Nine albums down the line, California’s finest funk-rockers are still pumping up the jams, maybe not as raggedly as on their earlier works, but certainly as impacting! With the mighty Rick Rubin in charge of production, the Chili Peppers’ 2006 return is one of their biggest offerings since 1999’s remarkable Californication, not simply because it is a double whopper, but rather because of its abundance of affluent songwriting and accomplished musicianship. Chili fans will recognise opening track Dani California as an instant reminder of Kiedis and Co’s last point of reference from two years back.
The hit single’s mix of melody and punch remains as essential a key factor as it has been ever since the return to the fold of prodigal guitarist John Frusciante in 1998. Likewise, the funk-metal element that informed earlier albums is also alive and kicking, although it is no secret that over the years – especially from Californication onwards – the Chili Peppers’ sound has grown warmer, absorbing a more refined sheen. Some may simply put this down to them “growing up”, but it is probably more the result of the band gelling together through thick and thin. While a single album would have proved the band’s proficiency just as effectively, this 28-track exercise in musical excess proves that the Chili Peppers remain well on track and as relevant as ever!
CD Courtesy Of Exotique
Shearwater - ‘Palo Santo’
If its minimal packaging is anything to go by, Shearwater’s Palo Santo should be a relatively sparse record, its balance very probably tipped in favour of brittle songs and wide-open spaces over structured conventional compositions. And by the first seconds of opening track Dame et La Licorne, riddled with the same poignant sense and intimacy that Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis brought to light on the heavily under-rated Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, it’s certainly looking that way. This assumption however, is promptly brushed away by the intro stabs of Red Sea Black Sea, which swerves off at a tangent and lands deep inside Talking Heads territory.
By the fourth song (the title track) it is only too clear that Shearwater mainman Jonathan Meiburg is a man with extensive and eclectic musical predilections. On this finger-picking number in particular, he explores a deeply acoustic underworld to great effect, and the result is a haunting, delicate classic. But while Palo Santo remains largely a contained record, richer in its quieter moments than the noisier ones, it does have moments that venture beyond the record’s fragile confines. Songs like ’74 ’75, (not The Connells hit song) and White Waves are heavier by this record’s standards, and the change is also felt in the vocals’ more consolidated yet still low-key delivery. Shearwater’s fourth release is a defined, enthralling record, proving above all that quiet is still the new loud!