James Blackshaw - All Is Falling

If you took the fingerpicking folk guitar genius of John Fahey and 12-string zen-master Robbie Basho, slowly folded in the mesmerizing sound cycles of minimalists Steve Reich and Phillip Glass and then brought the mix to a slow simmering heat you'll get something close to what 29-year-old British guitarist and multi-instrumentalist James Blackshaw is aiming for. It's one thing to emulate past greatness. It's a whole other thing -- and infinitely more interesting -- when the touchstones of tradition can be utilized to expand an artist's (and a genre's) creative horizons. Last year's Blackshaw acoustic masterwork Glass Bead Shade utilized greater orchestration to stunning effect. Now, armed with an electric 12'er for the first time, Blackshaw and his August 24 album All Is Falling (Young God) take his music to impressive new heights.

After a decade acoustic playing and composing, Blackshaw found an electric guitar both liberating and challenging, noting that while a 12-string acoustic guitar "sings" or "plays itself," an electric needs a lot more "coaxing." He also began experimenting by bringing in new instruments -- and electronics -- into his home studio, often reworking his own playing within a larger, more varied context of sound and rhythmic electronic patterns. The centerpiece of Falling is the nearly 12-minute "Part 7", a simple repeated guitar line morphs slowly into a shifting, swirling bee's nest of overlayed notes, guitar and cello tapestries wrapped together and then pulled apart, breathing together, floating higher and then, at the end, flickering down to earth alone. Meditative, almost devotional in scope, All Is Falling -- like the best music -- adventurously takes us to places we haven't been before. Highly recommended.

Myspace  Young Gods Label Site

James Blackshaw - "All Is Falling Part 7 (edit) (from the album All Is Falling)

James Blackshaw - "Cross" (from the album Glass Bead Shade)

Press/Bio:

With his ninth album All Is Falling, the ultra savant of 12 string mantra
cycles, James Blackshaw expands further into cinematic, orchestral glory -
an orgy of organic, deeply felt and exquisitely played pathways to the
sublime. The new album was recorded, mixed and mastered by John Hannon and
James Blackshaw at No Recording Studio, December 2009 - January 2010 and
is being release on Young God Records August 24.

All Is Falling, features his first foray into the realm of the electric 12
string guitar and stretches his intuitive compositional acumen to the max
– the album is essentially one slowly evolving,shifting piece of music,
“All Is Falling” Parts 1-8, replete with swirling string cycles and wind
instruments augmenting Blackshaw’s extended pointillist flurries with
clouds of sound, sometimes adding delicate counter melodies but just as
often feeding the implicit waves of overtones until  they cascade in an
ever-expanding and all-enveloping onslaught. Listeners willing to close
their eyes and surrender will be rewarded with a pure stream of
devotional, relentlessly searching, sonic incantation. All is Falling
features Blackshaw on electric 12-string guitar, piano, glockenspiel,
voice, and percussion aided by Charlotte Glasson who contributes violin,
flute, alto saxophone, and glockenspiel, Fran Bury providing violin and,
voice and cellist Daniel Madav.

The seeds of this project were sown in the past few years while James was
serving as guest guitarist with a friend’s group on tour. This was the
first time he’d played electric guitar in nearly a decade. Blackshaw got
unexpected pleasure and inspiration from the sheer volume involved, the
way the different old valve amps he’d rent for each show would perform,
and having to be more pro-active in his fretting; he noted that while a
12-string acoustic guitar “sings” or “plays itself,” that an electric
guitar needs a lot more coaxing. James became curious as to how a
12-string electric guitar might sound in his own work and bought an Italia
Rimini and a little Fender Superchamp.

The slimmer neck and the lighter string tension allowing him to play
faster and to reach finger positions he’d previously found awkward. At the
same time, James acquired a home-recording set up which allowed him to
experiment with the arrangements for other instruments, and this became
integral to how he wrote the piece with guitar taking a smaller role in
the overall picture as a result.  Both factors had a huge impact on the
new music he was composing as well as the influence of post-No Wave
maximalist guitar composers Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham.

Blackshaw’s sales and critical reputation have been growing exponentially
with each of his eight releases. Press accolades for his last album, The
Glass Bead Game include:

…But for his eighth record, Blackshaw moves beyond those confines, melding
his mesmeric, masterful technique with cello and violin contributions from
members of experiment folk group Current 93 and setting the wordless
vocals of Trembling Bells’ Lavinia Blackwall to the driving, haunting
opener “Cross.” Then at the piano bench for the poignant ballad “Fix” and
the stunning, assured finale “Arc,” Blackshaw makes you forget all about
his guitar and your earthly cares. Andy Beta/Spin

… but his newer material, especially the recent The Glass Bead Game, moves
more into classical and experimental territory with noticeable tips of the
hat to minimalism using drones, piano, and strings. Shawn Bosler/Village
Voice

On his transfixing acoustic albums, Blackshaw builds meditative cathedrals
of sound, full of modal figures and hypnotic repetitions that call to mind
Steve Reich and Terry Riley as much as John Fahey and Robbie Basho. On
last year's mesmerizing The Glass Bead Game, Blackshaw broadened his
palette with the wordless, angelic vocals of Lavinia Blackwall, with
violin, clarinet and flute, and with his own piano and harmonium. He'll be
solo at this show, but his 12-string conjures a world unto itself. - Steve
Klinge/Philadelphia Inquirer

James used to be in punk bands in England, but then he started listening
to people like John Fahey, Robbie Basho etc, and soon locked himself in a
room for 12 hours a day for several years and just played his guitar
constantly. It takes intense discipline and a religious commitment to get
to the place where he's at with his instrument - his soulful and
kaleidoscopic ever-shifting mantra cycles are incredibly beautiful. 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.