Freewheeling, spontaneous, and utterly distinctive, Rodriguez-Lopez' records tend to elicit a broad range of interpretations and verdicts, from `off the wall genius' to `unexplainable mess', and the wealth of such material to date (25 solo albums... for now) can make approaching his work away from The Mars Volta and At The Drive-In seem a mammoth task. Help is at hand. Rodriguez-Lopez' record label have delved into the archives and emerged with `Telesterion', a collection of 38 of his most significant solo pieces to date, compiled by his art director, Sonny Kay, the man responsible for all those beguiling, hallucinatory album covers. Those who pick it up, and persevere with it, will get a great taste of the diversity and ingenuity of the musician's work, frantic sound-explosions like `Population Council's Wet Dream' presented alongside jazzy, Latin flavoured jams such as `Rapid Fire Tollbooth', and `Melting Chariots', featuring serial collaborator and TMV/ATD-I frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Guitar devotees can find plenty to occupy themselves with while trying to work out how the hell Rodriguez-Lopez is getting those noises out of his guitar, but all open-minded listeners should be impressed by the sheer oddness of what's on show. It certainly falls into the acquired taste category, though we can promise you that you won't have heard anything quite like this before.
A1 Locomocion Capilar
A2 Population Council's Wet Dream
A3 Amanita Virosa
A4 Coma Pony
B1 El Monte Tai
B2 Sex, Consolation For Misery
B3 Deus Ex Machina
B4 Rapid Fire Tollbooth
B5 Un Buitre Amable Me Pico
C1 Half Kleptos
C2 No Hay Mas Respeutas
C3 Solenois Mosque
C4 Melting Chariots
C5 Dead Hisses To Match Our Own
C6 How To Bill The Bilderberg Group
D1 Polaridad
D2 La Tirania De La Tradicion
D3 An Ancient Shrewdness In The Veins
D4 Noir
D5 Calibration
E1 Viernes
E2 Spookrijden Op Het Fietspad
E3 Boiling Death Request A Body To Rest Its Head On
E4 Victimas Del Cielo
F1 Las Flores Con Limon
F2 At The Push Of A Button
F3 Asco Que Conmueve Los Puntos Erogenos
F4 The Power Of Myth
G1 El Todo
G2 The Palpitations Form A Limit
G3 Agua Dulce De Pulpo
G4 Poincare
G5 Shake Is For 8th Graders
G6 Atrotecism Fenleon
H1 Casate Colmillo
H2 Los Tres "Yo's"
H3 Desarraigo
H4 Lunes
