Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Californication have to be two of modern rock’s most influential records released within the past ten years. John Frusciante is a big part of the Chili’s sound. He brings unbelievable guitar charisma and style so that at first note you know it’s him. During his brief absence from the band, the Chili’s punk and funk sound lack spice, and Frusciante’s talents were the missing ingredients. Upon his return, the band is traveling down the road of success once again. You would figure after riding the wave of Californication the guitarist would be burned out and ready to enjoy some time off away from music world. However, Frusciante must be tapped into a creative groove as To Record Only Water For Ten Days marks the third solo release from him.
The fifteen tracks have the Lou Barlow approach to recording a lo-fi stripped down solo record. Most of the songs are acoustic with a simple drum track that is layered here and there with vocal echoes. You’ll find that John is a rough singer who is letting out emotional creativity with songs “Away & Anywhere” and “Moments Have You”. With the assistance of mixing effects, the singing is layered to take some of the pressure off his voice. On “Wind Up Space” he belts his voice through a megaphone that is held up to the mic while he strums his guitar. He places the use of simple effects in the empty spots to cover any holes in the songs that seem to be missing texture. “Remain” carries on the acoustic premise with help of crazy electronic noise filtering about.
The too brief instrumentals, “Ramparts” and “Murderers”, could have been sisters to any of the songs from Californication. “Ramparts” could easily be placed as an intro or outro to a live interpretation of “Californication”. Not to miss the meaning and dedication put into the record by Frusciante, but he could use some help from his bandmates. To Record Water For Ten Days is about a man armed with a guitar plugged into his four-track to record his dreams.
+sarzyniak
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