Hotpress
from Hotpress (Ireland)
John Frusciante certainly has an impressive palette of life-altering experiences from which to draw musical inspiration- a cripling herion addiction, whirlwind marriage to milla jovovich,membership of one of the world’s most commercially succesful rock acts at an early age.Largely credited as the irreplaceable creative force behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers,expectations are somewhat raised for this offering.
Evoking the mournful mastery of chris cornell and amrk lanegan, Frusciante’s once fraught voice has gained in power and confidence. The stripped-back vibe of Frusciante’s previous albums has given way to lush,fully-feathered sounds that haven’t lost any of their intimacy,making a dizzyingly beautiful patchwork quilt of tempos,emotions,stories and vibes.
More often thean not, the “solo” album is a chance for the artist to flex their creative muscle and experiment sonically on a “carte blanche” project that is of little financial consequence to the label.In this case,Frusciante manages to push the envelope whilst retaining his rock origins. On board for the ride are bandmates Flea and Chad Smith, yet Shadows is anything but a RHCP exercise.
The songs are uniformly rocktastic, but the experimental electronica intervals on “Ricky”, “In relief” and “Water” are tot ruffle the feathers of a few die-hard Chilis fans ,and the songs are all the better for it.
Shame he has to go back to the day job,really…
8/10
Hotpress review
Hotpress, Ireland
thanks to Abby
Ataxia is John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili peppers), Joe Lally (Fugazi) and Josh Klinghoffer – and Automatic Writing is their eagerly awaited debut album. The band formed after Frusciante and Klinghoffer played experimental electronic shows in Los Angeles, Lally joining for later gigs. Bolstered by electronic experimentation, Automatic Writing comes from those exciting sessions. A Second album is promised for 2005.
