1) Genex 44; 2) Singular Scope 85; 3) Motiern 58; 4) Hew Brenderson; 5) Unending 126 Mix; 6) Culminate; 7) 90/180; 8) Anea 18
I mean, these are discarded demos... but honestly, these sound more refined than most of the other electronic material Frusciante put out.
Key tracks: "Unending 126 Mix"
John Frusciante has always been good with his internet releases for fans: his scattering of free downloadable albums are outtakes for the hardcore followers, but they've been notably insightful ones. Renoise Tracks 2009-2011 is ostensibly a selection of songs from the period when Frusciante first abandoned his guitar-oriented direction and moved towards a more free-form electronic sound, billed as practice rounds from when he was still messing around with his new tools. That's the surprising thing about it; this sounds far more like Frusciante is already comfortable with what he's doing and has specific direction in mind, acting like a prelude to his IDM/acid house-oriented Trickfinger records more than his somewhat messy set of electronic albums under his own name. One of Frusciante's electronic sound's bigger downfalls is the aimlessness they often fall victim to - and yet, this set of early attempts sounds much more like an intentional album than the ones that actually had commercial releases.
Renoise Tracks strikes real gold with "Unending 126 Mix", which sounds like what electro-Frusciante has the potential to be but with a focus that material of its ilk generally lacks. High-energy beats come together with a careful application of his guitar and some nice synth samples, with Frusciante's voice bringing them together. It sounds like what you'd expect an IDM track from a rock songwriter to sound like, and it really works. The rest of Renoise Tracks are slight variations on the same themes, altering largely on whether it emphasises the beats or Frusciante himself. It's where you get the only real notion that these were originally intended just for Frusciante himself, uncertain whether to go for a fully instrumental route echoing his inspirations or trying to express his old ways of writing through new means, and finding ways to bring the two together. It's enjoyable to a surprising degree and it's strange how the actual albums released chronologically after these songs didn't develop further on the ideas here.
Renoise Tracks leaves you wanting for something developed from the ideas presented here, even if it doesn't exactly leave you wanting to come back to it frequently either. It's a decent listen but only kicks into a really memorable gear occasionally. Yet, for the time it plays it's engaging and even outside its better moments it has a bunch of neat ideas which maybe could have crossed over onto something really good with a little more development. For what is effectively a group of discarded demos, it's unexpectedly solid.
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