Cryptomnesia (album)
Encyclopedia
Cryptomnesia is the debut studio album by El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
, released on May 5, 2009. The album is the first of three albums recorded by the band, and is Rodriguez-Lopez' eleventh solo record overall. According to Rodriguez-Lopez, the album was "recorded in the summer of 2006, around the same time I did Old Money
. It was a very, very fun record to make. I made that record in five or six days."
on guitar, Zach Hill
(Hella
) on drums, Jonathan Hischke (Hella) on synth bass, and Juan Alderete
(The Mars Volta
) on bass guitar. Additionally, Cryptomnesia features the vocals of guest frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala
on eight of the album’s eleven tracks. Rodriguez-Lopez completed the album in 2006, shortly after finishing The Mars Volta’s Amputechture
. Bixler-Zavala’s vocals were tracked in 2008.
Regarding the release, Cedric Bixler-Zavala states: "if anyone's bummed that Octahedron
is too simple or too pop, they can buy [this] album and it'll take them right back to that [heavier] kind of sound. It's one of my favourite things I've ever worked on. It's pretty much a Mars Volta record, just without Thomas [Pridgen], Ikey [Owens], and Marcel [Rodriguez-Lopez]."
A special limited advance vinyl offering of only 3,000 copies was made available exclusively to indie retail in honor of Record Store Day on April 18 and saw its official release on cd, vinyl and digital everywhere on May 5, 2009. The album was made available for pre-order from hellomerch.com on April 8.
In the liner notes of the album, Omar states:
El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez is a band consisting of Omar Rodriguez Lopez , Cedric Bixler-Zavala , Juan Alderete de la Peña , Jonathan Hischke and Zach Hill .-History:...
, released on May 5, 2009. The album is the first of three albums recorded by the band, and is Rodriguez-Lopez' eleventh solo record overall. According to Rodriguez-Lopez, the album was "recorded in the summer of 2006, around the same time I did Old Money
Old Money (album)
Old Money is a studio album by Omar Rodríguez-López released by Stones Throw Records in November 2008, and is the musician's first album on that label...
. It was a very, very fun record to make. I made that record in five or six days."
Background
The band features Omar Rodríguez-LópezOmar Rodriguez-Lopez
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, writer, actor and film director who was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico...
on guitar, Zach Hill
Zach Hill
Zach Hill is a musician residing in Sacramento, California. Primarily known for his drumming, he performs/has performed in numerous Pacific Coast based groups, including his primary group, Hella, as well as Holy Smokes, Nervous Cop, and a diverse range of others including El Grupo Nuevo de Omar...
(Hella
Hella (band)
Hella is an American band from Sacramento, California. They play a technical blend of math rock, noise rock, and experimental rock. The primary members of the band are Spencer Seim on electric guitar and Zach Hill on drums...
) on drums, Jonathan Hischke (Hella) on synth bass, and Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete
Juan Alderete is an American bassist known for his work with the band The Mars Volta. Prior to his work with that band, he was known for playing in Racer X, where he received credit as John Alderete.-Biography:...
(The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is a Grammy award winning American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2001 by guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the band incorporates various influences including progressive rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, Latin American music, and...
) on bass guitar. Additionally, Cryptomnesia features the vocals of guest frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American musician known for his work as frontman and lyricist of the progressive rock band The Mars Volta, and previously as frontman and occasional guitarist of the post-hardcore punk group At the Drive-In...
on eight of the album’s eleven tracks. Rodriguez-Lopez completed the album in 2006, shortly after finishing The Mars Volta’s Amputechture
Amputechture
-Notes:#"Vicarious Atonement" is the theory that the atonement of Jesus Christ was legal in God's eyes and that Jesus died in the place of the humans that sinned....
. Bixler-Zavala’s vocals were tracked in 2008.
Regarding the release, Cedric Bixler-Zavala states: "if anyone's bummed that Octahedron
Octahedron (album)
Octahedron is the fifth full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta, released on June 23, 2009. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records in North America and Mercury Records worldwide...
is too simple or too pop, they can buy [this] album and it'll take them right back to that [heavier] kind of sound. It's one of my favourite things I've ever worked on. It's pretty much a Mars Volta record, just without Thomas [Pridgen], Ikey [Owens], and Marcel [Rodriguez-Lopez]."
A special limited advance vinyl offering of only 3,000 copies was made available exclusively to indie retail in honor of Record Store Day on April 18 and saw its official release on cd, vinyl and digital everywhere on May 5, 2009. The album was made available for pre-order from hellomerch.com on April 8.
In the liner notes of the album, Omar states:
To soothe the symptoms of a cursed go-between, this magnetar of a record (an uncomfortable meditation on bad manners), was recorded in the foul summer of 2006. It then sat in my grotesquely overpopulated, roman holiday of a closet, awaiting its vocal tracks, which were finally realized in the illustrious Australian summer of 2008. Being predisposed to insults, I would like to say now that I love this record with all my guts and find it very much worth the wait (I hope you'll agree, though I sense some of you may not). This project, as many before it, though one small step in my (our) personal therapy, still bears the question: is our footing sure enough to be trusted?
Track listing
- "Tuberculoids" – 4:27
- "Half Kleptos" – 3:09
- "Cryptomnesia" – 6:02
- "They're Coming to Get You, Barbara" – 4:08
- "Puny Humans" – 2:31
- "Shake Is for 8th Graders" – 2:12
- "Noir" – 3:44
- "Paper Cunts" – 2:51
- "Elderly Pair Beaten with Hammer" – 2:03
- "Warren OatesWarren OatesWarren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
" – 4:55 - "Fuck Your Mouth" – 0:23
Personnel
- Omar Rodriguez Lopez – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, keysKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Zach HillZach HillZach Hill is a musician residing in Sacramento, California. Primarily known for his drumming, he performs/has performed in numerous Pacific Coast based groups, including his primary group, Hella, as well as Holy Smokes, Nervous Cop, and a diverse range of others including El Grupo Nuevo de Omar...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Cedric Bixler Zavala – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Juan AldereteJuan AldereteJuan Alderete is an American bassist known for his work with the band The Mars Volta. Prior to his work with that band, he was known for playing in Racer X, where he received credit as John Alderete.-Biography:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jonathan Hischke – synth bass