Among the current crop of acoustic guitar phenoms, James Blackshaw has always remained one of our favorites. His Important debut O True Believers grabbed the attention of RSTB with a mix of complexity and grace. Following a move to a few other labels including the venerable Tompkins Square and some rather intricate works for Michael Gira's Young God, Blackshaw has returned to his roots at Important. Preceded by a stunning EP, this new album is a hushed and somber piece of work. Love is the Plan, The Plan is Death sees James employing his usual mix [...]
Según podemos leer en Exclaim! el guitarrista y pianista James Blackshaw publicará un nuevo EP el próximo 24 de abril. Se titulará Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death , contendrá seis nuevos temas y será editado por Important Records . Al parecer la inspiración para los cortes que componen este sencillo le ha venido al artista inglés de las novelas de la escritora de ciencia ficción James Tiptree, Jr. El piano es el principal protagonista de sus canciones instrumentales, llenas de minimalismo, suaves melodías y ricas [...]
Is it ages since we listened to some James Blackshaw together? I don't know, but it seems like it. Here's something from his 2006 album O True Believers . I guess this is pretty much the start of his attempt to blend together folk music, minimalism and mysticism. Spiralling Skeleton Memorial is a fluid, shimmering thing. It spins blindfolded with only the warmth of the sun to keep it oriented. Don't claim to see the connection between all of Blackshaw's odd Christian references and 12-string guitar playing, but I'm sure churches [...]
You guys, I can't do this anymore. I can't give you descriptions of all these albums and post 30 or 40 MP3s along the way. It just takes too much time and effort. I'll try to make this a little bit more than just a list, because I want it to look a tiny bit [...]
16. Cam Deas – Quadtych 1 & 2 Vier stukken, verdeeld over 2 lp's, van de Engelse gitarist Cam Deas . Wanneer ik voor de zoveelste keer John Fahey en de Takoma style aanhaal, weten de meesten al in welke hoek je de muziek moet zoeken. Dat zou zijn talent tekort doen. Geïnspireerd door het improvisatiespel van Anthony Braxton en minimalisme zoekt hij de grenzen op van zijn gitaargeluid, zodat Quadtych (uitgebracht op zijn eigen label Present Time Exercises ) een moeilijk album genoemd mag worden. Zijn [...]
die kurzen kommen häufig zu kurz. oft übersieht man sie. dabei können sie ähnlich bezaubern, wie es einem durchgängig guten album gelingen kann. aber vielleicht liegt genau darin die stärke einer nur einige wenige titel fassenden songsammlung: komprimierung, abschottung der besten von den weniger guten. 2011 erweist sich als ein jahrgang, in dem sich einige besondere eps finden ließen, zusammengestellt zu einer ersten top ten: (01) tiny cities – the matter & light **** (02) allysen callery – winter island **** (03) james blackshaw – holly **** (04) [...]
lediglich 200 kopien gibt es von der "holly ep", die james blackshaw jüngst auf important records veröffentlicht hat. eine schande, wenn man zugleich lesen muss, dass es sich bei diesem kurzen longplayer um eine seiner besten aufnahmen handeln soll. "all is falling", sein achtes album, war gerade erschienen, james hatte eine längere tour hinter sich, da spielte er die beiden auf "holly" enthaltenen arrangements ein. der titeltrack beginnt mit einem sparsam gezupften motiv, woraufhin es munter zu rollen beginnt, begleitet von pianotupfern entwickelt er einen steten sog, der fruchtig ornamentiert wird, leichte ausfallschritte, crescendi, sprudelndes, verwirbelungen, [...]
In 48 hours I'll be airborne, flying east towards Newark Airport, set to embark on a lengthy trip that will take me from the East Coast of these United States all the way around the world to Delhi, India. To say I'm excited would be the understatement of the year. I'm really, really looking forward [...]
Qua verpakking bestond er in september geen betere dan release Bridges , maar er was deze maand nog veel meer te beleven. Om even bij platen te blijven die vanwege het artwork opvallen, pik ik er Life Sux van Wavves uit. Het lo-fi zwart-wit hoesje, versierd met een omgekeerd kruis en een pentagram beloofd misschien meer dan het waarmaakt. Enfant terrible Nathan Williams is namelijk - wat later dan gebruikelijk - op weg naar volwassenheid en dat heeft z'n weerslag op de gruizige punk waar hij op bekend staat. Het klinkt vandaag de dag nogal [...]
No aguardado regresso de James Blackshaw ao país, o jovem músico fez questão de não vir sozinho e trouxe consigo Nancy Elizabeth. Entre composições e improvisações, conversas e confissões, ambos partilharam um palco e uma noite sempre de forma tão genuína como aprazível - pessoal e musicalmente. Sem uma real distinção de posições que justificasse a tarefa de abertura de palco para o 'nome sonante', os dois artistas escutaram-se mutuamente e, em algumas ocasiões, tocaram em simultâneo; ainda que Blackshaw tivesse sido certamente o nome mais forte - e inaugurador [...]
i'm starting to think that maybe the scheduled rapture may well be going to happen after all at 6pm Pacific Time – 2am Sunday GMT – just because everyone's taking such great pleasure in the certainty that it won't, and so wholeheartedly embracing all the attendant possibilities for believer-bashing. 1 Sort of like The Boy Who Cried Apocalypse, or something. Anyway, i thought it was only right to draw together some sort of short mix of stuff [...]
Grails, James Blackshaw and Animal Hospital @ Great Scott (Boston), Tuesday, April 26, 2011. Some may hold the view that the human voice is the most versatile of all instruments, but if you'd ply that sub-population with a front to back airing of Grails' discography, chances are good that their bedrock opinions would be shaken at least a bit off of its mooring. Without vocals, this quartet (expanded now to a burgeoning six for the live setting) paints with a 32 bit color palette, weaving in the traditional bass/guitar/drums/keyboards elements and wrapping [...]
Toronto - I managed to miss every show in the big Godspeed You! Black Emperor marathon this past weekend. I managed to miss out on the Mogwai show too. So I figured in order to get my weekly dose of instrumental rock, the Grails show at Sneaky Dee's was the place to be. Opening the show was British guitarist James Blackshaw , who impressed with his intricate guitar picking in a style similar to players like John Fahey or Bert Jansch. While many in the crowd were watching pretty intently, there were several in the [...]
Here at 20JFG we quite obviously find music an incredibly evocative experience. We dabble in what appear, quite often, to be ludicrously extended and intricate metaphors - but what are in fact despatches from our hyperactive subconscious...that also serve as ludicrously extended... Occasionally, a nameless force reaches out to us. My Frozen Spirit begins with the aeons-old bass thump from deep beneath a looming cyclopean peak - transported from the rocky continent of Antarctica to the more geographically convenient region of the Artic. A growling electronic oscillation rises with it, like the Elder Ones, spreading their [...]
Here at MOKB, we are, at the core, rabid music fans. So, one of the coolest things about this gig is the occasional opportunity to speak with an artist whose music you hold in particularly high esteem. For me, few active artists have a body of work that can hold a candle to that of Greg Dulli , whether it be solo, or in guise as an Afghan Whig, Twilight Singer or Gutter Twin. On February 15th, The Twilight Singers and Sub Pop will release Dynamite Steps , [...]
I feel like we should all be jamming out to "Right Now" (and drinking Crystal Pepsi?), because this is the day we've all been waiting for. It's time to stop living in the past and start living in the moment: my annual list of the one-hundred best albums of 2010 is finally ready for you to feast your eyes on it. Look at it. Look at it how you would a naked slut as she spreads her legs for you. It's here for the taking. As is customary now, I've decided not to write blurbs for all 100 [...]
It was as if, glimpsed from the right angle, all of the attempts at categorisation had but cascaded into one. Moving the three lists back into their proper position temporarily solved this issue but the great list-master remained disturbed. For what could this mean, he thought. What were the semantic implications of this perilous discovery? Were the three lists secretly as one? What would the creators of the lists think of this? A year's work, carefully separating and categorising reduced, by a tilt of the head, to a universal soup. ////////////////////////////// //////////// Darkstar - North. In the [...]
It was as if, glimpsed from the right angle, all of the attempts at categorisation had but cascaded into one. Moving the three lists back into their proper position temporarily solved this issue but the great list-master remained disturbed. For what could this mean, he thought. What were the semantic implications of this perilous discovery? Were the three lists secretly as one? What would the creators of the lists think of this? A year's work, carefully separating and categorising reduced, by a tilt of the head, to a universal soup. ////////////////////////////// //////////// Darkstar - North. In the best [...]
So here we are then. The last part of my review of the year. Hope you enjoy. (Parts One and Two are here , and over there ) Songs of the year Avi Buffalo - Truth Sets In On first hearing, I thought this song was pretty good. On second, third, fourth, all the way up to the hundredth, I thought this song was the best I heard all year. I adore it. The [...]
Photography: Mary Robinson Download , download , buy . Have a nice Sunday. Aydio - Deltitnu Transient - Crazy James Blackshaw - Fix Aydio | Transient | James Blackshaw
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