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The "Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet" is a side project of Rodriguez-Lopez. Taking some free time out of his busy schedule with The Mars Volta, Rodriguez-Lopez plays live shows with his quintet, which in 2005 included three members of The Mars Volta Group: Juan Alderete, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez and Adrian Terrazas-Gonzales. The self-titled album from 2005 was recorded mostly in Amsterdam. The album, Omar Rodriguez, features long, improvisational songs with Dutch titles and no lyrics. After completing The Mars Volta's 2006 record "Amputechture," Rodriguez-Lopez' collaborated with Damo Suzuki on a 25-minute EP titled "Please Heat This Eventually." The collaboration features members of Omar's Quintet. Rodriguez-Lopez' Gold Standard Labs record label released a special-edition 12" vinyl in December 2006, widely available Jan. 23, 2007. A new album, Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo, is being prepped for a May 29, 2007 release on GSL. This 10-track full-length album featuring performances by Mars Volta members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Juan Alderete de la Pena, Adrian Terrazas-Gonzales as well as cameos by Money Mark Ramos Nishita and John Frusciante was written and recorded in 2006 in California and Amsterdam. A sample from the track "If Gravity Lulls, I Can Hear the World Pant" is available on the Gold Standard Labs myspace page. This recording will be released on both vinyl and CD. A sample from the track "Boiling Death Request a Body to Rest Its Head On" was also posted on April 5. The feel of the song harkens to very early Pink Floyd; most noticeably to that of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun." From the GSL website: "One of four albums written and recorded by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez whilst living in Amsterdam in 2005, Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo was conceived simultaneously to THE MARS VOLTA’s Amputechture. Consisting of 3 vocal tracks and 7 instrumentals, the album includes the original studio version of the song “Please Heat This Eventually” (without the vocals of Damo Suzuki). Another song, “Rapid Fire Tollbooth”, has been a feature of THE MARS VOLTA’s live set for the past few months. Omar has expressed his intentions for TMV to rework the track on the upcoming full-length follow-up to 2006’s Amputechture. Omar performs the majority of the compositions solo, although the album also includes performances by Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez, Juan Alderete de la Pena, Adrian Terrazas-Gonzales, and Money Mark Ramos-Nishita." Rodriguez-Lopez has also composed the score to the upcoming film El B..falo de la Noche, the new film from Guillermo Arriaga and Jorge Hernandez Aldana. The release date and track info for this recording have yet to be announced. In addition, it is currently unclear if this will be a Mars Volta release or an Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group release. In addition Rodriguez-Lopez recently completed a collaboration with Zach Hill of the band Hella. Details have not yet been released.

The Mars Volta Gold Standard Labs