So anyone else as much of a huge fucking Mars Volta fan as me? I absolutely love there music, they are like the modern Pink Floyd and Crimson. Absolutely great.
If you haven't heard of them, heres a song that will get you hooked on em. Download...
The Mars Volta- Televators
chris
..the floyd reference...
do you mean early floyd..(i.e. piper, saucerfull, meddle,
middle(darkside, annimals, the wall, final cut,
latter...(momenntary lapse of reason, divisioon bell)
justcurious as to what era mars volta sounds like floyd....
I would definately say earrrrlllyy Floyd.
What do u think?
chris
....sounnds cool:..
like Space rock//prog rock right??????
isn't the dude from At The Drive In-- in this band? invalid litter dept. (i think it's called??) is probably one of the best videos i have ever seen....
the little i have heard from mars volta...i like. need to hear more, what a good album to get?
just snagged televators...good stuff, might be my bowl speaking tho. (i can hear the floyd reference...but yeah, more leaning towards early floyd.)
Quote from: aclockworkjjisn't the dude from At The Drive In-- in this band? invalid litter dept. (i think it's called??) is probably one of the best videos i have ever seen....
the little i have heard from mars volta...i like. need to hear more, what a good album to get?
just snagged televators...good stuff, might be my bowl speaking tho. (i can hear the floyd reference...but yeah, more leaning towards early floyd.)
I think 2 people from ATDI are in it, the others are in Sparta
I think the first two tracks on Deloused are AWESOME and the rest all sounds the same
Quote from: SlobhQuote from: aclockworkjjisn't the dude from At The Drive In-- in this band? invalid litter dept. (i think it's called??) is probably one of the best videos i have ever seen....
the little i have heard from mars volta...i like. need to hear more, what a good album to get?
just snagged televators...good stuff, might be my bowl speaking tho. (i can hear the floyd reference...but yeah, more leaning towards early floyd.)
I think 2 people from ATDI are in it, the others are in Sparta
I think the first two tracks on Deloused are AWESOME and the rest all sounds the same
i say all the songs sound the same, but it's a really good
i like it alot
..i'm trying to pin down their vibe...
are they in this vien..portishead, massive attack, sector 9, TRIP HOP?
Quote from: NEON MERCURY..i'm trying to pin down their vibe...
are they in this vien..portishead, massive attack, sector 9, TRIP HOP?
Not at all
the first 2 tracks I talked about (which are linked as one song) give off the same kind of energy as Led Zeppelin - Achilles' Last Stand if that helps any.
Well generally, Volta is usually under the genre of Punk Rock, or just Rock if you want to go bigger.
But if you want to get real specific I made up my own name I call for this type of genre.
I call it Punk Experience Rock.
Because I consider this type of music, similiar to Pink Floyd, a drug induced type of experience music, with all 5 speakers blasting in surround sound.
Volta dosen't even like to genre themselves, in fact they say their next album may change sounds...
But thats just my own definition. Just opinion
chris
I like At the Drive-In better. Brent D. of Pitchfork put it best: The Mars Volta is like a non-cheesy Dream Theater. Too much excess.
Brent D hardly ever says anything worthwhile. And I fail to see how TMV relates to Dream Theater
Mars Volta was supposed to open up for Snoop & The Chili Peppers when here in Atlanta last summer. I think one of the guys had just died and they had to cancel so it was just Snoop and RHCP.
I checked into them a bit when I saw them on the bill and the reviews sounded great......kind of like my stuff. I couldn't find crap on bearshare.
Mars Volta (http://www.themarsvolta.com/index_main.html)
Quote from: freakerdudeMars Volta was supposed to open up for Snoop & The Chili Peppers when here in Atlanta last summer. I think one of the guys had just died and they had to cancel so it was just Snoop and RHCP.
I checked into them a bit when I saw them on the bill and the reviews sounded great......kind of like my stuff. I couldn't find crap on bearshare.
Word on the street has it that they suck live
not on my street
Quote from: MEAT wadnot on my street
Yeah, not on my street either.
http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=2407&highlight=mars+volta
pretty good stuff... not earth shattering, but pretty good
Quote from: freakerdudeMars Volta was supposed to open up for Snoop & The Chili Peppers when here in Atlanta last summer. I think one of the guys had just died and they had to cancel so it was just Snoop and RHCP.
Hey, I was at that show in Atlanta. It was unfortunate what happened. I don't like them, but I was still looking forward to checking them out live.
QuoteBrent D hardly ever says anything worthwhile. And I fail to see how TMV relates to Dream Theater
In the way that they focus on their shapeless sonic sound instead of worrying about crafting actual tunes. That album had no focus whatsoever. It is a perfect example of style over substance. However, these guys can be good songwriters when they want (see At the Drive-In). I guess they just wanted to try something new, but it didn't really work out in my opinion. Oh well, I still have hope for their second album.
I say this is the best debut album in the past 3-5 years.
TMV don't really float my boat.. I think I'll have to see them live to 'get them', but so far the album seems a bit all the same to me.
I like Sparta a lot more.
Great CD, one of the best to come out this year.
I didn't like this album at first listen. I was hoping for more of the ATDI vibe, but over the last couple months It has definetely grown on me and became one of my favorite albums of all time. Never heard them live but I just ordered a live album with 4 songs on it.
QuoteNever heard them live but I just ordered a live album with 4 songs on it.
The put on one of the best shows i have ever seen.
I hadn't seen the video for Elevators until today, here it is,
http://boss.streamos.com/real/universalmotown/universal/mars_volta/video/00_televators-cc.ram
I can't really see that much similarity between The Mars Volta and any era of Pink Floyd, really. Except maybe the vague "concept album" notion they ascribed to De-Loused. Sonically, they're pretty divergent.
TMV does remind me a lot of certain King Crimson eras; they also have absorbed Santana, that's quite obvious several times on the album; and Yes, especially Fragile and Close to the Edge. Mix all that in with, like, Fugazi, and you're close to the TMV sound.
Who's aware that Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, TMV Guitarist, is coming out with a solo album that is scoring his FILM project????
Sure, this can have its own thread, but I'm not really keen on the details, nor do I think there are many, at this point.
Just thought'd be awesome to share.
About six weeks ago my friend was talking about The Mars Volta and how the cover art on the album made him want to buy it. I was all like, hey, I own it, you can borrow it from me. He walked to my house at three in the freaking morning to come get it. I haven't seen him or the cd since.
Actually, I have seen him but not the cd.
I ordered their latest off Amazon.com almost blindly after only hearing a few 30 second clips of the tracks on this album. It sounds really damn good.
NEW ALBUM HAS LEAKED.
They actually released The Widow for the public last week, it's an amazing bluesy song. I cannot wait for this.
Quote from: StefenNEW ALBUM HAS LEAKED.
a long time ago :|
Quote from: 03Quote from: StefenNEW ALBUM HAS LEAKED.
a long time ago :|
Oh, really, zoolander?
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jimagu.com%2Ftinou%2Fzoolander.jpg&hash=49578f3d0c0ead624791e61ff0ca9240c6986c0d)"you guys are really, really not early."
Got my ticket for their Brixton Academy (March 13th 05) gig over a month ago.
Eeeeee!
Quote from: StefenQuote from: 03Quote from: StefenNEW ALBUM HAS LEAKED.
a long time ago :|
Oh, really, zoolander?
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jimagu.com%2Ftinou%2Fzoolander.jpg&hash=49578f3d0c0ead624791e61ff0ca9240c6986c0d)"you guys are really, really not early."
is it any good? i have high hopes.
-sl-
btw 03 i think that's one of the hottest pics
The new album sounds fantastic! Better then the first one. There is a song in Spanish called "l'via l'viaquez" and it's already my favorite MV song really salsa/latin inspired. great great great. Consider me excited!
EDIT: I've listened to it twice now and I most say this is the best music I've heard for a long long time.
I've officially taken off the one foot I had on the tMV ship
I can only find crappy copies. The copies im finding don't sound too good, it's missing something and probably not a mastered copy. Does anyone have a good copy of the album?
Quote from: SleuthI've officially taken off the one foot I had on the tMV ship
what do you mean? why?
-sl-
Quote from: StefenI can only find crappy copies. The copies im finding don't sound too good, it's missing something and probably not a mastered copy. Does anyone have a good copy of the album?
i dont have a mastered copy, but even if i did i dont think it'd help with the shitty songs and structure
Quote from: socketlevelQuote from: SleuthI've officially taken off the one foot I had on the tMV ship
what do you mean? why?
-sl-
I mean I sort of liked them, but mainly for a few songs (I probably mentioned it earlier in this thread, if I didn't: the first two tracks on Lightmouth), but after hearing the new album I feel comfortable in saying that I don't like them.
Pedro was right about the shitty structure (RIDICULOUS)-- that's a reason why (the Spanish song being a prime example). It goes beyond the song and ruins CDs, there's no flow because they're too busy fucking around. -->It's overly showy in the way that you might be if you didn't really have a grasp of what you're doing.<--
wtf? I really don't understand you guys...what's all that talk about structure? The songs are much more harmonic and homogenic compered to the ones on the first album. In my oppinion it's not as chaotic and confusing. I don't know if the copy I have is 100% finished but anyway I think it sounds very promising.
Quote from: Sigur Róswtf? I really don't understand you guys...what's all that talk about structure? The songs are much more harmonic and homogenic compered to the ones on the first album. In my oppinion it's not as chaotic and confusing. I don't know if the copy I have is 100% finished but anyway I think it sounds very promising.
i guess the simple way of saying it is that it's
unfocused. the first one seemed to have direction. this just meanders
is it still prog?
the first ep wasn't as proggy, and i heard somewhere that it was more like that. is it true?
-sl-
I thought it was more proggy than the last LP
The radio has been playing Harriet The Spy out here for a while. I liked the first record but if that song is any indication I'll be politely passing on the latest.
i wouldn't go on just one song, their big release was televators off the last album and that wasn't a good representation of the album. they have to release the most obvious pop-garnering song for record sales. it only makes sense. Not that these types of songs are bad; just less replay value.
-sl-
you guys are retarded (to whom it may apply)
i'll paraphrase tobby norton tucker (tnt): this album blows my mind into a million pieces, then takes that million and blows it into a million more!
i can't believe how good this album is. genre bending madness.
-sl-
The first track and the last track are particularly very exciting and great all the way through. I haven't listened to the middle tracks too much (only 5 tracks on the album) cause it sounds like a bunch of noise but i'll get to it soon, but even if those middle tracks are terrible the 1st and 5th track (which take up most of the album) make it one of the best albums in awhile on their own.
man the third track is sick, check it out
-sl-
The third track is the radio song.
I like the album so far, but I also hear the complaints and understand them. I also accept that the first album is really hard to beat, the way it flowed together so well. This one doesn't really take you on quite the ride that the first one did.
oh maybe i've got the shit all wrong with the order, the torrent i got has the widow as the second track, i was talking about the latin heavy one.
yeah it's spastic, but i dig that about it. one of their biggest influences is bungle (not that i like bungle, because i don't but that's a different conversation) and i guess that goes with the territory. if it was too cleanly laid out then i don't think it would work. at least it would feel like there are boundries and that's one of the best parts of volta, a limitless feeling.
-sl-
socket and regular, have you two gotten a mastered copy yet? Or do you both have the awful quality version that I have? De-Loused seemed overproduced at times, it seemed almost too perfect, I like the ruggedness of the new album.
Oh yeah, The Widow is track 2 on my download also.
Maybe I'm the one that has it backward... Widow may just be track two.
And, yes, the copy I have is total shit quality.
Bungle is more motivated than this... it doesn't work well with FTM... with Bungle, it's part of the song. With FTM, it's a good song that just wanders off for almost no reason.
I still really like it though.
everyone i keep talking to says that it sounds like shit. maybe i do have master version or something, i don't really know. i've got a sub woofer set up on my g5 so that may make it sound a little more full. is that the prob with the version you guys have. i guess i'm used to the tinny, high end, sound that volta seems to gravitate toward. i think it sounds great. shit if it sounds even better than this i think i'll see god.
Quote from: RegularKarateMaybe I'm the one that has it backward... Widow may just be track two.
And, yes, the copy I have is total shit quality.
Bungle is more motivated than this... it doesn't work well with FTM... with Bungle, it's part of the song. With FTM, it's a good song that just wanders off for almost no reason.
I still really like it though.
mind you, as i say everything i'm about to say, keep in mind that i could kind of get into california. for the very reasons that bugnle were able to take a step back and go against my criticism.
bungle may be very motivated, sorry that's not how it comes across to me, but my ears are virgin to that shit for the most part (i haven't listened to bungle over and over like some of my friends). my prob with them is that it's a dick measuring contest. yeah i know you're mathematically insane (and i am attracted to that) but on another level, sell me the fucking song. seems to be no emotion in the music, this is a similar reason why i don't like zappa either. sure sure you're talented, but don't cum to soon with that shit, there is a lot to be said for being reserved. i'm really attracted to the stuff that takes the conceptual/math/arty/snobby stuff yet still makes it palitable on some level. (ie. TOOL, Mars, Pulp Fiction, 5 obstructions etc.)
when it gets too refferential and intellectually wanking i tune out because it's more about the artist then the experience. that's all bungle comes across as, a bunch of guys really into their talent.
-sl-
I can't even listen to any pre-California Mr. Bungle
:elitist: not for me
And that's how I feel about MV except, as I said earlier, I don't think they really DO know what they're doing except being crazy, but I guess it's that energy that you're connecting with. I just can't get over the wankery.
--'-._.-~* I heard that there were a few versions of FTM out there, with varying qualities. *~-._.-'--
Quote from: SleuthI can't even listen to any pre-California Mr. Bungle
:elitist: not for me
And that's how I feel about MV except, as I said earlier, I don't think they really DO know what they're doing except being crazy, but I guess it's that energy that you're connecting with. I just can't get over the wankery.
--'-._.-~* I heard that there were a few versions of FTM out there, with varying qualities. *~-._.-'--
yeah i can see what you're saying. maybe it is an energy thing. volta seems to be spastic, and i like that, but they go back to previous spastic segments. so on some level it does have a, even if convoluted, verse chorus verse structure... lol, i realize my articulation is horrible as i try to describe this, but i think you get me (or at least hope). i'm not trying to controdict my earlier post, but it's coming off that way.
bungle just randomly goes everywhere and they're not necessarily connecting the dots or rehashing so there is no porgression or sense of journey within the experience. maybe the prog in the volta music is filling in the void that i feel from bungle.
too bad you lump volta into that catagory, however i respect that stance big time.
-sl-
EDIT - the last track on the album is so epic, i'm loving it. i feel physically/emotionally/mentally exhausted at the end of it. it's like listening to a godspeed you black emporer! track, it demands so much from the listener.
oh yeah, i was in a bar the other night and i heard that yes song that's on buffalo 66. the one at the ending, do any of you guys know what album that's from and where i might be able to find it bit torrent styles?
finally got a mastered copy of this album. i kind of wish I had heard it first this way cause it sounds so fucking good. the bass and the drums are massive as oppose to real light on the other copy. it sounds fucking fantastic, my favorite of the year so far.
I can't wait for March 1st
Might have to go pick up Frances the Mute today.
I'm picking up De-Loused for reals along with Frances. While I was stoned I realized that De-Loused just has a head on the cover, but Frances has a body minus a head, like whoa man.
Quote from: Gamblor Ain'tWorthADollarI can't wait for March 1st
but you did. I'm sure there is a connection between the head and the missing head. I thought about it myself.
Listening to it right now....good lord, that opening track is killer. L'Via L'Viaquez is great, long and latin. We just started Miranda That Ghost....
Damn, I wish I could hear this album again for the first time while being stoned again.
I'm pretty sure your world would shatter and your brain would explode.
So what the hell? New album, five pages, but no one's talking about how their heads have exploded??? Well maybe that makes sense that no one has posted then....
This album is amazing. It was brilliant how the released The Widow in advance, which I loved, because it sounded like Deloused. But now, I hate that song. Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus is absolutely unreal, there's funk, an ominous chorus yelling "Nino Preparte", fucked up time changes, uncountable rhythms, hints of 70s rock, so much salsa. And goddamn the harmonies on "Who do you trust" just kills me. The part with the guitar and the drums hitting: 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 5, 1 , 2, 1, 5, repeat. What kind of crazy fucks play something like that? The fuzz bass reminds of BOLA Rage Against the Machine, what a great feeling, especially since Omar sounds like Zach de la Rocha. Then it all goes quiet. But it comes back.
The Widow....eh. They've moved far past this.
L'Via l'viaquez.....SALSA! Geez, it's funny it sounds like a pop song almost, Zeppelin music to start, Spanish vocals "L'Via!", and the Latin keyboards. Then BANG a slooooooow Latin breakdown with great percussion. But then we're back again. Also, there's a gong in there too, who can beat that shit?
Miranda....really slow, but the vocals are beautiful.
Cassandra Geminni....30 minutes long, a masterpiece only a bunch of crazies could come up with. And it's still a song across all those 30 minutes. "No, there's no light" is so fucking catchy I could listen to it forever, and luckily the second-to-last track has just that. This has the best time signatures of all the songs, 4/4, 5/8, 4/4, 3/4, 7/8, 9/8. Then there's that progression with the strings that sounds like it came out of a James Bond flick. I hate the speaking lyrics, they're creepy as shit. Then they break out all their progrock shit, it sounds like Tool, Rush, Zeppelin, its awesome. And then it ends the same way it began.
Anyone?
Quote from: Gamblor Ain'tWorthADollarAnyone?
what?
Gamblor and I are the only people alive on this board it seems.
The album is fantastic.
I purchased a copy of it, but I had been listening to it since mid december in different audio qualities. Miranda is proably my favorite track right now, i love it and can't get enough of it. It works so much better now that I know the lyrics. The album seems like a concept album with a woman being born "An abortion that survived, lineage of bastard mastacation" then carries on with her life in the widow and Miranda and then she goes ballistic and thats the last track of 30 minute goodness. It's like a movie on wax. Plus it has Flea on trumpet, how can you not like that? It's so different than De-Loused and might come off as a bit pretensious but it works so no complaints here. De-Loused sounded better I think with the Rick Rubin production, but the content of this album is just so much better than De-Loused.
Oh yeah, have you guys heard the song "Frances The Mute"? It's not on the album and is supposedly going to be released as a standalone EP and I guess it's supposed to serve as a decoder for Frances The Mute the album. The lyrics are on the cd case of Frances The Mute. It's a killer song, reminds me a bit of ATDI. But I can't make sense of any of it.
Quote from: StefenDamn, I wish I could hear this album again for the first time while being stoned again.
amen
Quote from: StefenGamblor and I are the only people alive on this board it seems.
not true, i was just mentally masterbating to the album over and over i couldn't drag myself back to the computer for the last week.
good analysis gamblor, that shit dominates my mind too. Stefen i haven't listened to it stoned yet, that shit will happen when i've almost had enough of it; to rejuvenate my love for it.
man i love the album cover so much, i found this pic online that seems to be some kind of inspiration.
MAN! Stefen, what the fuck is this ep thing? i'm all over it! tell me where to find it online.
oh ya, if any of you silly fucks are up in toronto, i'll see you at the show on april 13th at the warehouse. it's on.
-sl-
yeah... it's worth a listen... but it shatters nothing
Quote from: RegularKarateyeah... it's worth a listen... but it shatters nothing
I think you're in denial. Your brain is so shattered it can't comprehend that it is.
I have my ticket to the Atlanta show April 29th at the Tabernacle. Going with buds, should be great.
And I found a torrent of Frances the Mute the song. I
really wish they had cut some of the bullshit white noise in favor of this song. It's great, would've made the album that much better.
Quote from: Gamblor Ain'tWorthADollarAnd I found a torrent of Frances the Mute the song. I really wish they had cut some of the bullshit white noise in favor of this song. It's great, would've made the album that much better.
i've looked on isohunt and can't find it. what site you use? the ep makes sense cause originally i heard that it was going to be a double album. maybe what's on it is what didn't make the cut... well now that i think about it, obviously it is...
-sl-
Here, I yousended Frances The Mute the single.
http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0AKS8UAXP29BN1O45VIY4TF9LK
I like it, the only part I don't like is the first 4 minutes cause it's really unnecessary noise. But it rocks and the acoustic parts are really good.
Have y'all heard how it's supposed to be the "decoder" song for the whole album? I dunno, sounds kinda dumb. How does it decode anything? Lyrically?
Anyhow, the vocals are the most beautiful on this song.
Yeah, the decode shit is a bunch of pocket protector anime stuff, but the songs good, and I guess thats all that matters. *fixes glasses*
Quote from: StefenHere, I yousended Frances The Mute the single.
http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0AKS8UAXP29BN1O45VIY4TF9LK
I like it, the only part I don't like is the first 4 minutes cause it's really unnecessary noise. But it rocks and the acoustic parts are really good.
yeah i found on isohunt someone put up all the tracks they've released, including ambuletz, i never knew about that one... it's huge 600 meg torrent but worth it, now i've got great quality mp3s of everything, even though i bought the lps already it's a nice complete set.
the decoder song kicks so much ass. i love how they reprise the beginning and ending of the album at the end. i bet this song was going to be in the middle of the album when it was still a 2 disc.
i agree about the first four minutes of the song, i do like it, but it only had to go on for a minute or so. this is the most prog sounding song in my opinion, especially at the end when it kicks back in. thoughts on that?
-sl-
I just saw The Mars Volta live tonight at the Tabernacle.
Crazy.
The first hour and a half was spectacular. I was very impressed and in awe of Omar and the whole crew. I developed a HUGE mancrush on Cedric, I'm sorry the man is sexy, no homosexual remorse here. Take the Veil..., Cygnus, Drunkship of Lanterns!!!! So many great songs, but then.....
I got VERY angry and filled with rage. I felt like I couldn't breathe, I got very claustrophobic. And this douche bag in front of me was really pissing me off. On top of this, I was tired from standing, and the band played Cassandra BUT WOULDN'T STOP!!!! The 'noise' jams were horrible. The entire audience was alienated. I know that's their trademark, but it's really bringing the band down. In fact, I completed reevaluated my opinion. The noise jams are not only pointless but unbelieveably indulgent and egotistical. I was just pissed off by the whole thing. I wanted to scream and push my way out of that crowd. Anyhow, bad experience during the last hour. Otherwise, brilliant.
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkI developed a HUGE mancrush on Cedric, I'm sorry the man is sexy, no homosexual remorse here.
You are the manwhore! But I agree.
Wow, over a year later. Anyhow, the new album Amputechture has leaked. It's on mininova. I'm on the first track, so far...
It's definitely more relaxed than their other stuff, which I don't mind.
I think I like it more than Frances, but I don't know if I like it more than Comatorium.
Mars Volta's Amputechture Inspired By Immigrant Marches, Possessed Nuns
Band goes conceptual again on Frances the Mute follow-up.
The Mars Volta revived the concept album in 2005 with their cerebral opus Frances the Mute. The epic LP centered on the thoughts of a man seeking out his adopted parents.
Those musings were contained within a diary discovered by former Volta bandmate Jeremy Ward while he was employed as a repo man. Before Ward's 2003 death from an apparent overdose, he took it upon himself to finish the unknown writer's work. The band's frontman, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, later used the writings as a blueprint of sorts for Frances.
For the Volta's forthcoming conceptual offering, Amputechture, which hits stores September 12, Bixler-Zavala didn't rely on just one source of inspiration for his lyrics — there was plenty on his mind this time around.
"It's all loose, really," he explained. "I love the way that [Rod Serling's 1970s series] 'Night Gallery' had that common thread that it was a gallery, and every painting told a different story. I guess I'd like that to be true of this album, too. The subject matter's all different, but [the songs] do all come together in a strange way. Every song would be a different episode that kind of relates in the way that [Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 film] 'Magnolia' has all these different characters [who] all come back together in the end.
"There's the subject of the immigrant marches that were happening here," Bixler-Zavala continued. "And there were things I saw on the news, like the story about a woman who was killed by this priest because supposedly she was possessed."
That woman was a 23-year-old Romanian nun named Maricica Irina Cornici, who, according to news reports, believed she heard the devil talking to her. A monk bound Cornici to a cross, gagged her with a towel and left her in a dank room for three days without food. She died of suffocation and dehydration more than a year ago.
"That was sort of an inspiration to write about the Western phenomenon of incarcerating somebody if you think they're crazy, whereas in some parts of the world, like in South America, people like this woman would be considered a shaman," the singer said.
But that's not where it ends.
"This album's a commentary about the fear of God instead of the love of God, which goes hand-in-hand with Catholicism," he said. "To me, religion is the reason there is so much conflict in this world, and I think it's just so unnecessary to believe in this blue-eyed, white-bearded, white-haired God. Amputechture is my personal way of describing enlightenment, or just the celebration of this person who is a shaman and not a crazy person. It's about the pineal gland and how it has certain elements that mimic a DMT experience, and how we can come up with cures for cancer and AIDS if we're more in tune with what's going on in the rainforest."
Bixler-Zavala says the Volta started recording Amputechture last year while on tour with System of a Down. Guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez produced the LP, which features eight ethereal tracks.
"We're excited about this album, because I think a lot of people expected us to rest on Frances and keep promoting that," Bixler-Zavala said. "It's great to just keep going and throw new stuff out there. We have the kind of fanbase that demands that. But we're constantly working, or else we get bored."
Rodriguez-Lopez, who is working on music for Guillermo Arriaga's forthcoming film "The Night Buffalo" as well as his own, five-years-in-the-making movie, had a virtual library of ideas he brought to the table for Amputechture, which features the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante playing the majority of the album's guitar parts.
"We took an approach on this album of not letting everyone know what's going on with the music," Bixler-Zavala said. "Everyone went in and recorded their part right then and there. Frusciante learned his part five minutes before we'd go in to record it, and the entire album was recorded in big chunks. It's the closest thing to improvisation we can do."
This fall, the Mars Volta will open for the Chili Peppers on the band's North American tour, set to kick off August 11 in Portland, Oregon, and conclude November 5 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Afterward, Bixler-Zavala said the Volta will stage their own U.S. headlining tour, which should commence before year's end, with dates running well into 2007.
Nice read, thanks Mac.
Day of the Baphomets is easily becoming one of my favorite Mars Volta songs (possibly the favorite).
Mars Volta To Release 'The Record That Did Not Want To Be Born'
Prog-rockers blame Ouija-like game for bad-luck spell, album delay.
Source: MTV
If you thought the concepts behind the Mars Volta's last three records were, well, odd, just wait — you haven't heard anything yet.
The band's 2003 debut, De-Loused in the Comatorium, revolved around the tale of Cerpin Taxt, a man who tries to kill himself by overdosing on morphine. The inspiration for 2005's Frances the Mute came from an anonymous man's diary that chronicled the author's search for his biological parents. And 2006's Amputechture tackled topics like U.S. immigration and possessed nuns.
But the band's forthcoming LP, The Bedlam in Goliath, takes concept records to a whole new level. Due in stores January 29, Bedlam deals with a present Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez — who also produced the LP — gave frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala after returning from a trip to Jerusalem.
"He took the trip a little while ago, and he found a sort of curio shop ... [it's] kind of hard to believe that that would exist over there," Bixler-Zavala said. "He brought me back ... what you'd call a Ouija board in the States, and we started playing with it ... we used to get the band to play it a lot after we'd play shows in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do." Making a reference to "The Exorcist," he added, "And we kind of stumbled across our own version of Captain Howdy." While the gift never had an official name, the band referred to it as "The Soothsayer."
"It serves the same function as a Ouija board, but it's just a little more archaic," Bixler-Zavala elaborated, adding that the band discovered a number of poems attached to the board. "This version of it had a sort of love triangle that was attached to it — the poems we found with it sort of described a mother-daughter-and-other-man love triangle, and what I came up with from it was we were being contacted by at least three people on the board that would come up as one person. We wrote down a lot of the messages they gave us, and we used it in the lyrics, and we also tried to fasten the lyrics into sort of like a good-luck charm, by putting positive elements into it. We used a lot of elements of Santeria [an Afro-Caribbean religious tradition] to kind of give us a protective skin when the record does come out."
The more the band played with the strange game, the stranger things started to get. The singer said he started "meeting different people through the game, and I was getting different mixed messages from it. After a while, we started having a lot of bad luck happen to us, and we kind of got rid of the thing, and in the process of using it, we discovered a lot of weird things about it."
When the band's focus for the LP shifted to the strange board game, "the studio we were working in flooded, and then our main engineer had a nervous breakdown, which caused us to almost have to start all over again, because he knew where everything was. I had foot problems, and I ended up having to get surgery." The singer says he's had foot problems for some time because of the shoes he had been wearing. Surgeons had to break some of the bones in his foot, shave them down, and since then, Bixler-Zavala has had to re-learn how to walk.
"We got sunk into a hole financially because of our drummer problems, and having to get a new drummer mid-tour when we were out with the Red Hot Chili Peppers," he continued, referring to the roster upheaval that eventually saw Thomas Pridgen filling the role. "We just started getting a lot of bad luck with it. We were kind of not allowed by Omar to speak its name while we were making the record, for fear of bad mojo."
After a while, when the guys' luck didn't improve, they decided to get rid of it. Rodriguez-Lopez buried the object and was sworn not to tell anyone in the band where he had hidden it.
"Because such a strange impact was left by using the board, we decided to make a record based on ... the stories we were getting from the things or spirits we were contacting," he continued. "The album is basically a sort of ... it's like the 'Ghostbusters,' when they want to catch a ghost, they throw out this little trap on the floor, and they open it. [The] record serves as a bunch of little traps, so when the record comes out, people will have those traps, and they can play the game and try to reverse the bad luck we've had come from it. It's our way of creating a little infernal machine, but we've reversed it, for good luck."
The bad mojo, along with "small details that are a little more private and embarrassing," derailed plans to release the album — which Bixler-Zavala called the "record that did not want to be born" — in September. Despite the bad luck the game wrought, the album's vinyl version will feature the band's own version of the same game, inside the gatefold — so now, everyone can play.
And what does Bedlam — which includes "Aberinkula," "Metatron," "Ilyena," "Tourniquet Man" and more — sound like? The singer said longtime fans can expect typical Volta on this new record — epic songs that run well over 10 minutes, huge guitars (some provided by Chili Pepper John Frusciante), and loads of experimental instrumentation.
"It goes in different directions and has different moods, but for new people who know nothing about us, there are those shorter songs, and I think that might appeal to some people," he said. "It was never done in any sort of, 'Let's get on the radio' intention, but it does help, I guess. The whole album is completely interactive for the listener, and there's something concrete to sink your teeth into. There is a story there, even if it is vague sometimes."
The band plans to hit the road in support of Bedlam early next year and has a New Year's Eve gig planned for San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium — for the bash, the Mars Volta are requiring fans to wear costumes. Bixler-Zavala said fans can also expect the album's first single, "Wax Simulacra," soon. Originally, the label wanted to introduce the LP with the track "Goliath," but the band wouldn't have it.
" 'Goliath' is about nine, 10 minutes long, and the end of it is so interesting, we didn't really want it to be used as a single," he said. "It kept getting butchered and came off really bad. If you edit our songs and you take away all the extra stuff, then that song might've just sounded like Wolfmother — and we never want to compete with that. They're their own thing, and we're our own thing."
No Jon Theodore and there is no Mars Volta. He's the only reason to listen to this cheezy band.
Quote from: Stefen on November 05, 2007, 11:24:40 AM
No Jon Theodore and there is no Mars Volta. He's the only reason to listen to this cheezy band.
Agreed. Can't imagine what it will sound like without him. Don't want to know, really.
Quote from: Gamblour. on November 05, 2007, 04:06:51 PM
Quote from: Stefen on November 05, 2007, 11:24:40 AM
No Jon Theodore and there is no Mars Volta. He's the only reason to listen to this cheezy band.
Agreed. Can't imagine what it will sound like without him. Don't want to know, really.
Can't say yet, but my guess is that the songwriting will still suck.
Mars Volta Pride Themselves On Being Difficult, Prepare For Onset Of Bedlam
'We have the ability to attract and repel at the same time,' frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala boasts. 'Otherwise, you're just going to be, like, this Neil Diamond act.'
By Chris Harris; MTV
One of the biggest criticisms of the Mars Volta — at least those waged against the band by people who can't even begin to comprehend what the Volta are all about — is that they're too "out there."
They have also been called "overly complicated," and some have even accused the band of trying too hard to be anomalous. After all, the Mars Volta's records aren't commentaries on unrequited love, like half of what's being churned out by the emo pack. They've tackled a variety of topics, like morphine abuse, failed abortion attempts, U.S. immigration and possessed nuns. Likely to stoke claims that the band's themes can be overwrought is the subject of its forthcoming LP, The Bedlam in Goliath (in stores January 29): a Ouija-like board game, discovered in Jerusalem by guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, that irrevocably altered their lives.
The criticism doesn't bother frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who, along with Rodriguez-Lopez, left seminal punk experimentalists At the Drive-In to form the Volta.
"That just goes to show that people didn't understand us in the first place, and they had no business being there," Bixler-Zavala said. "It makes us feel normal when people think we're being too arty or whatever. ... I would feel weird if I wasn't able to be longwinded, or have information-overload on our songs.
"See, that's when I know we're on to something," he continued. "Even when fans don't like certain songs, I know that's good, because they probably want [the band's best-known song] 'The Widow' over and over again. So, I know we're doing something right, even if we can upset hard-core fans. We have the ability to attract and repel at the same time, which I think you should embrace. Otherwise, you're just going to be, like, this Neil Diamond act."
"The most common critique is that we're trying to be difficult," commented Rodriguez-Lopez. "And, it's like, 'Everyone's like that.' Who do you know that just has one mode, all the time? We go through all sorts of mood swings, and within an hour, within a day, you find yourself angry, happy, sad; you find yourself on halftime, you find yourself on full throttle. So, all of that goes into the music — that's our therapy; that's our fantasy land."
But the story behind Bedlam is no fantasy at all. It deals with the Ouija board, which the bandmembers dubbed the "Soothsayer" and say connected them with three different spirits: two women, and one very overbearing male.
"It's a classic story of a man speaking over the females, and the females looking for someone to have the courage to speak about what led them to the solitary confinement of the prison-like state of the talking board," said Bixler-Zavala. "The way I read into the poetry attached to [the board], we think the female spirits [were] telling us this classic story that is a modern story in Muslim society of 'honor killings.' All of the lyrics — actually, about 80 percent — came from these traditional poems we'd peeled off the board, and the lyrics are the best slogans, demands, and one-liners [the spirits] gave us."
It wasn't long before the members of the Mars Volta began to suspect the Soothsayer was something of a black cloud that hovered over them, and they even used elements of Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean religious tradition, to protect themselves from it.
"The male spirit in the board kept trying to sabotage us," said the singer, adding that the band's studio flooded twice, its gear was destroyed, and the engineer who was hired to oversee the studio process suffered a nervous breakdown and hijacked the studio tapes. "We had people go to his house to get them from him," Bixler-Zavala said.
Since the album will be spreading the spirits' messages, does the band worry that the Soothsayer's bad luck will infect the rest of the world? "I'm not afraid," Bixler-Zavala said, "because, to me, [the male spirit is] one of the many people who have said 'no' to me. Great — line up, take a number."
The one thing the Mars Volta are looking forward to this year is getting back on the road. They've just come out of their longest dry spell in 15 years, and all that time at home has got them feeling antsy. While they're not sure about plans for an American tour, the band hopes to hit "everywhere and anywhere" during the coming year, Bixler-Zavala said.
As a point of clarification, the singer and guitarist explained that the guys have no say in picking singles from their records — that's their label's choice. Most often, what happens is the label picks one of the band's epic, 10-minute numbers, and lops off a huge chunk of the song to make it radio-friendly — like with "The Widow," for example.
"We haven't cared in the past when they've butchered one of our songs, because essentially, they're making a trailer," said Rodriguez-Lopez. "We made our movie; you make your stupid trailer. And people will say, 'Oh, maybe that's a nice film,' and then they come, and maybe they walk out [when they realize] it's nothing like the trailer."
The new album is terrible. Jon Theodore's presence is sorely missed. His percussion was the best thing about this band. Now it's just silly seeing these two midgets dancing around on stage like they're possesed while they play terrible music.
First two albums are really fantastic though.
Yeah, I was talking to my friend (the only other person I know who listens to TMV). I was telling him that the first two albums are really, truly something innovative and amazing to hear, but now it's just sloppy sloppy. The new drummer isn't the worst part about the new album, the kid has some chops and he can really play, but he reduces their sound to Mike Portnoy sounding prog. It's the fact that Theodore was probably the only rational voice in the band (probably why he left), he really tied the room together. This new kid plays into the histrionics and absurdity of the "sound" they are "trying" to "create." It's unlistenable. Even on Meccamputecture, they had some sort of sound that was likable, if shrouded by ridiculously long streams of noise. Now it's entirely noise, their music doesn't make me feel anything but confused. Again, even Frances the Mute was on to something, in its experimentation.
Oh and by the way, all that crap about the Soothsayer in the article, whatever fellas. It's a Ouija board. It's fake. I feel like that's what their music is to me, if I try hard enough I get some meaning out of it, but then I step back and realize it was just me doing that. There's nothing here.
Quote from: Stefen on January 29, 2008, 04:09:18 PM
The new album is terrible. Jon Theodore's presence is sorely missed. His percussion was the best thing about this band. Now it's just silly seeing these two midgets dancing around on stage like they're possesed while they play terrible music.
First two albums are really fantastic though.
I don't care... I've already bought my ticket for their show here (Copenhagen) February 22.
And guys guys guys, that an original bandmember leaves a band is such a classic hipster excuse to jump of the bandwagon... I guess Pitchfork is worse than Scientology :ponder:
Quote from: thooor on January 30, 2008, 03:04:26 AM
Quote from: Stefen on January 29, 2008, 04:09:18 PM
The new album is terrible. Jon Theodore's presence is sorely missed. His percussion was the best thing about this band. Now it's just silly seeing these two midgets dancing around on stage like they're possesed while they play terrible music.
First two albums are really fantastic though.
I don't care... I've already bought my ticket for their show here (Copenhagen) February 22.
And guys guys guys, that an original bandmember leaves a band is such a classic hipster excuse to jump of the bandwagon... I guess Pitchfork is worse than Scientology :ponder:
That is a hipster excuse, but in this case it's true. Jon Theodore's and timing was the perfect thing to keep the other guys in check, with that gone, they've lost their fucking minds.
Quote from: Stefen on January 30, 2008, 08:38:39 AM
Quote from: thooor on January 30, 2008, 03:04:26 AM
Quote from: Stefen on January 29, 2008, 04:09:18 PM
The new album is terrible. Jon Theodore's presence is sorely missed. His percussion was the best thing about this band. Now it's just silly seeing these two midgets dancing around on stage like they're possesed while they play terrible music.
First two albums are really fantastic though.
I don't care... I've already bought my ticket for their show here (Copenhagen) February 22.
And guys guys guys, that an original bandmember leaves a band is such a classic hipster excuse to jump of the bandwagon... I guess Pitchfork is worse than Scientology :ponder:
That is a hipster excuse, but in this case it's true. Jon Theodore's and timing was the perfect thing to keep the other guys in check, with that gone, they've lost their fucking minds.
ok, some time has gone now and I realize that they new album is not long-lasting... But I still think it's pretty awesome.... and you are right Cedric is pretty annoying listening to in the long run.
You're only saying that because the Pitchfork review came out and they blasted it!!
haha, naw, just kidding. I listened to it once and haven't listened to it again. Each of their albums just get worse and worse and more pretentious and cheezy. I loved Deloused, liked FTM, hated Amp, and couldn't care less about the new one. I don't even remember what it's called.
Pitchfork has NEVER liked The Mars Volta! How could their opinion matter in this issue? And I'm not sure about Theodore leaving being the biggest deal, now that I think about it. Their live shows are torturous when they start jamming.
I have heard Wax Simulacra played everywhere, btw. Heard it in fucking New Zealand on the radio, then at a bar here today. Don't understand it, it's the least appealing radio song I've ever heard.
Quote from: Gamblour. on February 15, 2008, 08:00:31 PM
Pitchfork has NEVER liked The Mars Volta! How could their opinion matter in this issue? And I'm not sure about Theodore leaving being the biggest deal, now that I think about it. Their live shows are torturous when they start jamming.
I have heard Wax Simulacra played everywhere, btw. Heard it in fucking New Zealand on the radio, then at a bar here today. Don't understand it, it's the least appealing radio song I've ever heard.
I hate radio....or at least radio where I come from...
I will see these guys tomorrow...and I will write my honest opinion in here!