VivirLatino

I started this post in early January, then the earthquake in Haiti occurred and my focus moved elsewhere, beyond doing such reviews. The last thing I wrote prior to coming back to finish it was that “it feels right.” So, I find it fitting that I’ve come back to finish this piece at this time because it still “feels right.”

I’ve often said that when I listen to The Mars Volta that I feel as if I get smarter. Or at least my vocabulary expands. Let’s face it, the fellas know what they are creating and they stimulate more than just one of our senses. In another post where I shared about music that’s helping me cope, I gave you a hint as to what album review was coming up next and it’s Omar Rodríguez-López’s last 2009 release: Xenophanes.

There are many similar adjectives that have been used to describe this album: accessible, engaging, focused.  Yet no review I’ve read has used the terms “comforting,” “soothing,” “honest,” “feminine.” And these are the terms I’d use for this album, along with many others. If you are familiar with the sounds of The Mars Volta and the work of Omar Rodríguez-López, then you know of the usual psychedelic, eerie, and often screeching music they offer. I think it very much challenges people who listen to music in certain ways, which makes it exclusive in a sense. However, I think their musica is more inclusive, because I see it as abstract at times. I see abstract forms of any art as being inclusive because it welcomes multiple perspectives.
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