Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Archives - Page 2 of 2

Morrow vs. Hajduch: Seven That Spells’ Future Retro Spasm

Scott Morrow is ALARM’s music editor. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. Each week they debate the merits of a different album.

Seven That Spells: Future Retro Spasm (Beta-Lactam Ring, 5/20/10)

Seven That Spells: “Olympos”
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Morrow: Based in Zagreb, Croatia, Seven That Spells plays a powerhouse fusion of psychedelic rock, math and jazz influences, and full-tilt drumming assaults. The group, originally a power trio, is led by guitarist/keyboardist Niko Potočnjak but has undergone radical changes in its lineup over its relatively brief tenure, and its last album, Cosmoerotic Dialogue with Lucifer, was a noisy, progressive, multi-drummer attack on the senses.

The Groove Seeker: Free Moral Agents’ Control This

On a weekly basis, The Groove Seeker goes in search of killer grooves across rock, funk, hip hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, fusion, and more.

Free Moral Agents: Control This (Chocolate Industries, 10/12/2010)

Free Moral Agents: “North Is Red”

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Mars Volta fans know Isaiah “Ikey” Owens as a master keyboardist, also lending his talents to the related experimental dub/reggae side project De Facto. But Owens’ own one-time side project, Free Moral Agents, has transformed into a full-time band with a second studio release, Control This. Though his musical associations are enough to give him reputable standing as a versatile and adaptable session player, Free Moral Agents is far from sounding like a complex math-rock outfit.

The band’s music is, however, complex in its own way. Control This is an omnivorous kind of record — as diverse as it is visionary — and is comfortable in taking on different musical personas at once. Over a combination of ambient pop and trip hop, crunchy guitar riffs and avant-garde fusion motifs construct a critical foreground, and the esoteric vocals of Mendee Ichikawa make for a strong and fitting melodic element.

Surrealists Sonny Kay and Jeff Jordan exhibit Parallel Universes at LA’s Hold Up art gallery

California-based artists Sonny Kay and Jeff Jordan were brought together through the distinctive artwork that they created for the progressive-rock darlings The Mars Volta. Jordan’s contributions to the band include multiple paintings used for album artwork; Kay’s ties with Volta songwriter Omar Rodriguez Lopez span back to his days heading Gold Standard Laboratories, and most recently, he has designed the band’s stage backdrop and tour merchandise.

Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group to play Japan and US with Le Butcherettes

50 Unheralded Albums from 2009

ALARM leaves no genre unloved in our round-up of 50 albums that didn’t receive enough attention in 2009.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta scores new film “The Burning Plain”

The new film from Guillermo Arriaga (“Amores Perros,” “21 Grams,” and “Babel,”) stares Charlize Theron and music by Rodriguez-Lopez. The film received an 11-minute, 36-second standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival last year.

Arriaga has referred to Rodriguez-Lopez like, “something between Chopin and Jimi Hendrix,”

Weekly Music News Roundup

Holy collaboration — Mike Patton and Justin Broadrick are contributing to a score by Fog‘s Andrew Broder and Adam “Doseone” Drucker for a semi-autobiographical “photographic novel” by Alan Moore. Whoa.

In other news, The Dillinger Escape Plan has signed to Season of Mist, Eyedea & Abilities has a new album, two Rodriguez-Lopez brothers (not Omar) are releasing a debut full-length, and Múm will release a new disc in August. This and more is in the roundup.

Weekly Music News Roundup

Over the past week, we caught news of a mini Soundgarden/TAD live jam, a new Kayo Dot album, a new/streaming Trash Talk EP, another Mars Volta album, another Zach Hill project, and a release date for the new Tortoise album. Read about this and more after the jump.

Members of The Mars Volta + Hella = El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez

Guitarist/composer Omar Rodriguez Lopez, mastermind of The Mars Volta, has tabbed drummer Zach Hill and synth bassist Jonathan Hischke of Hella as well as bassist Juan Alderete de la Peña of The Mars Volta to form a “new” group — aptly named El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez.

Weekly Music News Roundup

More details emerge about the upcoming Supermachiner release; the Shrinebuilder super-group begins recording; Mono announces a new album; Orange Tulip Conspiracy announces a full US tour for May. Get these and 10 other news bit after the jump.

Weekly Music News Roundup

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez announces a new solo album for Stones Throw; Saul Williams speaks about the aftermath of The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust; Garage a Trois announces tour dates and posts an album preview; Don Caballero returns to the Northeast, and much more.

The Mars Volta: In Control

Pumping out loud, fractured rock, The Mars Volta challenges their audience with every new release and live show. If you’re offered ear plugs, take them. And if you’re asked to describe them, don’t say “prog.”