Omar Rodriguez Lopez 2016 album series

[auxfnx]

Omar Rodriguez Lopez this year teamed up with Ipecac Recordings to release a series of 12 solo albums, one every two weeks, from July to the end of the year. They have varied in style greatly, from with a lot of pop experimentation mixed with some outright experimentation and some more traditionally ORL proggy stuff. All of the albums are available to stream on the Bandcamp, so here's a link to some of my recommendations from the bunch:

Sworn Virgins: This was the first released, and feels the most forward/current out of the lot, probably because it is likely that it was the most recently recorded. It's just Omar (who is on guitars, layers and vocals) and Deantoni Parks (who is playing drums while chopping up samples on a keyboard, as has become his signature style)
https://orlprojects.bandcamp.com/album/sworn-virgins


Cell Phone Bikini: Omar, Deantoni, Teri Gender Bender (of Le Butcherettes & Bosnian Rainbows) on vocals... This one is kinda reminiscent of the style of Noctourniquet by The Mars Volta. Edgy guitar sounds & a strong groove basis.
https://orlprojects.bandcamp.com/alb...l-phone-bikini

El Bien Y Mal Nos Une: Featuring Deantoni on drums again. This one is a bit more electronic in sound. Very bright vibe from this record
https://orlprojects.bandcamp.com/alb...-y-mal-nos-une


Blind Worms, Pious Swine: This one sounds like it could be the same line-up as Bosnian Rainbows, except with Omar presumably leading the songwriting on this one, and with him sharing lead vocal duties with Teri. A lot of really great art pop songs on this and finishes off with a nice Can-style jam.
https://orlprojects.bandcamp.com/alb...ms-pious-swine


There are 5 other albums out at the moment, with one more coming out on Friday and two final releases after that in December. If you like any of this or any of his previous work you should definitely give them a listen on that Bandcamp. There's an album with an old Mars Volta line-up (Aranas En La Sombre), 60s/70s pop style/Supergrass vibe tunes (Umbrella Mistress), dance / electronic (Weekly Mansions) and more. Literally every album has a different sound.

[profusion]

Does that guy actually sleep? It's kind of frightening how much music he records.

[Haruspex Carnage]

TBH...i haven't found ONE, ONE, that i thought was on the level or to write home about...and there's 3 more left...it's really disappointing that rather than keep up quality he opted for quantity and a return to this indie-garage rock oriented broad brush stroke.

[mnprogger]

he's in competition with Buckethead.

[Splicer]

Maybe it's just me but I can't understand a word of what's being sung in any of those songs. Am I supposed to understand it?

[auxfnx]

Maybe it's just me but I can't understand a word of what's being sung in any of those songs. Am I supposed to understand it?

to be honest i can't understand a lot of the lyrics either. some of the albums are in spanish too. it doesn't really matter to me!

i don't think you're 'supposed to' anything with any of Omar's music haha

[zravkapt]

he's in competition with Buckethead.

A few years ago he was releasing more than Buckethead. After his mother died in 2012 I think, he stopped making solo albums. All these 'new' albums were recorded years ago. In contrast, Buckethead released over 200 albums last year.

[auxfnx]

What are the quality of the Buckethead albums? I really can't imagine them being anything more than jams or lots of soloing over meh music? How can you put out THAT amount and maintain any sort of quality control?

Anyways, I reckon the latest ORL release might be of interest. Called 'Zapopan', it's more along the lines of the later The Mars Volta, synthy rock kind of stuff.
Give 'er a listen here: http://orlprojects.bandcamp.com/album/zapopan

[zravkapt]

What are the quality of the Buckethead albums?

Haven't heard them all but I have heard about 100 of his albums from 2014 onward. The styles and quality are all over the place. Some of them I would rate 4/5 while others I would rate 1/5. The dominant style is instrumental shredder-groove-metal, but there are ambient albums, electronic rock albums, avant-garde albums, funky/jazzy albums, etc.

[nosebone]

This guy gives me a headache

[zravkapt]

^Was it the lack of tunes and dynamics?