{"title":"The Mars Volta","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Mars Volta is a Los Angeles-based band that was formed in 2001. Led by Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez, the group ventured into hardcore, psychedelic rock, and free jazz genres after splintering from their previous band, At the Drive-In. However, in 2013, Bixler-Zavala announced his departure from The Mars Volta and the subsequent breakup of the band. Following this, Cedric and Omar went on to create another project called Bosnian Rainbows. Fortunately for fans, The Mars Volta reunited in June 2022.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith their unique blend of musical styles and experimental approach to sound, The Mars Volta has captivated audiences since their inception. Their music pushes boundaries and defies traditional genre categorizations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you're a fan of hardcore punk or free jazz improvisation, The Mars Volta's discography offers something for everyone. From their debut album \"De-Loused in the Comatorium\" to later releases like \"Frances the Mute\" and \"The Bedlam in Goliath,\" each record showcases the band's exceptional musicianship and fearless creativity.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-bedlam-in-goliath","title":"The Bedlam In Goliath","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Bedlam In Goliath\u003c\/em\u003e received wisdom has it that to toy with the occult is to enter into a Faustian pact that will bite you on the ass somewhere down the line. Magic, myth, and sorcery had been recurrent themes within \u003cstrong\u003eThe Mars Volta\u003c\/strong\u003e’s output for some time and served as the dominant motifs for their previous full-length, \u003cem\u003eAmputechture\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo it was almost inevitable that, at some point, luck, kismet, karma, serendipity whatever you want to call the metaphysical forces that exert hidden influence upon our mortal world would visit the group and enact some kind of payback. Whatever debts the group had accrued came due with \u003cem\u003eThe Bedlam In Goliath\u003c\/em\u003e, the group’s fourth full length, and an album whose creation was, in every sense of the word, cursed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe production of the album was regularly scuppered by technical problems that erased whole takes from their computer hard drives, a phenomenon Omar’s in-studio right-hand man Rich Costey an experienced producer\/engineer in his own right found impossible to explain. Meanwhile, Omar’s home studio flooded and was plagued by severe electrical problems, and at least one member of the engineering staff working on the album quit the sessions after suffering a psychotic episode.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt the time, all this accumulating bad juju was ascribed, by the more superstitious members of \u003cstrong\u003eThe Mars Volta\u003c\/strong\u003e, to a ouija board Omar had reputedly purchased while traveling in Jerusalem and gifted to Cedric upon his return. What is certain is that Omar returned from his travels with tapes of field recordings he’d made in Jerusalem, from his wanderings around the city’s Jewish, Muslim, and Christian quarters, which were later mixed into the track \"Soothsayer,\" a mystical epic elevated by strings.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"Black LPx3","offer_id":50405342216523,"sku":"2221277","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50405341135179,"sku":"1142403","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50405340152139,"sku":"303329","price":22.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/98ad2f58-e5ec-481e-868b-a82f2934cbe5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726575935"},{"product_id":"noctourniquet","title":"Noctourniquet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eNoctourniquet \u003c\/i\u003eAnd then everything went black, at least for a while, at least for The Mars Volta. In the months and years following their fifth full-length, \u003ci\u003eOctahedron\u003c\/i\u003e, Omar kept on at his usual fearsome creative pace. In fact, he ramped up his output considerably, starting up his own Rodriguez Lopez Productions label and releasing a slew of solo albums. It was a practice he’d begun shortly after De-Loused’s release, with his solo debut \u003ci\u003eA Manual Dexterity: Soundtrack Volume One\u003c\/i\u003e, but as the decade reached its close, Omar grew to rely upon his solo recordings as an outlet for his prolific creativity, these albums often exploring musical pastures far beyond even The Mars Volta’s wide-ranging parameters. Before choosing to release music under his own name, Omar would always play it to Cedric first, to see if the frontman thought it had potential to become Mars Volta music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShortly after \u003ci\u003eOctahedron’s\u003c\/i\u003e completion, Cedric flagged one batch of tracks Omar had cut with Deantoni Parks, a brilliant drummer and composer who’d briefly occupied the Mars Volta drumstool in-between Jon Theodore and Thomas Pridgen’s tenures, and whose volcanic creativity and unique, unpredictable approach to rhythm and composition had quickly made him one of Omar’s favourite artistic foils.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Blue","offer_id":50405980078411,"sku":"1146206","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":55973596496203,"sku":"R0610-1097","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bc64a9a7-91b3-437b-a043-23d64d26f396_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726582543"},{"product_id":"landscape-tantrums-unfinished-original-recordings-of-de-loused-in-the-comatorium","title":"Landscape Tantrums - Unfinished Original Recordings Of De-Loused In The Comatorium","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLandscape Tantrums\u003c\/i\u003e Lost for two decades, the recent rediscovery of \u003ci\u003eLandscape Tantrums\u003c\/i\u003e the first attempt at recording the music that would become The Mars Volta’s \u003ci\u003eDe-Loused In The Comatorium\u003c\/i\u003e revealed an important and hitherto missing chapter in the group’s evolution. Selfrecorded by Omar (assisted by Jon DeBaun) at Burbank’s Mad Dog Studios within a head spinning four days, \u003ci\u003eLandscape Tantrums \u003c\/i\u003ecaptures \u003ci\u003eDe-Loused\u003c\/i\u003e in somewhat embryonic form, though much of what would make The Mars Volta’s debut album such an electrifying, sublime experience was already in place: the fearless invention, the fusion of futurist rock elements and traditions from outside of the rock orthodoxy, the sense of virtuosity working in service of emotional effect. From a distance, The Mars Volta must have seemed as if they were on a high when they walked into the studio to record what they expected to be their debut album (“I didn’t think of it as demos or a dry run,” Omar says). The group had recently played the Coachella festival to rave reviews, a vindication of the quixotic risk Omar and Cedric had taken, quitting At The Drive In to lead such an uncompromising musical proposition. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"Clear LP","offer_id":50416359768395,"sku":"1154793","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d45da04f-0984-4c95-b39e-9775be672e64_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726702200"},{"product_id":"la-realidad-de-los-suenos","title":"La Realidad De Los Sueños","description":"\u003cp\u003eLa Realidad De Los Sueños means “the reality of dreams” – and there is no title more fitting for this unbelievable box-set. This represents a dream come true for the many, many loyal fans of progressive alternative rock giants, The Mars Volta, across the world. Working intensely with Omar Rodríguez-Lopéz, Clouds Hill has brought out an all-encompassing and wonderfully designed vinyl box-set.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe vinyl only set, (there are no CDs, downloads, or streaming) contains the following albums (remastered specifically for vinyl) and products: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTremulant EP \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDe-Loused In The Comatorium \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrances The Mute \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmputechture \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Bedlam In Goliath \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOctahedron \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNoctourniquet \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLandscape Tantrums (Unfinished Original Recordings Of De-Loused In The Comatorium) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Plague Upon A Hissing Children and Eunuch Provocateur (Unreleased Version From The De-Loused In The Comatorium Session) on double etched vinyl \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA book of exclusive behind the scenes photography \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 pins\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x18","offer_id":50461149725003,"sku":"1116273","price":499.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6073b551-36a6-42d9-b5e0-f13c3e6b6fad_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727244091"},{"product_id":"amputechture-2","title":"Amputechture","description":"\u003cp\u003eBeneath the technical flash, the fury, the fearless creative brinkmanship of the first two \u003cem\u003eMars Volta\u003c\/em\u003e albums lay a potent seam of the blues, an existential vexation that powered every twist and turn of \u003cstrong\u003eOmar\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eCedric\u003c\/strong\u003e’s imaginations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThat mournful vibe would come to the surface of the group’s third full-length \u003cem\u003eAmputechture\u003c\/em\u003e, a simmering\/blistering set that was unquestionably the group’s darkest yet. There was no overarching theme here, no interlinking concept binding the songs together, though \u003cstrong\u003eCedric\u003c\/strong\u003e concedes that, lyrically, the album was influenced “by a lot of stuff I was going through, a really bad break-up and a lot of other crazy stuff, and trying to put that feeling into the record.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut \u003cem\u003eAmputechture\u003c\/em\u003e – its name another of the late Jeremy Michael Ward’s invented words – was no downbeat bummer. Opener \u003cem\u003eVicarious Atonement\u003c\/em\u003e might’ve been a deliciously gloomy, slow-burning thing, capturing \u003cstrong\u003eCedric\u003c\/strong\u003e in delirious duet with \u003cstrong\u003eOmar\u003c\/strong\u003e’s swooning guitar lines, accompanied by squalling saxophone by Adrian Terrazas-Gonzales and dream-frequency fuckery by the group’s new sonic manipulator, former \u003cem\u003eAt The Drive-In\u003c\/em\u003e member Paul Hinojos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut second track \u003cem\u003eTetragrammaton\u003c\/em\u003e swiftly set pulses racing, an epic-in-miniature and containing more ideas within its 16 minutes than most bands manage over an entire career, its proggy, complex guitar figures tessellating in infinite configurations and converging as if conforming to mathematical formulae from another reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSide note: \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Frusciante\u003c\/strong\u003e features on every track here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"White LP","offer_id":50480842998091,"sku":"1140167","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50480844833099,"sku":"2221279","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50480842670411,"sku":"275881","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/51a92fb2-30a7-40b5-ac61-ee75f651c8e7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727528461"},{"product_id":"de-loused-in-the-comatorium","title":"De-Loused in the Comatorium","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn \u003ci\u003eDe-loused in the Comatorium\u003c\/i\u003e, the Mars Volta approach rock \u0026amp; roll like it's an ascetic discipline, a calling that comes with lyric sheets as dense and impenetrable as the Kabbalah and a ritual of worship that's dervish-like in its intensity. Formed by vocalist Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez after the split of their former band--Texan hardcore legends \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/artist-search\/At%20Drive%20In\/%24%7B0%7D\"\u003eAt the Drive-In\u003c\/a\u003e, who splintered acrimoniously in 2001--the Volta are an unashamedly progressive outfit, dealing in grandiose arrangements that come on like \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/artist-search\/Led%20Zeppelin\/%24%7B0%7D\"\u003eLed Zeppelin\u003c\/a\u003e fired through Saturn's rings. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou can still hear many of ATDI's hallmarks inside the spasmodic dynamics of \"Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt\" and \"Eriatarka\"--it's just now they're immeasurably more complex, governed by time signatures responsible only to some alien logic, and cast out on ever more remote waves of mind-bending conceptual fantasy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBixler's serrated howl has mellowed somewhat, veering here from tender croon to shrill falsetto. And interestingly, Flea guests here, although you wouldn't know it: his brooding basslines bear nothing of the slap-happy funk he displays in the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/artist-search\/Red%20Hot%20Peppers\/%24%7B0%7D\"\u003eRed Hot Chilli Peppers\u003c\/a\u003e. But ironically, the most startling contribution comes from the band's late sound manipulator Jeremy Ward, who passed away after a heroin overdose on the eve of this album's release. His dubby ambient fills unfurl in the valleys between each jagged instrumental peak, lending a truly otherworldly feel to proceedings. A morbid legacy, but thankfully, far from this album's only selling point: \u003ci\u003eDe-loused in the Comatorium\u003c\/i\u003e is the rare prog-rock landmark that prizes punk passion over meandering pretension.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50480854892875,"sku":"1006589","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/3e58ccb7-616c-4609-be00-5c03ab679b29_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727528615"},{"product_id":"frances-the-mute-and-the-widow-live","title":"Frances The Mute And The Widow (Live)","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing the successful re-release of the entire The Mars Volta back catalog, Clouds Hill has saved the reissue of \u003ci\u003eFrances The Mute\u003c\/i\u003e (single) and The Widow (live) as a special highlight for the 2023 Record Store Day. Mastered for vinyl - pressed ony vinyl exclusively for Record Store Day 2023.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50482543755595,"sku":"2012260","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/FClNS2dA_8a294514_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727553562"},{"product_id":"the-mars-volta","title":"The Mars Volta","description":"\u003cp\u003eBreaking a decade of omertà, The Mars Volta reawaken from their lengthy hiatus with an eponymous album that radically reshapes their paradigm. Formed by guitarist\/composer Omar Rodríguez-López and singer\/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala, The Mars Volta rose from the ashes of El Paso punk-rock firebrands At The Drive-In in 2001. On a mission to “honour our roots and honour our dead”, The Mars Volta made music that fused the Latin sounds Rodríguez-López was raised on with the punk and underground noise he and Bixler-Zavala had immersed themselves in for years, and the futuristic visions they were tapping into. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe albums that followed were one-of-a-kind masterpieces, their songs of breath-taking complexity also possessing powerful emotional immediacy. After the group fell silent, a legion of devotees (including Kanye West) kept up an insistent drum-beat for their return. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow – a year after La Realidad De Los Sueños, a luxurious 18-LP box-set compiling their back catalogue, sold out its 5,000 print run in under 24 hours – the duo are back, accompanied this time by founder bassist Eva Gardner, drummer Willy Rodriguez Quiñones and keyboard-player Marcel Rodríguez-López. This album shakes loose some of The Mars Volta’s long-standing shibboleths and the dizzying, abrasive prog stylings of earlier albums absent. Instead, The Mars Volta pulses with subtle brilliance, Caribbean rhythms underpinning sophisticated, turbulent songcraft. This is The Mars Volta at their most mature, most concise, most focused. Their sound and fury channelled to greatest effect, The Mars Volta finds Rodríguez-López’s subterranean pop melodies driving Bixler-Zavala’s dark sci-fi tales of the occult and malevolent governments. Distilling all the passion, poetry and power at their fingertips, The Mars Volta is the most accessible music the group have ever recorded.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50489924944203,"sku":"1164699","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50489925140811,"sku":"1164700","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/85ccc98b-b5de-4ce0-a1a2-c31803f03c7b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727646418"},{"product_id":"air-volta","title":"Air Volta","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the landlocked tropical savanna of Upper Volta, an ever-evolving cast of musicians brought the world's rhythms to the streets of their native Bobo-Dioulasso. Combining Congolese rhumba, American R\u0026amp;B, French yé-yé, Cuban son, and regional Senufo and Mandingo traditions, Orchestre Volta Jazz was at the epicenter of the West African musical explosion of the '60s and '70s. \u003ci\u003eAir Volta\u003c\/i\u003e compiles nine original songs originally issued on the Disques France-Afrique and Sonafric labels, a peerless primer of a group that turned the brutality of colonialism into something beautiful and enduring.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Numero","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50490483114315,"sku":"1154012","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50490484031819,"sku":"1154013","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/dcec86b2-e820-4990-a4a6-795c117a9a7b_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727663682"},{"product_id":"de-loused-in-the-comatorium-1","title":"De Loused In The Comatorium","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDe-Loused in the Comatorium\u003c\/i\u003e is the debut full-length studio album by American progressive rock band The Mars Volta and was originally released in 2003. Based on a short story written by lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and sound manipulation artist Jeremy Michael Ward, the concept album is an hour-long tale of Cerpin Taxt, a man who enters a week-long coma after overdosing on a mixture of morphine and rat poison. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title of the album is taken from the lyrics of the song 'Eunuch Provocateur', which is included on the band's debut EP, 'Tremulant'. The cover artwork is by Storm Thorgerson, who also designed the artwork for the album Frances the Mute. The album is co-produced by Rick Rubin and The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. As Eva Gardner, the original bassist, parted ways with the band, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is featured at bass guitar player on the album.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50522163708235,"sku":"375347","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Deloused_In_the_Comatorium_ab59a8df_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727999767"},{"product_id":"que-dios-te-maldiga-mi-corazon","title":"Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazon","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter the successful worldwide release of the studio album \u003cem\u003eThe Mars Volta\u003c\/em\u003e, the band also releases the album as an acoustic album. The harmonic album \u003cem\u003eQue Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazon\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Mars Volta\u003c\/strong\u003e plays a similar game: it is subtly subversive – endlessly inventive, but never at the cost of the song. Many of the same values that made \u003cstrong\u003eThe Mars Volta\u003c\/strong\u003e’s previous albums so ground-breaking, so acclaimed, are still present here, but they are employed in different, adroit ways.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Caribbean rhythms that powered their blistering earlier records still flourish across \u003cem\u003eThe Mars Volta\u003c\/em\u003e – they aren’t the foreground now, but they ripple underneath each of these tracks. Similarly, the big rock moves and proggy complexities of their landmark releases have given way for more sonic subtlety, for immediacy and directness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut while \u003cstrong\u003eThe Mars Volta\u003c\/strong\u003e shies away from Grand Guignol flourishes, it remains a dark, powerful and affecting listen, mature and deeply satisfying in its restraint.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clouds Hill","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50531101966667,"sku":"2016041","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50531102228811,"sku":"2016042","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Que_Dios_Te_Maldiga_Mi_Corazon_e287aff1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728094081"},{"product_id":"octahedron","title":"Octahedron","description":"\u003cp\u003eEach of the Mars Volta albums that preceded \u003ci\u003eOctahedron\u003c\/i\u003e had pushed the envelope further, their music growing larger, more intense, more complex. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach had delivered an implied, unspoken challenge to its makers within milliseconds of its final notes: “top this”. 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The fearless rhythms drew from the traditional Caribbean and Latin music Omar was raised on, its staccato guitar riffs accompanied by Ikey Owens’ infernal organ stabs, Eva Gardner’s canny bass-lines and Jeremy Michael Ward’s inventive sound manipulations, its frenetic, restless panic-rock given to exultant breakdowns, like Omar’s beloved salsa. 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And you could see his ‘classical’ side come out – like, ‘I broke this playing a fuckin’ rock song??’ He was pissed off. But I was like, ‘Fuck yeah, man, that’s on the record! You’ve got to realise things like that are cool.’” The album also features field recordings of “the coqui of Puerto Rico” during the opening minutes of Miranda That Ghost Just Isn’t Holy Anymore. “We took a page out of the Grateful Dead’s book there,” laughs Cedric. “They recorded air. 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