inventory find, 2016 Record Store Day release, limited to 1000 - John Frusciante occupies a unique space in the contemporary musical landscape. Despite having been a key figure in one of the most enduringly successful bands in the history of alternative rock, the vast majority of his recorded output resides in various solo releases and collaborations with friends and other bands. Frusciante kicks out records with the prolificacy of a basement-show-playing noisehead, and he does so for an audience far smaller than that of some of the higher-profile groups he’s contributed to. His career is a delightful example of what can happen when a musician reaches a level of independence where he can throw commercial considerations to the wind and just produce whatever the hell he or she feels like.
That sense of freedom and abandon resonates all throughout the Foregrow EP. The four songs collected here operate in a space similar to last year’s eponymous album released under his Trickfinger handle. According to NME, Frusciante’s inspiration here stems from “elements of John Carpenter’s eternal scores, the drum programming DNA of jungle and footwork, and yes, a Roland TB-303.” While you aren’t likely to mistake anything here for DJ Rashad, there’s no question that we’re a long ways away from Shadows Collide with People, and even 2014’s electronic-leaning Enclosure, which contorted its mechanical beats into more pop-friendly structures. Three quarters of the compositions are completely wordless, and all four of them shun predictable verse-chorus patterns in favor of a kind of dance floor logic.
| A1 | Foregrow |
| A2 | Expre'act |
| B1 | Lowth Forgue |
| B2 | Unf |
