F/i
Venusian Holiday (Krauted Mind Records)
Cosmic Assassin (Psych.KG)
Find the largest available lava lamp, project its gurglings onto a Jumbotron encompassing the wall of a cathedral-ceilinged living room: That may be the best visual accompaniment for the shape-shifting, mesmeric roar of F/i’s heavy psychedelic trance rock.
Released on German labels, the two latest albums by Milwaukeean Richard Franecki’s on-again/off-again assemblage of minor key, mind-expanding noisemakers are trips unto themselves. On Cosmic Assassin and Venusian Holiday, keyboards and guitars share roughly equal responsibility on pieces ranging in length from under five minutes to more than a quarter-hour.
Theremin and found vocals also figure into the mix. F/i may not have much else in common with AC/DC and Motorhead aside from utter heaviness. But as with those metal mavens at their best, what might first sound like a sustained sameness in Franecki’s musings possesses an abundance of nuance and hooks that bear repeated listening.
