John Frusciante Explores "Modern Classical Music" on 'Outsides' EP

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jul 15, 2013

Last year, former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante took a major stylistic leap with his electronically experimental collections Letur-Lefr and PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone. Now, he's getting ready to make another adventurous statement with another new EP. Outsides will arrive on August 27 through Record Collection.

The EP consists of three tracks adding up to 20 minutes; in a statement on his website, Frusciante explained that these include "a 10 minute guitar solo and 2 abstract 'out' pieces of music."

So what does "out" music mean? Frusciante likened to term to free jazz and 20th century classic music, noting that aspects or traditional rock and pop harmony are absent. He wrote that the first track "gives new life to the long ago popularly discarded form of the extended rock guitar solo, and is also progressive synth pop," while the other two tracks are "my version of modern classical music."

Frusciante's essay is 1,347 words in total, and can be read right here. At that same link, Outside is available to pre-order on CD, vinyl, cassette or digital download.

Below, listen to a recent jam by Frusciante called "Wayne." It's a tribute to his late friend Wayne Forman and like one of the aforementioned songs from Outsides, it's a 10-minute guitar solo. (We're guessing that it's a different song, however, since the repetitive drum pattern is sounds very different from the one described in his aforementioned essay.)

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