It’s not an easy task to keep up with guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Sure, he has a day job as the primary bandleader and songwriter for The Mars Volta, but the band’s major label release schedule is too slow to keep up with Rodriguez-Lopez’s ever-flowing desire to record and create. That doesn’t stop him from recording and releasing a staggering multitude of solo projects every year.
This is great, if you’re a fan, but it’s frustrating at the same time. Thankfully, his propensity for recording everything gives you so many different works to sample and try out. Unfortunately, it’s that very same productiveness that makes it a challenge to introduce people to his solo material. Given the sheer variety of styles that Rodriguez-Lopez has dabbled in, sometimes you run the risk of recommending the wrong album.
Fret no more, because Rodriguez-Lopez and the good people at Rodriguez-Lopez Productions have decided to release a “best of” album. While some people might think a sort of “greatest hits” could be a bit premature for Rodriguez-Lopez at the still-green age of 35, just think of it more as a catch-all for some of your favorite Rodriguez-Lopez works, or a good introduction to someone who might be otherwise intimidated by his vast discography.
The collection, titled Telesterion (a nod to Rodriguez-Lopez’s frequent Greek allusions), is due on Record Store Day, which is April 16 this year. As the press release puts it, this will include “a 20-page booklet of artwork, unreleased photographs and text, with liner notes by longtime friend and Rodriguez Lopez Productions art director Sonny Kay.” Sounds like it’s definitely a must-have for any longtime Volta or ORL fan.
Check out the tracklist after the jump. Each song’s respective album or project is in parentheses:
CD 1
01. Locomocion Capillar (Solar Gambling)
02. Population Council’s Wet Dream (Old Money)
03. Amanita Virosa (Xenophanes)
04. Coma Pony (The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange)
05. El Monte T’ai (Calibration)
06. Sex, Consolation for Misery (Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus)
07. Deus Ex Machina (A Manual Dexterity, Soundtrack Vol. 1)
08. Rapid Fire Tollbooth (Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo)
09. Un Buitre Amable Me Pico (Solar Gambling)
10. Half Kleptos (Cryptomnesia)
11. No Hay Mas Respuestas (Cizaña De Los Amores)
12. Solenoid Mosque (Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead)
13. Melting Chariots (The Apocalypse Inside Of An Orange)
14. Dead Hisses to Match Our Own (Megaritual)
15. How to Bill the Bilderberg Group (Old Money)
16. Polaridad (Tychozorente)
17. La Tirania De La Tradicion (Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo)
18. An Ancient Shrewdness in the Veins (Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus)
19. Noir (Cryptomnesia)
CD2
20. Calibration (Calibration)
21. Viernes (Ciencia De Los Inutiles)
22. Spookrijden Op Het Fietspad (Omar Rodriguez)
23. Boiling Death Request a Body to Rest Its Head On (Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo)
24. Victimas Del Cielo (Cizaña De Los Amores)
25. Las Flores Con Limon (Solar Gambling)
26. At the Push of a Button (Megaritual)
27. Asco Que Conmueve Los Puntos Erogenos (Xenophanes)
28. The Power of Myth (Old Money)
29. El Todo (Tychozorente)
30. The Palpitations Form a Limit (A Manual Dexterity, Soundtrack Vol. 1)
31. Agua Dulce De Pulpo (Un Escorpion Perfumado)
32. Poincare (Solar Gambling)
33. Shake is for 8th Graders (Cryptomnesia)
34. Atrotecism Fenleon (Minor Cuts and Scrapes in the Bushes Ahead)
35. Casate Colmillo (The Somnambulists)
36. Desarraigo (Xenophanes)
37. Lunes (Ciencia De Los Inutiles)
Rodriguez-Lopez is planning a celebratory U.S. solo tour, and the dates are forthcoming. As of now, you can expect him at this year’s Coachella and SXSW festivals.
