Frances the Mute

by The Mars Volta

Overview

The Mars Volta's 2003 debut was a dense, experimental run-on sentence of science fiction and musical exploration. But though it ultimately rewarded patience with stretches of unbuckled rock & roll genius, De-Loused in the Comatorium was also a maze-like and obtuse migraine dealer that made people frustrated and crazy. For 2005's Frances the Mute, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala worked principally with their touring band, but "joining the band for selected moments" are strings, horns, electronic programming, pals Flea and John Frusciante, and the coqui frogs of Puerto Rico. There are no song breaks, making the track listing more of an outline. But Mute's printed lyrics are a helpful guide, a map of Mars that's meant to both direct and fascinate. "She was a mink handjob in sarcophagus heels"; "Don't be afraid when all the worms come crawlin out of your head"; "they were scaling through an ice pick of abscess reckoning and when Miranda sang everyone turned away...." -- perhaps the only match for the cerebral weirdness and eventual beauty of Mars Volta's lyrics is their music itself. The roar of Rodriguez-Lopez and Bixler-Zavala's post-hardcore past is fully locked away, replaced by an equally powerful flair for expressive percussion, intricate vocal harmonies, and extended solos for electric guitar (as on the initial part of "Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus"). Sure, there are moments on Mute that reach the grandiose heights of heavy music -- "L'Via l'Viaquez"'s ear-splitting changes will blow back your hair. But the same song is sung half in Spanish, half in English, and its flashes of heaviness fall between stretches of Afro-Cuban rhythm. Other portions of Frances the Mute are murky and distant, like field recordings from the ocean floor, while still others shift drastically between brittle acoustics and a stuttering, guitar-led volatility that threatens to crack open the earth. Its constant shifts mean the record is claustrophobic and even dizzying; it demands perseverance. But it's great when a blast of a trumpet cuts through a gloomy moment, and Bixler-Zavala's vocals are a thread to reality. For example, while his lyrics for "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" and "Widow" are mysterious poems, he sings them with a fervor that's immediately identifiable. That passion is evident throughout Frances the Mute; it's the organic fever that was buried on Comatorium. ~ Johnny Loftus

Product Details

Release Date:	02/21/2005
Label:	Def Jam / Island / Motown / Polydor / Universal
UPC:	0075021039773

Tracks

1. Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus: Sarcophagi/Umbilical Syllables/Facilis ...
2. The Widow
3. L' Via l'Viaquez
4. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore: Vade Mecum
5. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore: Pour Another Icepick
6. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore: Pisacis (Phra-Men-Ma)
7. Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore: Con Safo
8. Cassandra Geminni: Tarantism
9. Cassandra Geminni: Plant a Nail in the Navel Stream
10. Cassandra Geminni: Faminepulse
11. Cassandra Geminni: Multiple Spouse Wounds
12. Cassandra Geminni: Sarcophagi

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Mars Volta   Primary Artist
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez   Music Direction
Josefina Vergara   Violin
Roberto Cani   Violin
Suzie Katayama   Cello
Peter Kent   Violin
David Campbell   Conductor
Diego Casillas   Violin
Mario de Leon   Violin
Roger Manning   Piano
Fernando Moreno   Violin
Salvador Hernandez   Trumpet
Ernesto Molina   Violin
Randy Jones   Tuba
Adrian Terrazas Gonzalez   Flute,Sax (Tenor)
Larry Corbett   Cello
Larry Harlow   Piano,Clavinet
Flea   Soloist,Trumpet
William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr.   Trombone (Bass)
Joel Derouin   Violin
John Frusciante   Guitar,Soloist
Lenny Castro   Percussion
Wayne Bergeron   Trumpet
Nick Lane   Trombone

Technical Credits

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez   Audio Production,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Group Member
Claudius Mittendorfer   Assistant
David Schiffman   Engineer
Gary Gersh   A&R
Jon DeBaun   Engineer
Howie Weinberg   Mastering
Rich Costey   Mixing
Paul Pilsneniks   Assistant
David Campbell   Composer,Horn Arrangements,String Arrangements
Peter Curzon   Cover Art,Photography
Storm Thorgerson   Photography
Roger Lian   Assistant
Darrell Lance Abbott   Cover Art
Bill Thorgerson   Cover Art
Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez   Group Member
Coqui Of Puerto Rico   Performer
Rupert Truman   Photography
Andrew Scheps   Engineer
Isaiah "Ikey" Owens   Group Member
Jon Theodore   Group Member
Cedric Bixler-Zavala   Composer,Group Member
Omar Rodriguez   Composer
Juan Alderete de la Pena   Group Member