I'd Like to Get to Know You Well...

I'll have some reviews of newer offerings soon, but here are some albums that you may not be familiar with and that I think you should get to know a little better. Granted, there are tons more where this came from, but it should be some good stuff to chew on for a while...

JOHN FRUSCIANTE - ‘Shadows Collide w/ People’

This 4th solo offering from RHCP’s guitarist came out in early-2004 and is still receiving regular rotation. Up until John’s return to the Chili Peppers back in 1999, so much focus was always placed on Anthony and Flea…but ‘Californication’ and ‘By the Way’ proved what those of who’ve followed the band for years have know all along: Frusciante is the creative nucleus from which RHCP’s atomic revolves around.

‘Shadows’ is a more polished studio version of the adventuresome lo-fi work done on previous solo efforts, yet remains rife w/ wonderfully creative songwriting. The music ranges from soaring power-chord-laden balladry to electronically-enhanced experimental sound collage…and it all just works together. Personal highlights include ‘Omission’, ‘Regret’, ‘Song to Sing When I’m Lonely’ and ‘Time Goes Back’…but the whole album is great cover to cover.

FRANK BLACK - ‘FrankBlackFrancis’

Released in the back half of 2004, this two disc offering was a cool juxtaposition of both raw and revamped versions of some of the Black’s finest offerings from his days leading the Pixies. Disc one, are solo demos that were recorded on a walkman the day before the Pixies went into the studio to record ‘The Purple Tape’ (some of which would become ‘Come on Pilgrim’). Being that it’s just Black and a guitar, you really get some stripped-down insight into what made him and the Pixies such alt-rock standard-bearers to so many. The lack of the additional bombast provided by the rest of the band shifts focus to Black’s vocals and eventual ‘Black Francis’ persona and the music takes on a haunting angular 50’s-influenced folk quality you don’t hear on the eventual studio release…an interesting fly-on-the-wall view on what was to come.

Disc two had the potential to somewhat soil the Pixies legacy, as it found Black re-working some of the band’s most classic works w/ the help of Pere Ubu’s Two Pale Boys. Instead, for me, it ended up offering a surprisingly fresh approach I didn’t think possible. The fragile version of ‘Caribou’…the ska-like brass approach to ‘Holiday Song’…the drifting space-rock campfire version of ‘Wave of Mutilation’…I guess it just shows that some of the best covers can come from the artist who did them originally. Granted, if you aren’t familiar w/ the Pixies (which really should be punishable by death), it may not be as fascinating…but I still think it would hold up on its own merit.

CHRIS BELL - ‘I Am the Cosmos’

Any card-carrying music geek, at some point, familiarizes him or herself w/ the collective work of Big Star. One of the founding fathers of the musical genre that would eventually be called ‘power pop’, Big Star has been cited as an influence by too many bands to list here. The more well-known member, Alex Chilton, was immortalized in my favorite Replacements song of the same name…but history seems to have proven he was only part of the equation.

Unreleased for over 15 years until 1992, ‘I Am the Cosmos’ (combined w/ work done on Big Star’s ‘#1 Record’) shows the creative impact that original Big Star co-leader Chris Bell brought to the table and shows a different side to his talents as well. The upbeat power-pop that Bell had a large part in formulating as part of the Star is present in songs like ‘Get Away’ and ‘I Got Kinda Lost’…but it’s the introspective nature of songs like the title-track and ‘You and Your Sister’ that make this album such an interesting listen. Knowing how Bell’s life would head down a chemically tragic path upon his departure from the band and eventually end in a tragic car accident, this album serves as posthumous window to Bell’s tortured soul. The schizophrenic nature of this disc is telling and really what makes it so fascinating.