The Mars Volta

[Perry Justus <pjustus@xxxxxxx>]

Y'all should check out the new Mars Volta album, Frances the Mute.    It's
a little Zeppish in spots and it's got some great ideas/playing.

I've been listening to TMV live, and a LOT of their improvisations are
total Zep.  Not so much long guitar solos as short tangents where Omar
improvises guitar lines and Cedric interjects with his vocals, just like
during the pre-bow section of D&C, HMMT, or As Long As I Have You.  He does
a lot of call and response with the guitar and basically uses his voice as
an instrument (this was especially apparent when their now late soundman
Jeremy Ward would "play" the sound board and add effects to the vocals).
Their drummer Jon Theodore is amazing and the bassist (blanking on his name
- Juan Aldarez or something) is incredible too (as well as their
keyboardist and percussionist!).

If you're on Soulseek or something, search for a live version of "Take the
Veil Cerpin Taxt" or "Cicatriz ESP" (sometimes stretching out to 40 minutes
-- the original demo is 5 minutes long!)

Perry