":I I" and ".I :" are two separate versions of John Frusciante's new album. Frusciante is a highly regarded musician and guitarist best known for his work with the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, where he was a member from 1988 to 1992 and then again from 1998 to 2009. The two versions of the album were created with a focus on the sonic exploration of gradually evolving sounds, with the tracks being recorded live to a CD burner with no overdubs. The album was inspired by Frusciante's interests in ambient and experimental music, as well as his desire to create music that conveyed a sense of movement and stillness. The ".I :" version of the album is available on vinyl only and contains one track that is not included in the CD version. The ":I I" version of the album is the longer version, available on CD.
What Worked
Building ambient drones from loops and patches, Two is another electronic album by the renowned guitarist. Tapping into the distorted drone of William Basinski and the glitchy noise of Richard James and Aphex Twin tracks like "Untitled" feature a long build-up of manipulated organ droning before the addition of choppy manipulated synths, while "Galvation" mimics the sound of wind slapping a microphone interspersed with digitized crackling, creating an unnerving sound bed.
What Didn't Work
As experimental albums go from established mainstream artists, this one is surprisingly restrained in comparison to his 2020 release Maya. The focus on ambient drone rather than bombastic choppy rhythms makes for an interesting left turn, even if some of the albums sounds familiar to fans of similar artists.
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