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Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is the guitarist for The Mars Volta. His debut solo album, A Manual Dexterity: Volume 1, the first of two albums which will comprise the soundtrack for an upcoming self-made film, was released by the Gold Standard Laboratories label in August of 2004. Formerly of the El Paso based post-hardcore outfit At the Drive-In.
Frequently linked with close friend and collaborator Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the pair have played (and often lived) together since their teens, first in At the Drive-In, and then leaving At the Drive-In on "indefinite hiatus" to form the act The Mars Volta, who are often loosely defined as "prog-rock". In addition, Cedric appears on A Manual Dexterity.
As a guitarist, Rodriguez-Lopez is known for a very experimental and un-orthodox style, typified by unusual and complicated chords and progressions, complex and ever-changing time signatures, highly elaborate atonal solos and extensive experimentation with various guitar effects (for details of Rodriguez-Lopez's guitars, amplifiers and equipment see here:[1] (http://onlinerock.com/musicians/lobstermagnet//atdi/omarmarsvolta.htm))
Rodriguez-Lopez claims himself to know very little musical theory, although the elaborate melodies and solo pieces on the Mars Volta's first full length album Deloused in the Comatorium show a great musical talent at work. Thanks largely to his unconventional style; Rodriguez-Lopez is unique as a modern guitar player in terms of his innovation and experimentation, in much the same way that Jimi Hendrix was in the 1960's.
Rodriguez-Lopez is undoubtedly a great talent - electric live improvisations and the work on "Deloused..." more than show this. However the most common criticism of him, as A Manual Dexterity in particular showed, is that his creativity can often get the better of him - experimentation and innovation often making the melodies and textures at first difficult to appreciate.
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