ATAXIA - Automatic Writing

Ataxia was formed by the union of John Frusciante (guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, here

acting as "leader"/guitarist/keyboardist), his collaborator Josh

Klinghoffer (on drums and keyboards) and Joe Lally (bassist of Fugazi).

This is music

completely different both from the funky-rock of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and from

the singer-songwriter approach of Frusciante's solo work.

The five tracks that make up

"Automatic Writing", in fact, can hardly be considered

proper songs, but rather jam sessions built on the repetition

of very simple instrumental-melodic patterns (note, in this sense,

the use of almost elementary bass lines).

"Dust" (9 minutes) is

the first example of this pattern: over a guitar riff and a bass riff

repeated almost endlessly, Frusciante's declamatory vocals unfold alongside

sporadic overdubs of processed guitars and keyboards.

What

saves the track is the vocal performance which, though based on the repetition of two basic

melodic lines, manages to keep catharsis from curdling into boredom through continuous

shifts in vocal timbre (now in mid registers, now screamed/slurred to the point of being almost

unintelligible, now in a falsetto with psychedelic shades)

in noia.

"Another" is instead built on a simple but sweet guitar

arpeggio and some electronic manipulations of the voice: it's a bit monotonous,

but it still holds a few excellent ideas (the aforementioned arpeggio, the solo around

the midpoint of the track, the vocal overdubs at the end) that save it.

"The Sides" is simply a little masterpiece, running nearly 7 minutes long.

After a delay-effected drum intro, the track takes shape and gives life to

something magical thanks to Frusciante's delicate voice and his guitar playing,

certainly not virtuosic but extremely evocative and suggestive.

The following

track, “Addition”, on one hand moves closer to the “drone-like” atmospheres of

“Dust” (here too we find a guitar and bass riff reiterated for

almost the entire track), while on the other it breaks away by placing a markedly

greater emphasis on noise elements: it's the maturation of some experiments

sonic conduits led by Klinghoffer and Frusciante across two electronic live sets held

at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles.

The closing “Montreal” (12

minutes) is perhaps the track that comes closest to post-rock: an elementary

bassline, impressionistic guitar – first played with the effected repetition

of a single note, then with fast, taut strumming, as already done

in countless tracks by the Sonic

Youth -, a "Slint-like" vocal (first disgruntled, then angry and depressed) from

Frusciante.

After the usual, successful catharsis, the song closes with

a few minutes in which the bass and drum pattern serves as a backdrop for various

electronic-guitar manipulations.

What keeps “Automatic Writing”

from being more than just a good album isn't the quality of the ideas – which is actually quite good – but

their quantity. Sure, it's a musically courageous record and each of the

five tracks has some genuinely evocative, well-realized moments, however,

with the exception of the gorgeous “The Sides”, every track also has

moments where boredom may be lurking around the corner.

It's not a

masterpiece, but if you're into drone music, post-rock, the

more rarefied side (so to speak) of Fugazi, or simply Frusciante's

vocal and guitar style, this record could definitely be for

you.

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15/11/2006