'Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fungus/Minor Cuts And Scrapes In The Bushes Ahead'
Willie Anderson Recordings
One half of The Mars Volta delves into his extraordinary and expansive archive
Back in 2001, between the demise of At The Drive-In and the formation of The Mars Volta with fellow ex-ATDI band mate Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez Lopez found himself with a huge amount of his own material and no outlet for it. Eager to get this material recorded and to start figuring out his next move, Lopez set about recording a full four albums, including Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fungus and Minor Cuts And Scrapes In The Bushes Ahead.
Both albums give an interesting insight into where Omar Rodriguez Lopez was musically after At The Drive-In, which was basically all set to plough on with what would become The Mars Volta - so much so that a lot of the material featured on these albums was originally earmarked for the band. The most straightforward way to describe the tracks themselves is basically The Mars Volta without the lyrics which, as any fan of the band will know, translates as unique, inspired, deceptively random sounding progressive rock.
With an outlet as suited and capable as The Mars Volta, you might wonder why Omar Rodriguez Lopez would feel a need to keep such projects separate. Tellingly, so prolific has his creation of tracks been over the last eight years or so that the contract The Mars Volta have with their record company restricts them from releasing more than one album a year. Fortunately for everyone, Omar Rodriguez Lopez has found an overspill for his talents. Well worth checking out.
www.themarsvolta.co.uk
