Last time this year I was worrying about writing an annual top 10 albums list. There simply wasn’t enough albums that I felt happy about including on the list, causing several entries to appear in the final list that wouldn’t have even dreamed of making it on any other year. In other words, 2008 was disappointing.

I’m worrying slightly again, wondering what on earth to include on this list and in what order. This time however it’s for the completely opposite reason. 2009 has been a brilliant, brilliant year in music and as I choose to see which 10 make it to the Chosen Pile, I have to look at all the ones that are left outside that group and feel sad over not allowing them a chance in the spotlight as well. There’s too much good stuff to choose and rank from!

But here we go.

A quick overall word about 09. A really intriguing thing is that this could be called the year of lyrics. Now I’m a person who does love his lyrics but I’m not a huge geek – I can safely enjoy and sing along to e.g. Red Hot Chili Peppers without having to hold back tears on what Kiedis is shrieking. However, 2009 has been packed with albums where the lyrics are an integral part of the entire thing. Albums where my personal enjoyment leaped tenfold when I stopped still and listened to what was being said, albums where the lyrics are tied to a concept integral to the album’s creation, albums where the lyrics actually became one of the main focus points and one reason why I kept on playing the albums. Even albums where I didn’t fall in love with the lyrics were still made with lyrics as a focal point: concept albums and so forth.

But the music is the main focal point. And here we go, the music. First (or last?) five are here, the next presented tomorrow. There’s absolutely no reason involving ‘keeping tension’ or any other such tripe, it’s more just the fact that my entries tend to be a bit TLDR and therefore cutting it up makes it more readable.

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I love b-sides, rarities and all this other material. They’re my special musical passion. Things that artists take time to write and record but which never get widespread releases, often verging on the border of being forgotten forever if it wasn’t for the most fanatic fans and b-side compilations. To quote the name of the Manic Street Preachers’ b-side “best of”, they’re the secret histories of these artists. Hit songs that arrived with the inspirational flow at the wrong time, stylistic experiments, drunken studio jams and yes, also average filler fluff custom-made to slap something on singles to give some incentive for people to buy them. Often they, if released on the last single of its parent album, also hint at the direction the artist is going to take on their next album.

MP3 posts are fun and this is one concept of them. Hidden treasures, going with the ever-popular “updated when I feel like it” update rate, are tiny collections of particular gem that are worth giving digging up and giving a special mention to – especially if the said artist hasn’t had a b-side compilation left or they decided to leave something out from the one they had.

Inspired by my recent find of one such gem, today we tackle on the already well-discussed John Frusciante. Frusciante’s never been much of rarities fellow, partly because of his very musically focused nature and partly because the guy’s only had about two singles during his entire career, and one of them was partially filled with songs he ended up releasing on the internet-only demos compilation From the Sounds Inside. But he does have something to offer.

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It’s somewhat refreshing to get a John Frusciante album without a larger context you automatically compare it with for a change. His last bunch of albums were all a part of the same recording sessions and for most the same release year (more about these in the 2nd part of my Frusciante retrospective released a tad ago) and though each one was a stylistic standout, they were clearly all still a part of the same continuity. The Empyrean is without all that. Almost exactly four years after 2005’s Curtains, Frusciante returns once again with an album with no peers to hang around with, to be automatically compared with.

And that’s just one of the refreshing new things with The Empyrean.

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When we last dwelled into the career of the ever-fantastic John Frusciante, we got through the first half of his discography – an assortment of albums with artistic growth in every way but nothing really to tie them together outside the obvious matters. However, as we descend to check the man’s works after 2004’s Shadows Collide With People, we’ll enter what one could call the Record Collection era (after the label his future album would be released under) or 2004 craze. A short while after the release of Shadows, John announced that he was going to release six more recordings, solo or side project, in 2004, one per month. In the end it didn’t quite work out the way it was planned as some months got skipped and the final release would see the light of day in January 2005, but regardless of all that it was a celebration of massive inspiration. The most overwhelming thing in the whole fuss is that pretty much all of these releases are brilliant.

The six 2004 albums each have a lot of things that bind them together as one entity – outside release dates and the fact that most of these were born from the same sessions, each album is home-produced. The purposedly sought out minimally lo-fi quality to the recordings (what one would imagine a high-quality home recording would sound like) lends each album a beautiful warmth and personal touch. It’s like little living room sessions in your own home. While sonically they’re bound, the styles however vary from one album to another. The basic gist stays the same in most cases – Frusciante’s warm, elegiac rock moodiness – but the actual style the final song comes out varies greatly.

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So as we all already know about the new John Frusciante album coming later this month, I reckoned that not many of us are probably well-versed in the man’s solo career. We’ve all heard his work – his stint as the guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers on all of their most successful albums has made it sure everyone’s heard his guitaring and backing vocals at least once. Not many even know he has a solo career – worth loads of albums even. The thing is, even if you hate the Peppers it doesn’t mean you don’t like Frusciante’s own material. Whilst his inner guitar wanker and riff meister gets unleashed in the Peppers’ stadium rock, his solo material accesses his more melodic, introspective side. And shows us why he’s one of the few people who’s guitar style I actually lovelove.

And thus, after the cut, our first part in checking out Frusciante’s history and overtaking the tag cloud dominance from Mag’s Grammortiks begins.

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January sees the release of John Frusciante’s 8th solo album released under his name, titled The Empyrean. While the release date was originally slated to be the 20th, Amazon.co.uk lists it as 26th so I guess I’ll be having the album at the very end of this month. However, Indie Paws itself will see January become a John Frusciante month of sorts as I’ll be releasing a package of updates relating to the man and his work as the month progresses, inspired by my massive wait for The Empyrean.

A rather unexpected start for the update spree happened this very morning as I was looking for some new info on the album and found that one of its songs has already been released/leaked! “Unreachable” is a six-minute slow groove and sounds unquestionably Frusciante-ish. Cryptic lyrics sung by the man’s handsome, otherwordly voice, guitar wanking that’s actually pleasing to listen, carefully crafted melodies, slight psychedelic tinge during the solo part, and the warm and slightly fuzzy home studio production that gives the song a wonderful homely warmth. In general the song seems to continue the path his 2004 spree of albums followed, offering yet another aspect to his style of rocking.

And it’s an awesome six minutes I tells ya.

First sample from the concept album The Empyrean has been given and Flint approves.

MP3: Unreachable
Preorder The Empyrean from Amazon

Okay, ten days old news but so what.

John Frusciante is amazing. I love the guy. Sure he’s doing a nice job in Red Hot Chili Peppers and stuff but his solo work is where the magic lies. The guy’s a workhorse and all of his albums have been fantastic (bar the first two which are pretty crap, though your mileage may way – a lot of people like them). He’s one of the few guitarists whose style I actually recognise and love, plus the guy’s got an amazing voice and excellent songwriting skills.

John’s next solo project however has been under the covers for a while now as the guy’s been busy promoting RHCP’s Stadium Arcadium. His latest solo work came out in 2005 (and which was originally supposed to be released in 2004, making it the seventh album/EP he made either solo or as a part of a group during that year) so there’s been a terrible absence of more wonderful Frusciante music lately. However, a while ago the man finally revealed the title of his next album and now, or ten days ago rather, all the rest of the info’s been given.

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Today’s mixtape is brought to you by the letter Autumn. Crunchy golden leaves whirling in the cool autumn breeze is what it’s all about. So if you’re still feeling summery, now’s the time to break out your favourite mixtape (this one of course) and get into the autumn spirit. It’s the soundtrack to your autumn!

Also cover created by the marvelous, majestic, monumental, magnificent, Mag.

1. John Frusciante – A Doubt ♥
2. Sea Wolf – The Garden You Planted ♥
3. Pet Shop Boys – Only the Wind ♥
4. Mercury Rev – Endlessly ♥
5. Nick Drake – River Man ♥
6. Oi-Va-Voi – Tatar Love Song ♥
7. Frank Turner – Father’s Day ♥
8. Cloud Cult – Purpose ♥
9. Young Galaxy – Embers ♥
10. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager (Part Two) ♥
11. Eluvium – Radio Ballet ♥
12. My Latest Novel – Pretty in a Panic ♥
13. Great Lake Swimmers – Changing Colours ♥
14. Fulton Lights – Autumn Anthem ♥

Key:
Mag’s tracks = ♥
Javs’ tracks = ♥
Flint’s tracks = ♥

Download!