Browse by Artist: BISHOP, SIR RICHARD

Artist:	BISHOP, SIR RICHARD
Title:	Polytheistic Fragments
Label:	DRAG CITY
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	DC 349CD

"It goes without saying that Polytheistic Fragments is an instrumental release -- who among us would want it otherwise? In the tradition of his classic debut, Salvador Kali, this new record features equal amounts of improvisation and composition. Sir Richard's powers lie in his ability to captivate with just the sound of his guitar, but he doesn't completely abandon studio processes, which allow Polytheistic Fragments to communicate a greater wholeness: all Sir Rick, all the time, if you will. We have come to expect a few solo acoustic guitar pieces with the gypsy stylings of his hero, Django Reinhardt -- and as if to tenderize our consciousness and prepare it for the ride, 'Cross My Palm with Silver' meets and exceeds our expectations. 'Rub 'Al Khali' is an ode to the oud, a northern African lute of sorts. On 'Free Masonic Guitar,' Sir Richard manifests free form acoustic playing wholly in his own style. Peppering the mix are the sounds of electric guitar and lap steel guitar, bringing contrast and color. 'Hecate's Dream' is a dreamy praise to a dark Greek Goddess, but 'Tennessee Porch Swing' and 'Canned Goods and Firearms' switch gears to good old down home Americana and country twang. Sir Richard is renowned for his prowess and mastery with the guitar, but the piano playing on Polytheistic Fragments shows a fluid, meditative style. 'Saraswati' is a lengthy river piece bathed in Hindustani serenity, while 'Cemetery Games' is a short celebratory skeletal dance, with more light-heartedness than spook. In a record with so many spirits, Bishop fills in the space where necessary and rounds out the feeling with catchy tunes such as 'Elysium Number Five' and 'Ecstasies in the Open Air.' Polytheistic Fragments shows that the divinely inspired Sir Richard Bishop cannot be contained in one form."

Artist:	BISHOP, SIR RICHARD
Title:	The Freak Of Araby
Label:	DRAG CITY
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	DC 398CD

"Another album of acoustic guitar music from Sir Richard Bishop-- are you 'freakin' nuts? The Freak Of Araby is a new direction for our distinguished gentleman, and just in the nick of time as well. Sir Rick's had it up to here with solo acoustic guitar records! The Freak Of Araby isn't even a solo record! And there's no acoustic guitar on it! So let's have no more of this kind of talk. Over his years with Sun City Girls, Richard Bishop threw a wide variety of music and sound against the wall -- and all of it stuck. Among those who know, he's reasonably fluent in any number of international music traditions, playing them for (mostly) fun and (sometimes) profit all over the place. The Freak Of Araby is the debut of Sir Richard Bishop and his Freak of Araby Ensemble, a talented quartet of players getting deep into the Middle Eastern mystic with hand drums, percussion, bass, drums, electric guitars and a heavy dose of Moroccan chanters, all of it captured with depth, detail and sympathy for the eternal enigma by engineer Scott Colburn. But a Sir Richard Bishop album with a backing band -- how did this happen? After recording a cover of 'Ka'an Azzaman,' written by Elias Rahbani, one of Lebanon's finest songwriters, something dawned on Sir Richard. Half-Lebanese by birth (it didn't just occur to him later), he found himself suddenly possessed to really dig into Middle Eastern sounds. A pair of original melodies not fully developed at a prior recording session had the Arabic inspiration, so these were reattacked and finished in short order. Soon, Sir Richard's head was flooded with some of the classic sounds spun for him by his grandfather back in his (way) younger days, like Farid Al-Atrache, Oum Kalthoum and Fairuz, along with other personal favorites, such as the guitarists Omar Khorshid and Mike Hegazi. In addition to the studio improvisation, 'Taqasim For Omar,' the whole of The Freak Of Araby is dedicated to these inspiring players. Check 'em out. In addition to his soul-stirring electric guitar playing, Sir Richard grabbed a couple of Moroccan chanters and blew the house down on 'Blood-Stained Sands,' providing an epic (not to mention epochal, heh heh) finish to this journey to the center of one-half of the family tree. This is music meant to be played live, and Sir Richard's Freak Of Araby Ensemble intends to play it everywhere there's interest in hearing it. So get your Freak on."

Artist:	BISHOP, SIR RICHARD
Title:	Improvika
Label:	LOCUST
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	LOCUST 061CD

"By trade Sir Richard Bishop is a dealer of rare occult books and fine paper ephemera. For many in the musical cosmos, he has occasion to travel the smoke filled carnie circuit as 1/3 of the Sun City Girls medicine show. But in the twilight hours of a shadow world sensed only by few, Bishop is a dazzling unaccompanied guitarist. On Improvika, Bishop rides a very tall horse through a surrealist's cowboy set that's 1 part bruit Peckinpah muscularity & 2 parts illuminated Jodorowskian symbolism. A very strange place, indeed. Armed only with a single steel string wooden guitar, bare-knuckled Bishop fends off the horrors & dangers of the night with ease as he spits out glorious white robed arabesques, django inspired gypsy arcs, & latin terracotta flourishes like so many spinning tumbleweeds in a one horse town that is his alone. Improvika is Sir Richard's follow up to his part on Locust's celebrated Wooden Guitar collection and second full length release after his debut on John Fahey's Revenant label."

Artist:	BISHOP, SIR RICHARD
Title:	Improvika
Label:	LOCUST
Format:	LP
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	LOCUST 061LP

180 gram vinyl, packaged in deluxe silkscreened art paper. "By trade Sir Richard Bishop is a dealer of rare occult books and fine paper ephemera. For many in the musical cosmos, he has occasion to travel the smoke filled carnie circuit as 1/3 of the Sun City Girls medicine show. But in the twilight hours of a shadow world once sensed only by few, Bishop is a dazzling unaccompanied guitarist. On Improvika, Bishop rides a very tall horse through a surrealist's cowboy set that's 1 part bruit Peckinpah muscularity & 2 parts illuminated Jodorowskian symbolism.. A very strange place, indeed. Armed only with a single steel string wooden guitar, bare-knuckled Bishop fends off the horrors & dangers of the night with ease as he spits out glorious white robed Arabesques, Django-inspired gypsy arcs, & Latin terracotta flourishes like so many spinning tumbleweeds in a one horse town that is his alone. Improvika is Sir Richard's solo installment for locust's long running Wooden Guitar series."

Artist:	BISHOP, SIR RICHARD
Title:	While My Guitar Violently Bleeds
Label:	LOCUST
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	LOCUST 090CD

"This is an essential document by one of America's most original and inventive unaccompanied guitarists working today. While My Guitar Violently Bleeds is a splendid three piece gem in which the good sir branches out & nods to points West, East & otherworldly with the classic spaghetti western-tinged, spidery fretwork of 'Zurvan,' to the Fushitsusha style psych decay & feedback drench of 'Smashana' to the brilliant 25+ minute raga epic 'Mahavidya.'"

Artist:	BISHOP, SIR RICHARD
Title:	God Damn Religion
Label:	LOCUST
Format:	DVD/CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	LOCUST 107DVD

"Official DVD release of Sir Richard Bishop's cracked movie God Damn Religion. First edition comes with a bonus audio CD of the quasi soundtrack Elektronika Demonika, originally issued by Locust as a vinyl-only escapade in 2006. 'For centuries, man has used organized religion to control the hearts and minds (not to mention the pocketbooks) of the ignorant masses. Well, Richard Bishop has decided he would like a piece of the action. This film is a diabolical experiment in hypnotic mind control -- a phantasmagoric presentation of demonic and divine imagery, meticulously assembled and designed to put the viewer into an altered state of darkened awareness. Includes original music from Elektronika Demonika, as well as unreleased material. If you ever wanted to go to hell and back, this film will get you halfway there. Some viewers may find the imagery used in this film to be disturbing, but that's the idea. Contains some strong sexual content (as all true religion should). Not for the weak-minded, faint of heart, or those suffering from occasional seizures.'" DVD is NTSC format, probably region free. 9

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