Rodriguez Lopez Productions
2009
Cryptomnesia
About This Album
Released on Cinco de Mayo, Cryptomnesia (defined as "inadvertent plagiarism") is the first of three recordings done in 2006 by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, a side project of the guitarist and producer of the Mars Volta. Rodriguez-Lopez enlisted the talents of bandmate Juan Alderete de la Peña on bass and Zach Hill and Jonathan Hischke of Hella on drums and synth bass, respectively, along with Mars Volta frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala for lyrics and vocals on eight of the album's 11 cuts. Rodriguez-Lopez has been prolific since the middle of the aughts, issuing no less than ten previous recordings on various labels since 2004! While the most recent ones have revealed a more experimental and formal compositional bent and elaborate production, this earlier material is no less wildly creative and daring, though it can be seen as a much more logical extension of the Mars Volta's musical adventures than as something with his own complete musical stamp on it, as his more recent recordings have been. There are some exceptions, such as "They're Coming to Get You, Barbara," with its dense, repetitive layers of guitars over careening keyboards and Hill's manic drumming.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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