inspired by his experiences in and around Jerusalem and using...
(2009) - Cryptomnesia (2009; as "El Grupo Nuevo De Omar Rodriguez Lopez")
- Los Sueños de un HígadoLos Sueños de un HigadoLos Sueños de un Hígado is a live album by Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group which was recorded for the BBC on March 11, 2009 at Maida Vale Studios, England. The album features Omar Rodríguez-López, Thomas Pridgen, Juan Alderete de la Peña, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Ximena Sariñana and Mark Aanderud and...
(2009; Live; as "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group") - XenophanesXenophanes (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)-Release history:...
(2009) - Solar GamblingSolar GamblingSolar Gambling is the thirteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. On December 1, 2009 the recording was released digitally via the Rodriguez Lopez Productions website along with a limited pressing of 1,500 colored vinyl...
(2009) - Ciencia de los InútilesCiencia de los InútilesCiencia de los Inútiles is the fourteenth solo album by Omar Rodríguez-López, this time under the name El Trío de Omar Rodríguez-López...
(2010; as "El Trio De Omar Rodriguez Lopez") - Sepulcros de MielSepulcros de MielSepulcros de Miel is the twenty-first release by Omar Rodríguez-López, guitarist, band leader, and producer of The Mars Volta Group. Released under the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quartet name, this record features fellow Mars Volta members Juan Alderete & Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez as well as John Frusciante...
(2010; as "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quartet") - TychozorenteTychozorenteTychozorente is an album by Omar Rodríguez-López. It was digitally released on September 14, 2010, and physically released by Rodriguez Lopez Productions in Europe on November 18, 2010. This record is Omar's first collaboration with DJ Nobody and, oddly enough, one of the few Omar's releases to...
(2010) - Cizaña de los AmoresCizaña de los AmoresCizaña de los Amores is the seventeenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. The was released on October 18, 2010 on CD and vinyl by Rodriguez Lopez Productions on Koncurrent in Europe, then November 18 through the US hello merch store...
(2010) - Mantra HiroshimaMantra HiroshimaMantra Hiroshima is the eighteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. It is his second record to feature Zach Hill on drums, the first of which was by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, titled Cryptomnesia....
(2010) - DōitashimashiteDōitashimashiteis a live album released by artist Omar Rodríguez-López which was recorded in USA over four nights in September 2010. It is the second live album to be released by the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, with the first being the live BBC studio session Los Sueños de un Hígado...
(2010; Live; as "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group") - Un Escorpión PerfumadoUn Escorpion PerfumadoUn Escorpión Perfumado is the nineteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. Marcel Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks, who toured with the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group in 2010, are featured on the album...
(2010) - TelesterionTelesterion (album)Telesterion is the first compilation album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. It is a 2 CD, 4 LP release, featuring tracks throughout all of Omar's records and serves as an introduction to Omar's vast collection of solo releases: "Everything I do is a celebration...
(2011; compilation)
Collaborations
- The Special 12 Singles SeriesThe Special 12 Singles SeriesThe Special 12 Singles Series is a series of twelve 7 inch singles released by Gold Standard Laboratories in 2005, one for each month. Subscriptions were available for either January through June, July through December, or all 12 singles...
(2005) - Please Heat This EventuallyPlease Heat This EventuallyPlease Heat This Eventually is a 12" EP from Gold Standard Laboratories and is a collaboration between Omar Rodríguez-López Group and Damo Suzuki of the group Can. It features both live performance from a date of the group's first "Quintet" tour of Europe in 2005, and studio recorded elements...
(2007; featuring "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group") - Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Lydia LunchOmar Rodriguez-Lopez & Lydia LunchOmar Rodriguez Lopez & Lydia Lunch is a collaboration between Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group and spoken word artist Lydia Lunch. The EP was released on October 8, 2007 in Europe....
(2007; featuring "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group") - Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Jeremy Michael Ward (2008)
- The Burning PlainThe Burning PlainThe Burning Plain is a 2008 drama film directed and written by Guillermo Arriaga, the screenwriter of Amores perros , 21 Grams , and Babel . The film stars Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Basinger and Joaquim de Almeida...
soundtrack (2008) - Omar Rodriguez Lopez & John Frusciante (2010)
With Startled Calf
- I Love Being TrendyI Love Being TrendyI Love Being Trendy, is a 4 song EP released on Red Ear Records by the punk band, Startled Calf, before their dissolution in 1992. The band was founded by George Fraska , Ralph Jasso, and Jimmy Hernandez...
(1991)
With At the Drive-In
- Acrobatic TenementAcrobatic TenementAcrobatic Tenement is the debut album from At the Drive-In, released in 1996. Only one of the album's tracks made it to the 2005 compilation album This Station Is Non-Operational, with "Initiation" appearing as a live BBC recording...
(1996) - El Gran OrgoEl Gran OrgoEl Gran Orgo is the third EP by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In. It was recorded and released in 1997 without the presence of Jim Ward, whose guitar duties were filled by Ben Rodriguez and Omar Rodríguez-López, who had previously played bass on Acrobatic Tenement.The Title "El Gran...
(1997) - In/Casino/OutIn/Casino/OutIn/Casino/Out is the second full-length LP by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released in 1998. It was recorded as a live studio album, with the intention of better capturing the energy and sound of their live shows....
(1998, re-release 2004) - VayaVayaVaya is the fourth EP by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released in 1999. The sound of the album bridges the musical gap between In/Casino/Out and their following album, Relationship of Command....
(1999, re-release 2004) - Sunshine / At the Drive-In (2000)
- Relationship of CommandRelationship of CommandRelationship of Command is the third and final studio album by the post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, and was released in September 2000. The band reached mainstream success through the album, if only for a short time before their indefinite break-up....
(2000, re-release 2004) - This Station Is Non-OperationalThis Station Is Non-OperationalThis Station Is Non-Operational is a compilation album by the El Paso, Texas-based post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released May 24, 2005 by Fearless Records, four years after the band went on indefinite hiatus...
(2005)
With De Facto
- 456132015456132015-Personnel:*Omar Rodríguez-López – Bass*Cedric Bixler-Zavala – Drums*Isaiah Ikey Owens – Keyboards*Jeremy Michael Ward – Vocals, Sound Manipulation, Melodica, Guitar...
(2001) - Megaton ShotblastMegaton Shotblast¡Megaton Shotblast! is the debut album by De Facto. Largely instrumental, the album pulls influence from various genres, including electronica, dub, reggae, and jazz.-Track listing:#"Manual Dexterity" – 2:21#"Cordova" – 10:17...
(2001) - How Do You Dub? You Fight For Dub, You Plug Dub InHow Do You Dub? You Fight for Dub, You Plug Dub InHow Do You Dub? You Fight for Dub. You Plug Dub In. is an album by De Facto, a side-project of At the Drive-In's Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López...
(2001) - Légende du Scorpion á Quatre QueuesLegende du Scorpion a Quatre QueuesLégende du Scorpion à Quatre Queues is the last album by the experimental dub group, De Facto.-Track listing:#"Legend of the Four-Tailed Scorpion" – 3:02#"Mattilious Creed" – 0:17#"AMKHZ" – 3:16...
(2001)
With The Mars Volta
- Tremulant (2002)
- De-Loused in the ComatoriumDe-Loused in the ComatoriumDe-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta. Released on June 24, 2003 on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records, De-loused is based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy...
(2003) - Live (2003)
- Frances the MuteFrances the MuteFrances the Mute is the second studio album by progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in the US on March 1, 2005. Though not as commercially successful as De-Loused in the Comatorium, it received considerable critical praise...
(2005) - ScabdatesScabdates-CD pressing:-Source of recordings:05/12/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Haruspex"* "Cicatriz"05/13/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Caviglia"05/05/2005 – Roseland Ballroom – New York City, NY* "Abrasions Mount the Timpani"...
(2005) - AmputechtureAmputechture-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
(2006) - The Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records...
(2008) - OctahedronOctahedron (album)Octahedron is the fifth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on June 23, 2009. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records in North America and Mercury Records worldwide...
(2009)
Guest appearances
- Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis ThreeRise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three-Band:*Marcus Blake – bass guitar ; backing vocals *Jason Mackenroth – drums ; backing vocals *Jim Wilson – guitar ; backing vocals -Vocalists:...
by Various Artists (Produced by Henry RollinsHenry RollinsHenry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
) (2002) - Shadows Collide With PeopleShadows Collide with PeopleShadows Collide with People is the fourth studio album by John Frusciante, released February 24, 2004. The album was written during the recording of By the Way, and is widely regarded as his most accessible work, featuring a mix of guitar-driven alternative rock, folk ballads, and electronica...
by John FruscianteJohn FruscianteJohn Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
(2004) - Inside of EmptinessInside of EmptinessInside of Emptiness is the sixth studio album by John Frusciante, released on October 26, 2004 on Record Collection, and is the fourth in a series of six releases, issued from June 2004 to February 2005. The album features contributions from Josh Klinghoffer and Omar Rodríguez-López.Frusciante...
by John FruscianteJohn FruscianteJohn Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
(2004) - Curtains by John FruscianteJohn FruscianteJohn Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
(2005) - Radio Vago by Radio Vago (2005)
- The Phantom Syndrome by Coaxial (2005)
- Stadium ArcadiumStadium ArcadiumStadium Arcadium is the ninth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released on May 9, 2006, on Warner Bros. Records. The album produced five singles: "Dani California", "Tell Me Baby", "Snow ", "Desecration Smile", and "Hump de Bump"...
by Red Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
(2006) - I'll Sleep When You're DeadI'll Sleep When You're Dead-Credits:*Executive Producers: El-P and Amaechi Uzoigwe*Mastering: Michael Sarsfield*Mixing, engineering: Joey Raia*Layout and design: Brad Smith*Photography: Timothy Saccenti*Project Manager: Jesse Ferguson-External links:***...
by El-PEl-ProductoEl-P is an American hip hop artist and entrepreneur from Brooklyn, New York City. Originally a member of Company Flow, El-P has been a major driving force in alternative hip hop for over a decade. He is the co-founder, owner and CEO of the Definitive Jux record label...
(2007) - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)New Amerykah Part One is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Erykah Badu, released February 26, 2008, on Universal Motown. It follows her 2003 album Worldwide Underground and a hiatus from recording music...
by Erykah BaduErykah BaduErica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Her work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical...
(2008) - Negativa by Hour of the MonarchyPaul HinojosPablo J. Hinojos-Gonzalez is a Grammy award winning musician, and former member of The Mars Volta, Sparta and At The Drive In. Sometimes credited under the name Paul Hinojos, he was the bass guitarist of At the Drive-In...
(2010) - Calma Pueblo by Calle 13Calle 13 (band)Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar , who calls himself Residente and Eduardo José Cabra Martínez , who calls himself Visitante Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar (born February 23, 1978 in Hato Rey, a subsection of San Juan, Puerto Rico), who calls...
(2010)
As producer
- El Gran OrgoEl Gran OrgoEl Gran Orgo is the third EP by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In. It was recorded and released in 1997 without the presence of Jim Ward, whose guitar duties were filled by Ben Rodriguez and Omar Rodríguez-López, who had previously played bass on Acrobatic Tenement.The Title "El Gran...
by At the Drive-InAt the Drive-InAt the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
(1997) co-produced with Bryan Jones and other members of At the Drive-In - Sunshine / At the Drive-In by At the Drive-In (2000) co-produced with other members of At the Drive-In
- De-Loused in the ComatoriumDe-Loused in the ComatoriumDe-Loused in the Comatorium is the debut studio album of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta. Released on June 24, 2003 on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records, De-loused is based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy...
by The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
(2003) co-produced with Rick RubinRick RubinFrederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings... - Live (2003) co-produced with Cedric Bixler-ZavalaCedric Bixler-ZavalaCedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
- A Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume 1 (2004)
- Frances the MuteFrances the MuteFrances the Mute is the second studio album by progressive rock band The Mars Volta released in the US on March 1, 2005. Though not as commercially successful as De-Loused in the Comatorium, it received considerable critical praise...
by The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
(2005) - ScabdatesScabdates-CD pressing:-Source of recordings:05/12/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Haruspex"* "Cicatriz"05/13/2004 – Wiltern Theatre – Los Angeles, CA* "Caviglia"05/05/2005 – Roseland Ballroom – New York City, NY* "Abrasions Mount the Timpani"...
by The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
(2005) - Omar RodriguezOmar Rodriguez (album)Omar Rodriguez is the self titled second solo album by The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and the first in the "Amsterdam series" . Most of the overdubs and mixing were done on the road in September 2005...
(2005) - Radio Vago by Radio Vago (2005)
- AmputechtureAmputechture-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
by The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
(2006) - Please Heat This EventuallyPlease Heat This EventuallyPlease Heat This Eventually is a 12" EP from Gold Standard Laboratories and is a collaboration between Omar Rodríguez-López Group and Damo Suzuki of the group Can. It features both live performance from a date of the group's first "Quintet" tour of Europe in 2005, and studio recorded elements...
(2007) - Se Dice Bisonte, No BùfaloSe Dice Bisonte, No BùfaloSe Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo is a 10-track full-length album by Omar Rodríguez-López and the second in the "Amsterdam series". It was written and recorded in 2005 in California and Amsterdam, and was released May 29, 2007 by Gold Standard Labs on both vinyl and CD. A limited edition, brown marble...
(2007) - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & Lydia LunchOmar Rodriguez-Lopez & Lydia LunchOmar Rodriguez Lopez & Lydia Lunch is a collaboration between Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group and spoken word artist Lydia Lunch. The EP was released on October 8, 2007 in Europe....
(2007) - The Apocalypse Inside of an OrangeThe Apocalypse Inside of an OrangeThe Apocalypse Inside of an Orange is the fourth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the third released in the "Amsterdam series". The double LP was released on November 20, 2007. The CD version followed in March 2008...
(2007) - Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)Calibration is the fifth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the fourth released in the "Amsterdam series". The album was released in Japan on December 15, 2007 with a following U.S. release later on February 5, 2008, merely a week after The Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Goliath...
(2007) - The Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records...
by The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
(2008) - Omar Rodriguez Lopez & Jeremy Michael Ward (2008)
- Absence Makes the Heart Grow FungusAbsence Makes the Heart Grow FungusAbsence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus is an instrumental record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Infrasonic Sound. It is one of four solo albums completed in 2001 by Omar Rodríguez-López during the interim period following the demise of At the Drive-In and the formation of The Mars Volta...
(2008) - Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes AheadMinor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes AheadMinor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead is a mostly instrumental record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings. Recorded in 2001-2002, shortly after completing the Tremulant EP, the album was initially made available only to friends on minidisc format.-Track listing:#...
(2008) - Old MoneyOld Money (album)Old Money is a studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Stones Throw Records in November 2008, and is the musician's first album on that label...
(2008) - MegaritualMegaritualMegaritual is a record by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings.Megaritual is the fifth and final album in the series initiated and recorded by Omar Rodriguez Lopez in Amsterdam in 2005...
(2009) - DespairDespair (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)Despair is the tenth solo record by The Mars Volta Guitarist/Composer Omar Rodríguez-López released by Willie Anderson Recordings. Prior to beginning the studio sessions for The Bedlam in Goliath, Rodriguez-Lopez recorded Despair, inspired by his experiences in and around Jerusalem and using...
(2009) - CryptomnesiaCryptomnesia (album)Cryptomnesia is the debut studio album by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, released on May 5, 2009. The album is the first of three albums recorded by the band, and is Rodriguez-Lopez' eleventh solo record overall. According to Rodriguez-Lopez, the album was "recorded in the summer of 2006,...
(2009) - OctahedronOctahedron (album)Octahedron is the fifth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on June 23, 2009. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records in North America and Mercury Records worldwide...
by The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
(2009) - Terra Incognita by Juliette and The New RomantiquesJuliette LewisJuliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
(2009) - Los Sueños de un Higado (2009)
- XenophanesXenophanes (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)-Release history:...
(2009) - Solar GamblingSolar GamblingSolar Gambling is the thirteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. On December 1, 2009 the recording was released digitally via the Rodriguez Lopez Productions website along with a limited pressing of 1,500 colored vinyl...
(2009) - Ciencia de los InútilesCiencia de los InútilesCiencia de los Inútiles is the fourteenth solo album by Omar Rodríguez-López, this time under the name El Trío de Omar Rodríguez-López...
(2010) - Omar Rodriguez Lopez & John Frusciante (2010)
- Sepulcros de MielSepulcros de MielSepulcros de Miel is the twenty-first release by Omar Rodríguez-López, guitarist, band leader, and producer of The Mars Volta Group. Released under the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quartet name, this record features fellow Mars Volta members Juan Alderete & Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez as well as John Frusciante...
(2010) - TychozorenteTychozorenteTychozorente is an album by Omar Rodríguez-López. It was digitally released on September 14, 2010, and physically released by Rodriguez Lopez Productions in Europe on November 18, 2010. This record is Omar's first collaboration with DJ Nobody and, oddly enough, one of the few Omar's releases to...
(2010) co-produced with Elvin Estela - Cizaña de los AmoresCizaña de los AmoresCizaña de los Amores is the seventeenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. The was released on October 18, 2010 on CD and vinyl by Rodriguez Lopez Productions on Koncurrent in Europe, then November 18 through the US hello merch store...
(2010) - Mantra HiroshimaMantra HiroshimaMantra Hiroshima is the eighteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. It is his second record to feature Zach Hill on drums, the first of which was by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, titled Cryptomnesia....
(2010) - DōitashimashiteDōitashimashiteis a live album released by artist Omar Rodríguez-López which was recorded in USA over four nights in September 2010. It is the second live album to be released by the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, with the first being the live BBC studio session Los Sueños de un Hígado...
(2010) - Un Escorpión PerfumadoUn Escorpion PerfumadoUn Escorpión Perfumado is the nineteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. Marcel Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks, who toured with the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group in 2010, are featured on the album...
(2010) - TelesterionTelesterion (album)Telesterion is the first compilation album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. It is a 2 CD, 4 LP release, featuring tracks throughout all of Omar's records and serves as an introduction to Omar's vast collection of solo releases: "Everything I do is a celebration...
(2011; compilation) - Sin Sin Sin by Le Butcherettes (2011)
As performer
Feature films- All Tomorrow's Parties (2009)
- The Sentimental Engine SlayerThe Sentimental Engine SlayerThe Sentimental Engine Slayer is the directorial film debut of Omar Rodríguez-López, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock group The Mars Volta. Rodríguez-López wrote, produced and scored the film, as well as starring as its protagonist, Barlam...
(2010)
As director
Feature films- "A Manual Dexterity" (2001) - unreleased
- "Letters from Dystopia" (2003) - unreleased
- "The Sentimental Engine SlayerThe Sentimental Engine SlayerThe Sentimental Engine Slayer is the directorial film debut of Omar Rodríguez-López, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock group The Mars Volta. Rodríguez-López wrote, produced and scored the film, as well as starring as its protagonist, Barlam...
" (2007) - released 2010 - "El Divino Influjo de los Secretos" (2008)
- "Boiling Death Request" (2008)
- "La Venganza de los Labios Extranjeros" (2009)
Music videos
- "Inertiatic ESPInertiatic ESP"Inertiatic ESP" is the second song on The Mars Volta album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, released in 2003. "Inertiatic" in the title refers to the physical state of inertia...
" (2003) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "L'Via L'ViaquezL'Via L'Viaquez"L'Via L'Viaquez" is the second single from the album Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta. The song, in its unedited form, is 12 minutes and 22 seconds long, but was stripped down to receive radio play. The song, in total, features three guitar solos. John Frusciante performs the first two guitar...
" (2005) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "The WidowThe Widow"The Widow" is a song by The Mars Volta, from their second album Frances the Mute. The song was first performed in May, 2004 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles during The Mars Volta's three-night residence closing the tour supporting their debut LP, De-Loused in the Comatorium...
" (2005) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "Wax SimulacraThe Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records...
" (2008) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "AberinkulaThe Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records...
" (2008) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "IlyenaThe Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records...
" (2008) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "GoliathGoliath (song)The song "Goliath" is from The Mars Volta's fourth studio album The Bedlam in Goliath. It was originally released as "Rapid Fire Tollbooth" on guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López's 2007 solo album Se Dice Bisonte, No Bùfalo, but was incorporated into the Mars Volta's live set while touring in support of...
" (2008) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "AskepiosThe Bedlam in GoliathThe Bedlam in Goliath is the fourth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta. It was released on January 29, 2008, and January 26, 2008 in Australia through Universal Motown Records...
" (2008) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "CalibrationCalibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)Calibration is the fifth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López, and the fourth released in the "Amsterdam series". The album was released in Japan on December 15, 2007 with a following U.S. release later on February 5, 2008, merely a week after The Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Goliath...
" (2008) for Omar Rodriguez Lopez - "CotopaxiCotopaxi (song)"Cotopaxi" is a song from The Mars Volta's fifth studio album Octahedron. It was released as the first single in Europe while "Since We've Been Wrong" was released as the first North American single...
" (2009) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "Since We've Been WrongSince We've Been Wrong"Since We've Been Wrong" is a single from The Mars Volta's fifth studio album, Octahedron. It was released in June 2009 as the first single in North America, while "Cotopaxi" was the European single. The band premiered the song during their first acoustic set at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in...
" (2009) for The Mars VoltaThe Mars VoltaThe Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and... - "Asco Que Conmueve los Puntos ErógenosXenophanes (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez album)-Release history:...
" (2009) for Omar Rodriguez Lopez - "MiercolesCiencia de los InútilesCiencia de los Inútiles is the fourteenth solo album by Omar Rodríguez-López, this time under the name El Trío de Omar Rodríguez-López...
" (2010) for El Trio De Omar Rodriguez Lopez - "PolaridadTychozorenteTychozorente is an album by Omar Rodríguez-López. It was digitally released on September 14, 2010, and physically released by Rodriguez Lopez Productions in Europe on November 18, 2010. This record is Omar's first collaboration with DJ Nobody and, oddly enough, one of the few Omar's releases to...
" (2010) for Omar Rodriguez Lopez - "Agua Dulce De PulpoUn Escorpion PerfumadoUn Escorpión Perfumado is the nineteenth studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López as a solo artist. Marcel Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks, who toured with the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group in 2010, are featured on the album...
" (2010) for Omar Rodriguez Lopez - "Shine Down" (2011) for Ximena SariñanaXimena SariñanaXimena Sariñana Rivera is a Mexican singer-songwriter and actress. Sariñana's musical career was launched in 2008 with the release of her first studio album Mediocre, an adult contemporary pop-rock/vocal jazz album that has been critically acclaimed and nominated for various awards, including two...
Collaborations
- "Metronome ArthritisVayaVaya is the fourth EP by American post-hardcore band At the Drive-In, released in 1999. The sound of the album bridges the musical gap between In/Casino/Out and their following album, Relationship of Command....
" (1999) video for At the Drive-InAt the Drive-InAt the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
with Dan Tierney and other members of At the Drive-InAt the Drive-InAt the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene... - "One Armed ScissorOne Armed Scissor"One Armed Scissor" is a song by At the Drive-In. It was the first single from their album Relationship of Command, and was the first At the Drive-In song to be played regularly on a number of radio stations...
" (2000) video for At the Drive-InAt the Drive-InAt the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...
with other members of At the Drive-InAt the Drive-InAt the Drive-In was an American rock band from El Paso, Texas, considered part of the post-hardcore genre and active from 1993 to 2001. They were known for their extremely energetic stage shows which hearkened back to the 1980s hardcore scene...