CDWow

from CDWow
thanks to Mila

Think of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and images of the muscle-dripping, tattooed Anthony Kiedis or scintillating bass of Flea probably come to mind. You may have noticed Chad Smith drumming a mean beat too. All integral members, but as the fourth wheel, John Frusciante is equally vital yet often overlooked.

He joined that band when already a fan, but the explosive success they had in the early 90’s plummeted Frusciante into the drink and drug spiral. He left the band dazed and unstable after just two albums, did some solo work, and checked himself into rehab. He also concentrated on his painting, being quite an accomplished artist of the abstract – if that’s possible. His return to the Chili fold for ‘Californication’ in 1999 was a triumph, and his solo ‘To Record Only Water For Ten Days’ from 2001 was very impressive too. That title referring to his drug use finally being expunged.

In common with that album, this one notches up a grand number of tracks of widely differing lengths, styles, and textures. It’s distinctly more experimental though, and at times much starker. The odd and the experimental images are mixed between the more expectedly ‘normal’, to create both chalk and cheese – quite often on the same track. Sometimes it works, whilst other times you wish he’s just quit trying to be so damn clever and just play some music.

The odd space-ship warble on the front of “Water” doesn’t really enhance, and although “Failure 33 Object” is curious, 3 minutes of wobbly stellar interference is too obscure an inclusion. “Negative 00 Ghost 27” likewise. Or perhaps it is all just inspired brilliance over the head of the common man. His ideas are definitely bristling, but with the conflict between melodic beauty and sonic abstraction, his head really must be a swarming hive of bees.

The atmospheric ambience on “23 Go Into End” is more user-friendly, and although has a very Deep Space Nine extra-terrestrial feel, does show that he’s experimented more with synths and computers, than his stock in trade guitar. Also proven by the occasional vocoder-esque effects that pop through.

There is little between the off-the-page obtuse and more ‘traditional’ styles. Tracks like “Wednesday’s Song”, “Time Goes Back” and the second half of “Water” could be really good Chili Peppers tunes. “This Cold” is wonderfully upbeat, whilst “Ricky” is prime pop. Then there are the simpler, more acoustic highlights of “Everyperson”, “The Slaughter” or the really lovely “Song To Sing When I’m Lonely”.

The art he has created on canvas is particularly abstract, and now he has let that spill out onto a sonic soundscape. Admirable in daring to be avant-garde, yet wise to include more traditional song structures to fall back on. Some of ‘Shadows’ is distantly weird, other parts have the strongest melodies under the sun. For all its peculiar angles, the whole album is admirably expressive, and intensely personal. When he talks of regretting his past on track three, it seems as much a plea for absolution as a private diary entry. Absorb or ignore the profoundly odd components, but the other elements still justify the journey.

—Neil Chase

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