Revelations of a Music Junkie

There's a new Jimmy Page in town. His name is Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. There is a new Robert Plant in town. His name is Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Led Zep fans who have not listened to these guy will probably jump on me and beat me to death. They'll be very Grr. So, listen. To a band called The Mars Volta, popularly known as TMV.

The Mars Volta is something that very few can have an ear for. The music is chaotic, some might say. And yus, I agree, it does sound chaotic. They use so many instruments and effects in their songs that it can sound that way. But listen to them songs on good earphones or good speakers and you'll realize that there's more to their music than chaos. The first track I listened to was Ouroborous. I was like WTF is this!. But that was because I had listened to it at a very low volume and on laptop speakers. Then, I gave it another shot. On my Creative speakers. And I was like WTF is this!, but this time with my jaw down there. The song blew my fucking brains out of my fucking skull and out there, somewhere far far away. The drumming was insane. The effects were like out of this world. Then I gave another one a listen. This time, it was Tetragrammaton. And I died. I was like :O.

TMV, when they were young, and when they didn't have enough musicians of their own, they used to hire orchestra people to play those weird instruments. They used to give them the score-sheets but due to the complexity of their compositions, the hired people were mostly left clueless. It was only after the proper recording that them outside people understood what they had played and where and how all of it had fit.

The vocalist, Cedric Bixler-Zavala is beyond awesome. His girlish voice, those high pitched orgasmic screams, his style, all of it. And the guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, with his fast, jazz-ish/indian-classic-ish/eh-ish solos defines awesomeness-maxx. Both of them are like modern day Page and Plant. The comparison's right there! No one can deny it.

Their live performances are something to die for. Characterized by heavy drug abuse, the members are usually in a frenzied state and their behaviour is a vessel full of disarray. And that is fun, right? Omar usually goes all twitchy as if he's been Crucio-ed upon and all. Its all very fun-fun.

The best part about TMV is not the fact that they change scales, but the key that they sing in. The songs often change, wrt feel, sound and pace. That's what makes this band awesome. Listen to them in a dark room with eyes closed and half a litre of the maroon liquid in you, and you'll go Wheeeeee in no time. Their songs are long. Some of them, as long as 25 minutes. Half those songs have just effects being played on the synth for more than half the play-time. But everything fits so beautifully that if you know how to listen, you'll be amazed at how one could even come up with such compositions. All of them, masterpieces.

I would so like to see this band live.

Anyway, if u're a TMV-noob, go for these songs :

Ouroborous.
L'Via L'Viaquez.
Tetragrammaton.
Metatron.
Asilos Magdelena.
Vicarous Atonement.
Viscera Eyes.
Goliath.
The Widow.
Inertiatic ESP.
A-Part I, B-Part II, C-Part III, D-Part IV - All in continuation, and in a drunk state.

Listen to these and I bet your ass that you'll be a fan before you can even spell A-S-S.

P.S. : Remember, good speakers or good earphones. There are so many effects in their music that most of them will go unnoticed otherwise.

All hail TMV. :D \m/