Down in Manhattan's Meat Packing district, just down the cobblestone road from the Hog Pit saloon, in what looks like an abandoned school building, former Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson is recording old-school style-analog with a capital "A". "One of the problems with music today is that with all this computerized recording, we see music on a screen, rather than hear it or feel it," says the guitarist. "Everything is 'bpm, bpm, bpm.' The natural dynamics of tempo change, or speeding up to a chorus are gone. The craft of writing songs has been lost. Take Neil Young-I'll give it to him all day long. But who's that next guy? Who's carrying the torch?"

And as the engineer loads a 2" tape and rolls "Answers," a 6/8 instrumental vamp (vocals to come) for which strings were recorded earlier today, it soon becomes apparent that if there's one thing Robinson focused on for his upcoming solo release, it's songwriting. There are currently 22 song titles, culled from about 30, on the track list taped to the studio wall. "I'm thinking about releasing either a double album or one now and then one six months later," he explains.

Though he's not sure whether they'll make the final cut, Robinson spins a few more selections. First, there's the as-yet-untitled acoustic-based song in open-F tuning and with an Eastern vibe, written for his son. "Remain" is a classic rocker in the style of the Black Crowes, whereas "Goodbye" is Robinson's "interpretation of Brit-pop, with orchestrations and pop melodies"_and to say it smacks of late-era Beatles may be an understatement. The final track he plays is "Places," which, with it's plodding riff and baritone vocal track (he says it will be harmonized later), evokes images of Black Sabbath, Alice in Chains, and a gospel choir tripping on acid while drifting down a psychedelic river of sound that swells into raging rapids for the guitar solo.

As the song fades out, talk returns to his reunion with brother Chris-after three years on separate musical paths-just three nights earlier, at the Jammy Awards in New York City. "He was in town for something anyway, so we decided to get together," says Robinson, downplaying the event but his voice betraying a glimmer of excitement. "My brother, in my opinion, is the greatest rock singer around. I look back at our career and I couldn't be prouder of what we accomplished."

-MICHAEL MUELLER