Blackshaw does not allow us to passively consume his musical explorations, but demands that we go probing through them just as he does. The repetitive playfulness of the string-dances might lead us to think that the key is not a particular key, but one that holds some sort of always-present power to open up multiple, possibly infinite, doors, thus promising a never-ending process of discovery.
The arc structure constantly ascends and descends, following the multiple transitions, the permanent back and forth, between materiality and spirit.
With The Glass Bead Game , Blackshaw has broadened his aesthetic to incorporate many new, challenging, and enjoyable sounds. We should not be too surprised if, in the future, Blackshaw constructs his own chamber or symphony orchestra.
With The Glass Bead Game , there is reason to think that this is the direction his musical explorations could take him. Cross 2. Each of the instruments begin to blend into one another. The song completely destroys all sense of time and place. Instruments bleed into one another and become disassociated from their source.
Whether a particular sound is being made by a voice, an instrument, or a combination thereof can be difficult to determine. Played at loud volumes, it's an absolutely transfixing and ecstatic piece of music capable of procuring an emotional response from the listener. After I heard it for the first time, I found myself with my jaw agape and my breath left short. Something very magical happened when these musicians came together. I can only hope it won't be the last time we see Blackshaw collaborating in such a fashion.
It's hard not to talk in a superlative manner about this record; it is majestic and deserving of more accolades and praise than I can possibly write. Previous selected press quotes for James:. A veritable solo symphony that's as schooled in uncommon beauty as it is in complex 20th century composition Blackshaw writes high drama into instrumental music with subtlety and charm, speaking on sentiments and stories without requiring a single lyric Blackshaw seems fully settled, engaging his pieces and ideas with the unflinching belief of Tony Conrad in or Steve Reich in The Cloud of Unknowing carves out a new, peerless space altogether-- one that puts Blackshaw at the top of his class.
Neither American, nor primitive, nor as Litany of Echoes begins, even playing the guitar, the English musician is all about upending the expectations we might have from his instrument. Whereas kindred spirits like John Fahey and Robbie Basho looked East for their Raga-inspired guitar diversions, Blackshaw instead sounds more East-Coast: his long-distance guitar tunes recalling NY minimalism, or Sonic Youth, as arranged for chamber orchestra.
Mesmerising stuff, and proof that less is often more. His fingerpicking mantras are as melodic as a music box, gliding through dizzying tempos like clockwork Such is the silky control he exherts over his instrument, Blackshaw often sounds more like a court harpist than a backwoods strummer. Blackshaw, a British autodidact still in his mids, fingerpicks his string Guild with an immersive focus befitting such heady allusions.
At its best, his sumptuous new album, Litany of Echoes, conveys a stark and ancient feeling, like something handed down through the ages Downright beautiful stuff. But it is preternaturally beautiful. O True Believers by year-old guitarist James Blackshaw features 10 fingers and 12 strings and, frankly, urinates all over whatever will be the Mercury Prize's token folk nominee next year. Blackshaw is British, but virtually no one has heard of him outside the US folk underground; he deserves ticker-tape parades.
A month later it is the album I have listened to the most. And I am still finding something new in it each time. And I am still captivated by it. I was really referring to my feeling when I first heard Stormcock ; the experience I had when being opened up to something that seemed to exist in its own space.
I wanted to share it with you. And with sufficient links to tracks and to the album information you can choose to laugh at me for being wide of the mark. Go for it. I have already gifted it to three friends. And I imagine I will buy it again and again and give it to others. This remains the sentimental favourite.
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