There's an one-page snippet on John's departure from the Red Hot Chili Peppers in March 2010 issue of Guitar World. As usual, our friend Roberto Campos was so kind to provide Invisible Movement with the scan, so you can read it and download it. The article itself is nothing really new, as it's mostly paraphrasing John's 16th December blog entry.

Click the thumbnail to go to the page with this scan in the gallery or click here.

You might also want to check out
The whole March 2010 issue preview
2009 article on John from GW
2006 HUGE feature on John from GW
2002 interview with John from GW
2001 article on John's solo work from GW
1999 article on RHCP from GW
1991 interview with John and Flea from GW

After a long wait, the critically acclaimed documentary The Heart Is A Drum Machine featuring many prominent and some less prominent musicians, is set to be released on a DVD. The release date is 09th March 2010 and you will be able to order it from Lightyear Entertainment. They also offer free shipping on all web orders for their USA customers.

Many thanks to the film's producer, Ryan Page, who was so kind to reply, once again.

You might also want to check out
zu33, the production company behind all this
An unfinished page on the film here on I-M.net
All the news previously posted on this film

For everyone who's been following one of a couple of known projects John's been taking part in since his departure from the Red Hot Chili Peppers; here's some news on Swahili Blonde.

While the release date for the physical version of the Elixor Fixor single, which will contain a remix, is not yet known, there's (yet again) new artwork for it, featuring a cute animal from the cat family.

Even though the project was labeled an one-person-show or DIY come six months ago, at this point, there are five people participating. After John, violinist Laena Myers-Ionnita and drummer Stella Mogzawa, the fifth person to join Nicole Turley's afro-beat/tango effort is a multi-instrumentalist Michael Quinn, known to the local scene and beyond for his impressive project, Corridor.

Quinn has already contributed his cello and trumpet overdubs to the most recent SB song, LeMampatee; so if you head over to their Myspace, you can listen to the song's new version. The difference is evident.

UPDATE 02nd February 2010- the 2nd version of the single is available
You can now also acquire the second version of Elixor Fixor, featuring a remix. The remix lacks the guitar and the leading track is an edit, noted to last shorter than the one previously released. For an Easter egg in the song itself, tune the last two seconds up and listen carefully. You might be able to hear someone whom you've heard before (clue: smiley at the end...).

You might also want to check out
The first news post on Swahili Blonde
The project's participation in a David Bowie tribute
The 2nd version of artwork - with giraffes

*Many thanks to Laura for heads-up on the new musician in the project and to Travis for heads-up.

The Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is surely busy these days - releasing album after album, about to premier his film (that John is the executive producer of) and being interviewed pretty often.

In his most recent interview for the Argentinian magazine Rockzone, dated 15th January 2010, he's asked about working with John and he happens to spill out some words on what obviously are Speed Dealer Moms. It's not new compared to what we were told when Bang Fest was canceled, the duo's still working on their music and it is not known when we'll have an opportunity to hear them. But don't forget, this all comes from a third party.

Once again participating on the album is John Frusciante, who's another very prolific musician -except when he's with Red Hot Chili Peppers- and puts out albums when we least expect it. Do you feel he's something like a soulmate?
Yes, just like Cedric. We have a very strong connection, we're cut from the same piece of fabric. We have the same concepts of what music is and why we create music. He, like me, makes music because he loves the process and has much more music than he's ever published. He's now in a time where he's not putting out anything, but he's working a lot with a Canadian guy from the electronic music scene. They've done something like 80 songs, but he's not publishing anything because he thinks it's just creation time. Just creating and not thinking at all about business. That's really good from him.

You might also want to check out:
There's (another) Frusciante/Rodriguez-Lopez collab in sight
Invisible Movement's page on Speed Dealer Moms (to be updated)
Speed Dealer Moms' impressive kit at the Bang Face Weekender 2009...
...and Speed Dealer Moms themselves at the Bang Face Weekender 2009
John's (very) unofficial comment on the Moms staying in studio for a while more

And that's (a lot) of brackets.

*Many thanks to Dandelion_Volta for the information, Arakuine for the heads-up and Jordi for translation.

To some of you, this might be a weekend WTF. To some others, perhaps, a start to an interesting discussion. And I think I just made a new word, as I have never heard of deconsonantation before.

Stephen Boyd, aka DJ Empirical used As Can Be, the opener to John's debut solo album Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-shirt for an experiment. The song was edited out so all the consonants were removed from it..e.g. its first line "When you've got a clean smile" is now something like "Euiaeiai". The author explains it this way:

My theory here was that since melody is carried in vowels (as opposed to consonants), if one were to edit out the consonants, all that would be left would be a sort of "concentrated" version of the song. I think the results were pretty interesting.

You can download As Can Be (Quahogs' Vowelized mix) at this URL. And in case you have done something pretty wild with an actual reason to any other song, it would be nice to know.

Also, I assume you all know that Untitled #2 is known to be a totally different song when reversed, that Well I've Been contains a long monologue by the late actor River Phoenix when played backwards and that Enough Of Me and One More Of Me blend into a single song when combined.

You might also want to check out:
Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-shirt
A basic lecture on melody

On Saturday, Matt aka DJ Moondance released a very interesting 8-track mixtape. He combined eight Red Hot Chili Peppers' instrumental tracks (seven of which are from both of the John eras) with eight Eminem vocal tracks and created what he calls Shadium Arcadium. The results vary, but some songs, such as Universal Superman, an ecletic mashup of Parallel Universe are actually brilliant. So, if you fancy some unexpected Slim Shady over the Frusciante/Flea/Smith antics, this compilation is free to download over at Crash Album. The tracklisting is below, with explanations which tracks were mashed up.

1. Lost Under A Bridge - Under The Bridge + My Name Is
2. Cleaning Up - Don't Forget Me + Cleaning Out My Closet
3. Universal Superman - Parallel Universe + Superman
4. Stand Tall - Soul To Squeeze + Till I Collapse
5. Don't Mock Me - She Looks To Me + Mocking Bird
6. Just Don't - Mommy Where's Daddy + I Just Don't Give A Fuck
7. Gone Like Magic - I Could've Lied + When I'm Gone
8. There She Goes - Dosed + Shake That

Since the songs are hosted on a bandcamp powered site, you can choose from a variety of file types, pick whatever suits your fancy.

You might also want to check out:
A couple of words on this compilation over on datpiff

*Thanks to Dan for the heads-up and to Mark for help with some of the Eminem song titles.

John is credited as an executive producer in Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's new film, The Sentimental Engine Slayer, which is set to premier at the Rotterdam Film Festival in February.

Given that his involvement would probably cause people to speculate though his role is clearly stated, I have asked Cathy Pellow of Sargent House/Refused TV who are behind this project as well, to clarify it and make sure it does not involve music. Her reply was prompt and more than clarifying.

Hello. I have just read that John Frusciante was credited as the executive producer for Omar's film trailer for which is on your Myspace page. In what way is he the executive producer. Did he contribute music to it, or is it something else? Thanks. ^_^
John is the Executive Producer in the true sense of the word. John did not do any music for the film, it is not a musically driven movie. Don't be expecting to have music be the focus or even in every scene on this film because it's a movie not a music movie.

Here is the trailer of the film, for everyone who's interested:

You might also want to check out:
The film's IMDB page
The film's fan page on Facebook
Discussion on the film on Invisible Movement's community board
International film festival Rotterdam programme and ticket info
News on an actual music collab between the two on the way
Sargent House/Refused TV YouTube channel

Many thanks to Phil, Michel and certain awesome third person for the news.

This should've probably gone online on the last day of 2009, but many websites and other publications have come up with such lists much later and apparently are still coming up with it; so this list might even end up being updated a couple more times. Read this post until its very end if you think something's missing, because you can contribute to it.

The Empyrean in best of 2009 lists:
Popwrecking - Adam Leroy names The Empyrean best album of 2009 and says:

The Empyrean opens with an extended guitar solo workout that recalls Pink Floyd Meddle-era. Thus begins a journey that is equal parts rock and folk meshed with flourishes of electronica. Each new release has found Frusciante recording at a different stage in his career; right now he has at the “Dude That Records Masterpieces” stage.

Radio-Active Records - Paul, one of the staffers puts The Empyrean on his top 10 of 2009, in the fourth place; and says:

Since I own his entire catalog I need to mention John Frusciante's release for 2009 "The Empyrean". John is known for listening to a ton of music from the 70s and I believe it really shows on this record. Fans of Frusciante will love this record and people who aren't familiar with his music will just give you a blank stare while listening.

marathonpacks - Craig Shank calls The Empyrean the most overlooked album of 2009 and says:

RHCP’s genius guitarist has been releasing a string of wonderful solo albums after finally conquering his addictions. This effort features guest appearances from Flea, Josh Klinghoffer, and Johnny Marr. There is a lot to love about this moody, atmospheric album, including a nice take on Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren.”

Rogue Mag - For Dan Nicholls, The Empyrean is the fourth out of ten best albums of the year; and he says:

Traverse the unrelenting depths of a tortured yet sympathetic soul. Beautiful in places and stylistically unique.

Danny Washington, a blogger, names The Empyrean his top album of 2009 and says:

This has become on of my favourite albums of all time. Everything about it is perfect; pornography for my ears. Experimental but oddly accessible to fans of all types of psychedelic rock. Frusciante also produced the album himself, and he did such an amazing job. The rich tapestry of instruments all have room to breathe, his vocals have never been better and his guitar playing is, well, exactly what you’d expect from one the greatest living rock guitarists.

Shout And Twist - The album made cut to the 100 best albums of 2009 and they're quite humorous about it, as they say:

Why it takes RHCP 4 years in between LPs. Looong guitar lines.

Rollo & Grady - As a part of the "artists pick" series, Emily Kokal of Warpaint names The Empyrean best album of 2009.
Van de Hoeven weblog - best rock album of 2009

Other related projects in best of 2009 lists:
Palisades post on N.A.S.A, Way Down faved as the best track

John's albums in end of the decade lists:
None found yet - read the end of this post.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' albums in end of the decade lists:
Daily Mail - By The Way is 09th out of 50.

With guitarist John Frusciante pulling the strings, the Chilis abandoned punk and funk to deliver the best Californian rock album since The Beach Boys. Key track: Universally Speaking.

The Times Online put By The Way in the 93rd place, out of 100 best albums of the decade.

Thanks to guitarist John Frusciante’s sense of melodic wonder it suddenly felt as if the Chilis, formerly slap-bass rock berks, could adventure in any direction they wanted: huge rock choruses, swooning balladry, strings, ska, Beach Boys harmonies and even flamenco

New York fruit stand - Stadium Arcadium is 50th out of 50.
Rolling Stone - Stadium Arcadium is 74th out of 100.

Et Cetera:
411 Mania - a staffer names John's departure the biggest disappointment of 2009

I am pretty much aware that there's got to be much more to these lists, so please, send in links to the lists you have seen - on other music sites, blogs and magazines. Let's make this as complete as possible. And don't worry, you'll get your own turn to say what you want on this matter on Saturday - just for fun.

Sargent House management company/record label owner, Cathy Pellow, was responding to questions on the label's formspring.me and, amongst other things that might be more interesting to people who follow artists signed to this label; she shed some light on something we could be interested in:

A while back you might have mentioned something about an Omar/John Frusciante collab coming soon, is that true or am I just doing some wishful thinking?
Omar said that would be something we would be putting out sooner or later, but honestly I don't know what stage it's at. he's got the Trio album coming next and then some other really big surprises so don't know about the JF album status or when it will arrive.

You have responded to the question regarding Omar/John collab, but just to make it clear: whenever it's published, would that be an album/EP or just a song or two on an Omar recording? Thank you. ^_^
I don't have the information to tell you definitively on how many tracks or what format it would be released at this time.

Since JF is out of the Peppers (getting out of Warner/RC, I suppose), is there any chance of his next solo albuns being released by SH? (by likeapisces)
Not that I'm aware of.

So, I assume that it's the right time to say that a bunch of people emailed this website during the second half of the summer to say that the guys were recording. Now, knowing how often it takes ages for something to come out, don't jump around on your tiptoes. At this point, knowing that it exists is a blessing already!

You might also want to check out:
All questions asked to ms. Pellow
Sargent House homepage
John plays with Omar on "If Gravity Lulls, I Can Hear The World Pant"
John sings on Omar's "Glosa Picaresca Wou Men"
A couple more collabs on Omar's first solo album

*Many thanks to Arakuine for the heads-up.

Legendary British rockers Duran Duran have gone ahead and told the world they're a part of the Manimal Vinyl tribute to David Bowie. And it's not only them, there's a line-up of mostly Manimal's own artists, as well as some surprises. The album is expected to be out in May 2010, and tracks "will start leaking around 15th February" (nice dose of humour). Amongst the other songs on this album, as Invisible Movement found out earlier, thanks to how nice they are over there at Manimal, there will be Swahili Blonde's cover of Red Money, where John can be heard both as one of the guitars and the backing vocal towards the end of the song.

Now, all of you should get this album once it's out - 100% of the net profits will go to War Child UK - a branch of an international charity for children affected by war. I assume most of you have never been in a war - and you shouldn't, because it's an experience that completely changes your life and the way you look at things (amongst all the horrible things that may happen to you during the war). So, this will be a wonderful and enjoyable way for everyone to give a piece of your hearts to those in need - even though it's the piece of your heart that resides in, well, your wallet. A friend of this website is an employee of War Child Canada and they can always elaborate on how important this is.

Here's the complete track listing for this album. A reasonable amount of you might recognise some other artists you like. The angel-voiced first lady of France is there, too. And there are multiple covers of single songs as well and two are unknown at this point.

1. EXITMUSIC “Space Oddity”
2. VIVIAN GIRLS “John, I’m Only Dancing”
3. MEGAPUSS (Devendra Banhart) “Sound + Vision” (en espanol)
4. CARLA BRUNI “Absolute Beginners”
5. LIGHTS “World Falls Down”
6. VOICESVOICES “Heroes”
7. DURAN DURAN “Boys Keep Swinging”
8. MGMT “tba”
9. CHAIRLIFT “Always Crashing in the Same Car”
10. ASKA w/ MOON & MOON “African Night Flight”
11. A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS “Suffragette City”
12. POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR “Theme From Cat People”
13. KEREN ANN “Life on Mars”
14. SWAHILI BLONDE (feat. John Frusciante) “Red Money”
15. MARCO BENEVENTO “Art Decade”
16. CORRIDOR “Be My Wife”
17. AQUASERGE “The Supermen”
18. WARPAINT “Ashes to Ashes”
19. RAINBOW^ARABIA “Quicksand”
20. WE ARE THE WORLD “Afraid of Americans”
21. LACO$TE “Within You”
22. ARIANA DELAWARI “Ziggy Stardust”
23. PIZZA! “Modern Love”
24. ST CLAIR BOARD “Secret Life of Arabia”
25. CAROLINE WEEKS “Starman”
26. AMANDA JO WILLIAMS “The Man Who Sold the World”
27. MICK KARN “Ashes to Ashes”
28. SOULWAX “tba”

As it was noted on DuranDuran.com as well as on Manimal blog, this is 3rd and possibly final tribute for Manimal in addition to previous tributes to Madonna and The Cure.

You might also want to check out:
More on War Child and how can you help children affected by war
Swahili Blonde blog post on Red Money
Lyrics of Red Money
Exclaim.ca are really looking forward to this.

Many thanks to Travis for the heads-up.