release date: Mar. 25, 2014
format: cd (ECM 72542)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,86]
producer: John Frusciante
label: The Record Collection - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Shining Desert" - 2. "Sleep" - 4. "Stage" - 5. "Fanfare" - 6. "Cinch"
10th full-length solo album by John Frusciante is a further experiment into electronic, glitch pop and art rock as initiated with his 2012 album PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone and continued on the ep Outsides from 2013. At first I found this really poor - like an experiment taken too far. But... there's actually some interesting compositions here. Many of the tracks are piano- and vocal-based with synth drums hitting away and basically with scarse instrumental contributions. The best parts are when he seems to be what sounds like improvising on his guitar - in some places resembling music by Mike Oldfield... without comparison. It's really not all that bad, and I may just rate it higher in time. Anyway, it's clearly bettering his 2012 album.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo, Classic Rock 3 / 5, Q Magazine 2 / 5 stars ]
