MUSIC - The Mars Volta, "Scabdates"

Scabdates, a mostly live recording of The Mars Volta, is the opposite of white noise: Painful chunks of discordant sound that make noise for noise’s sake. With the lack of studio polish, the improvisation spins out of control, and as soon as the electric orchestration finds beauty, it loses it again, a sacrifice to some unknown god of artifice. These are far from the “A” sides of Deloused in the Comatorium and even further from the “B” sides of Frances the Mute. These “C” sides—impossible as that sounds—are more a nightmarish warm-up than anything productive. Some fans will no doubt love the creepy dubs of babies wailing and overlapping voices on “Abrasions Mount the Timpani.” Hopefully, they and The Mars Volta will then wake up and realize that this, more than a distortion of sound, is a defilement of music.

[Read on] at Silent Uproar