(Stones Throw)

www.stonesthrow.com

Sometimes, things turn up in the unlikeliest places - a crumpled $20 bill in your refrigerator, a slice of pizza in your underwear drawer, or Mars Volta guitar player Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's solo album on LA underground hip-hop imprint Stones Throw. The latter actually makes more sense, given the label's penchant for releasing experimental music - see Baron Zen and Gary Wilson for proof.

Old Money will sound familiar to fans of the Mars Volta's expansive and jazzy prog-rock. Latin, Middle-Eastern, psychedelic, and electronic elements all have their say over the course of the album's 45 minutes. This, actually, is a bonus, too; a 70-minute-long record of these instrumental meanderings would be too much of a good thing. Rodriguez-Lopez certainly enjoys an extended solo or two, but fortunately he chooses to surround them with a mélange of squeals, frenetic drumming, and stoned synths. Sometimes, as heard on "How to Bill the Bilderberg Group," he throws in a few distorted vocal effects as well.

These songs could clearly have fit in on the next Mars Volta album. Without actually asking the man himself, it's hard to pin down exactly why he felt the need to make this a solo release. Whatever the reason, if you have a reasonable tolerance for jamming and epic rock, Old Money is a good album to explore.

Standout Tracks: "How to Bill the Bilderberg Group," "Private Fortunes" JONAH FLICKER