Altsounds - JAMES BLACKSHAW to release 'The Glass Bead Game'

James has received a lot of attention lately as a prodigy/virtuoso of the 12 string guitar. He used to be in punk bands in England, but then he started listening to people like John Fahey, Robbie Basho etc, and I assume soon locked himself in a room for 12 hours a day for several years and just played constantly. It takes intense discipline and a religious commitment to get to the place where he's at with his instrument. But his music isn't about his "skill" - it's not showy. It's deeply meditative - the secret language of a pre-thought, pre-dream place. He plays soulful and kaleidoscopic ever-shifting mantra cycles of, in my view, incredible beauty.

Just his guitar by itself, with it's swirling overtones, cascading notes and a thousand points of light, is like an orchestra, but now he's started to further orchestrate his pieces with piano, strings, wind, vocals, and the music is positively cinematic, and mesmerizing. The 18 minute-plus gem on this record is Arc, performed on piano with the sustain peddle on full throttle, and the rush of sound created by the overtones-from-heaven, augmented by strings and wind, when played at proper (full) volume, is one of the most thrilling pieces of music I've heard in years.

It takes a rare and single-minded courage and commitment to make music with such a powerfully positive force at its' heart, especially in these troubled times. This is healing music that reaches for what's possible, just beyond our grasp. It is STELLAR… James is joined on this record by Joolie Wood (Current 93 and Simon Finn) - violin, clarinet and flute, John Contreras (Baby Dee and C93) – cello. Lavinia Blackwall (Directing Hand) is a classically trained singer and contributed vocals… – Michael Gira/Young God Records

"...strong influences from outside the precincts of folk music: minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Terry Riley, and some of their precursors, like Erik Satie... [Blackshaw] fingerpicks his 12-string Guild with an immersive focus befitting such heady allusions... a stark and ancient feeling, like something handed down through the ages...." - NY Times

"...one of the best and most original instrumentalists in the new, acoustic renaissance." - Rolling Stone

James Blackshaw on MySpace Music