Ataxia 2 out on 6th March!
John’s official site has been updated for the first time in…well, a year or so and this is what’s on the top of its news page at the moment. I recommend you to go there to read it; but, well, I posted it here, too:
ATAXIA was a band for about two weeks in February 2004. Its members are Joe Lally of Fugazi, Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante. The word ‘Ataxia’ is Greek for ‘disorder’. We were unaware at the time that it also has a meaning in English which is: total or partial inability to coordinate voluntary bodily movements, as in walking. In keeping with our names’ Greek meaning (quite unintentionally), the sections of our songs never had an arranged order. All our songs’ foundations are the bass which always plays one part throughout. The drums and guitar move about and generally use the vocal as their guide. The vocals and words were written, but the order the vocal sections occurred in, and how long the spaces between were, was different every time. So we would all stay on our toes to stay together for dynamics, changes in groove, switches to new sections, etc. We played two shows and recorded two records. The first record was released in August 2004. It was named after the surrealist activity called Automatic Writing. That was where people like Andre Breton and Max Ernst would write words in the form of sentences and paragraphs, but with absolutely no conscious attempt at meaning. They would observe the structure of their subconscious and its peculiar methods of organization (or the lack thereof) this way. And if there is one sure answer I can give to the question, “How did you write and record two albums in a week and a half?â€, it is that we gave absolutely no thought to what we were doing, whatsoever. This music is unblemished by any expectations of a specific result, on our part. The three of us simply got together to hear what music had to say that week. We had fun together and this is the record of that fun.
– John Frusciante
So, I guess we’re all due for a wonderful treat. And for us who were actually born early in March, it’s like a birthday present 😀