(From Pitchfork and FMQB.)

Here’s more news on one of the recent collaborations.

Rapper RZA and his alter ego, Bobby Digital, will release a new album, Digi Snacks, in July via Koch Records. Digi Snacks will feature an impressive and diverse list of guests such as John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Dhani Harrison, The Black Knights, Dexter Wiggles, Shavo Odadjian (System of a Down), Reverend William Burke, Stone Mecca and Scandinavian newcomer Thea. “I think Digi Snacks is an album with a lot of fun,” says RZA. “This album is more of a performance album too. When you see it live, you’ll get a difference experience. I’m not trying to get into the world… I’m trying to bring the world to come to us.” RZA will embark on a U.S. tour starting June 10 in Houston with the group Stone Mecca as his backing band.

For cover art and tracklisting, click here. And, to remind you, stream of U Can’t Stop Me Now, the track that John is playing on is available on Myspace.

(source: thegauntlet.com)

System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian, Wu-Tang Clan founder The RZA, Kinetic 9 (aka Beretta 9 from Killarmy), and up-and-comer, the Reverend William Burke from Chicago, have formed a musical alliance, Achozen, and have just finished recording their self-titled debut album which is expected out this summer.

Achozen’s debut also features an eclectic and impressive array of guest performers that includes George Clinton, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitar-god John Frusciante, Wu-Tang affiliate Killah Priest, Wu-Tang founding member GZA, emcee Sick Jacken from Psycho Realm, and Angolin rapper Leggezin Fin are all on the album.

Song titles have not been defined yet, but the song titled Deuces will make its online premier at urSESSION.com on Tuesday, 22nd April at 4:22PM PDT. You can read more about the band on its Myspace page.

(thanks to Anita C.S. for the heads up!)

RZA’s new solo release titled Bobby Digital and scheduled to see the light of the day sometime later this spring will, amongst other songs, contain You Can’t Stop Me Now, the third collaboration with John that was omitted from Wu-Tang Clan’s 8 Diagrams before the final track listing was announced.

So, yes, the song exists, the guitar on it sounds very laid-back and soul-ish and you can hear it on RZA’s Myspace page, as well as Wu-Tang Clan’s Myspace page.

(Thanks to Melissa and flipzoso for the heads up!)

Look at the following MTV Overdrive clip of The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala carefully, as John appears in it as well, in the pro-footage of when he played L’Via L Viaquez with the band on either August 04th or 50th, 2005 in Long Beach.

The Maneater recommends Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s Calibration as a worthy listen and, (not) surprisingly, they said that Glosa Picaresca Wou Men is the most listenworthy track on it.

Another common collaborator of Rodriguez-Lopez’s, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante, brings forth the best effort on this album. Oddly enough it is not for a guitar solo, but for lead vocals on “Glosa Picaresca Wou Mên.” His haunting vocals fade in and out only revealing certain lyrics, such as “I know where I’m at/I know where I’m at.”

Maybe Frusciante knows, but anyone listening has no clue where they are.

You can read the whole review here. And here’s another one, from URB magazine, where the reviewer is quite puzzled with the song’s ending.

“Glosa Picaresca Wou Men,” featuring the Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante, is a treacherous, chaotic and frankly, enjoyable journey, until it stops prematurely: a cliff-like fall with zero slope, right into the next track.

You can read the whole review here.

Slightly off-topic:
If you’re interested, a video was released for the title song.

Purchase links:
You can buy the CD by clicking here or have a look at the list of retailers in USA.
If you can’t get it physically, there’s a digital version, too.
Alternatively, if you’re not keen on Mr. Rodriguez-Lopez’s music and you would only like to hear John’s singing on Glosa Picaresca Wou Men and decypher its lyrics, click here to buy the song.

The long-expected and much promoted solo effort of The Mars Volta’s guitarist and mastermind, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, is finally seeing the light of the day in USA today. Beta Records’ MySpace page will host a listening party at 7 PM PST (GMT -9), so if you can make it there, click on their link for more information. I assume the “live TV” module on their page would broadcast it, though.

N20 records posted numerous bulletins prompting fans to physically buy the CD. However, it’s not possible in everyone’s case and I sense many people are interested solely in one song, so I listed all possible links for you.

Purchase links:
You can buy the CD by clicking here or have a look at the list of retailers in USA.
If you can’t get it physically, there’s a digital version, too.
Alternatively, if you’re not keen on Mr. Rodriguez-Lopez’s music and you would only like to hear John’s singing on Glosa Picaresca Wou Men and decypher its lyrics, click here to buy the song.

And, if you haven’t got The Bedlam In Goliath yet, click here for information on how to obtain it.

So…the initial dillema of where John exactly is on the album hasn’t been exactly solved, as it’s more complex than it looks like. Here’s what Omar Rodriguez-Lopez said to Harp magazine; which will hopefully clear everything up for people wondering where John is on The Bedlam In Goliath:

“John’s our secret weapon,” Rodriguez-Lopez says. “He’s always willing to allow me to utilize him in whatever way we want. On this record, he learned and memorized, down to the nuances and the odd way of picking, certain solos that I did, and turned them into parts. He would learn an entire solo in like 40 minutes and then double it, perfectly. That’s a sound you can’t get by just stereo-imaging a solo; it’s a different hand playing the guitar. So on the record, generally when you hear a guitar solo on the left, it’s me. On the right, the same exact solo is being played, but it’s John.”

I’m trying to find volunteers with good hearing sense and guitar knowledge to haunt down and list all of John’s contributions to the album, hope that happens soon. John’s playing was also. recognised by many people with good ears on the track that appears on the Japanese edition of TBiG - a cover of Nick Drake’s Things Behind The Sun.

And here’s a somewhat negative bit focusing on John from a review, written by David Hyland, for KCRA:

It’s no wonder then that the band’s maddening musical zigzags have attracted the Red Hot Chili Peppers eccentric guitarist John Frusciante. The screwball axe slinger sat in for most of the Mars Volta’s last record and now stands in as a semi-member of the group. One expecting to hear Frusciante’s soulful fretwork on “The Bedlam In Goliath” are in for disappointment. His playing is like all the sounds that main composer Rodriguez-Lopez pulls and distorts from the band’s toolbox, whose only purpose is to serve the greater whole.

A couple of more (positive) reviews on John’s playing on TBiG can be found below.

continue reading » »