Frusciante's new music challenge (2 of 3)

Well I'm starting to slowly get into finding and indeed parting with cash for music, having bought two albums in a month - quite a shocker for me. DVDs and especially TV series' are my current vice, but I don't have the same urge to risk a few pounds on a CD, especially one that I'm not entirely sure I'll like. But I'm getting a bit better, having bought Coldplay's new album and also the Ting Ting's debut withing a week or two of each other. Both involved some deliberation and pacing up and down the aisle but I got them both and have enjoyed them both.

But that's not quite why I'm posting - I'd hoped to justify one of these purchases by referring to John Frusciante's piece in the sleeve of Red Hot Chili Pepper's greatest hits. As well as reflecting on his time with the band he urges people to try new music, referring to three categories.

1. Asking questions to people you think are cool
2. Finding out who your favourite recording artist themselves like
3. Buying something because you like the cover

I think these are pretty interesting and worth trying. I'll have a go at finding albums which fit them, I'm especially intrigued by the third one and I'll have to have a go at perusing HMV to see if I can find a cool album cover (and one that's cheap!) and maybe a cool person while I'm at it. But for now I'll refer to an album I bought a while back, which just about squeezes into category 2.

Arcade Fire - Funeral











They are a popular band and quite succesful, but when I first encountered them I had no idea who they were. I had just caught the Red Hot Chili Peppers set at Reading festival and was about to switch over when I hear the announcer state that a band were coming on whom RHCP were big fans of, so I decided to stick around and listen, and I really enjoyed what I heard and a few weeks later got myself their first album Funeral and have really enjoyed it.

The album centres around their life in Canada and the difficulty of living in the snow and the cold. The title and the tracks are marked by the fact that many of the family members of the band died during writing and recording. The original material gives the lyrics a unique and meaningful edge and there's also good poetry in them too.

The band produce a powerful sound, augmented by the vocalist, who can producean incredible wailing/shouting sound which captures you rather than the just plain whining which defines so much of "new music" these days. OK, this "review" is already going down the pan, I've only just managed to avoid using "haunting vocals" which seems to come up every time I discuss music - I mean they are haunting but I don't need to say it right?!

My favourite tracks on the album are "Tunnels" and "Power Out" both because they are unashamedly specific as to details in the bandmembers lives, which I like - i've heard about love and stuff enough not to need to hear it again but "kids are swinging from the power lines, nobody's home so nobody minds" - that actually means something. Another favourite is the much quieter "Kettles" which is very poetic, using the old cliche of 'a watched pot never boils' to comment on life and growing older. Lastly "Rebellion" has a very catchy bassline and funky chorus.

I think I'm probably preaching to the converted in talking about this band as a lot of folks know more about them than I do, but nonetheless they are a band well worth checking out if you haven't done so already, though I've heard their second recording "Neon Bible2 isn't as good as the first.

Well I'll be chatting to my friends and perusing music shops for a while, let me know if you've come up with any good finds on the above principles.

Word of the post: Trepidation - noun

1.	tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.