Browse by Artist: BLACKSHAW, JAMES

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	O True Believers
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 084CD

"When UK native James Blackshaw plays his 12-string, something spiritual takes place. This unassuming 23 year-old is transformed into a guitar god whose name belongs alongside the likes of Jack Rose, Steffen Basho-Junghans, and Glenn Jones. Making instrumental, solo, acoustic music that remains consistently interesting and moving is a difficult task. Yet, time after time, Blackshaw hits out of the park, constantly breaking boundaries in what could be conceived as a somewhat limited medium. O True Believers is the latest in a string of impressive releases, all with their own mood and inspiration. An untrained musician living in the isolated suburban environs of Greater London, Blackshaw draws inspiration not only from the early Takoma Records roster, but from sources as varied as the sublime film-work of Werner Herzog, the books of Richard Brautigan and an endless amount of music: free-jazz, '60s psych, drone, ethnic music and modern-day composers, to name a few."

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Litany of Echoes
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1783CD

"Initially inspired by the guitarists of the '60s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, London-based musician James Blackshaw writes pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar that share more in common with the minimalist works of composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine, as well as French composers Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, than the blues/raga influence of his peers. Using drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody, Blackshaw creates instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and unashamedly sentimental. Litany of Echoes, Blackshaw's sixth studio album in five years, shows a more mature, focused and, on the whole, accessible approach to composition. While the album often feels darker and more introspective in nature than on previous releases, many of the songs have a huge-sounding, classical quality to them. With Blackshaw adding some glistening piano work for the first time and Fran Bury returning to play swarms of sweeping string parts for violin and viola, Litany of Echoes is a truly original, affecting and timeless album from a guitarist/composer coming into his own."

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Celeste
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1837CD

Reissue of this 2004 album, originally issued as a CD-R on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon; half of this was also on the Bo Weavil Sunshine/Celeste LP in 2005. "Guitarist/composer James Blackshaw's 2007 Tompkins Square album, The Cloud of Unknowing, received 'Top 50 Albums of the Year' honors from Pitchfork and Wire magazine. Fresh off a U.S. and UK tour with Jose Gonzalez, and a bevy of year-end praise from the blogosphere to The New York Times, Tompkins Square reissues four catalog titles previously only available as tiny, limited edition CD-R pressings. 'Mr. Blackshaw plays 12-string acoustic guitar, picking endlessly circling, intertwining arpeggios: stately, tolling ones on the lower strings and faster ones, verging on tremolo, up above. Yet what usually emerges from the welter of notes is not bustle but tranquility. The music has the same contemplative scope that turns countless tiny daubs into a Monet water lily.' --Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Dec 31, 2007."

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Sunshrine
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1844CD

Reissue of this November 2005 release (originally issued on Digitalis and Bo Weavil). "...Blackshaw has already mustered up enough talent on the guitar to put many more renowned acts to shame. His gorgeous finger picked melodies on 12-string guitar are incredibly affecting and a stark contrast to the ragas and ragtimes of peer Jack Rose. Instead of concentrating on replicating a specific era of music or showing his technical prowess, Blackshaw aims straight for the heart and listening to these two extended pieces is enough for you to be transported into another realm entirely. One of the standout releases in the now slightly bloated folk revival movement, Sunshrine is a real pleasure to listen to and should be wedged firmly into any self-respecting folk follower's CD shelf." --Boomkat

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1851CD

James Blackshaw's second release, originally recorded in October 2004 by John Hannon, NRS. Released as a CD-R on Digitalis December 2004. "An absolutely monumental recording, Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances re-examines many of the themes that were explored on Celeste and distills them into one brilliant 35-minute composition that is full of excitement and surprise. The piece begins with a harmonium drone and acoustic 12-string, tuned to the guitar-unfriendly C-F-C-F-C-F (I can't find any examples of this tuning being used elsewhere) and unfolds beautifully. Blackshaw moves effortlessly from Takoma-inspired picking into electroacoustic improvisation and concludes with 12-string, harmonium and ride cymbal falling into a blissed-out circular folk groove that is absolutely infectious." --Grown So Ugly.

Artist:	BLACKSHAW, JAMES
Title:	The Cloud of Unknowing
Label:	TOMPKINS SQUARE
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	TSQ 1967CD

"When UK-native James Blackshaw plays his 12-string guitar, something spiritual takes place. Performing and recording since 2003, his name is frequently mentioned as one of the foremost modern solo acoustic guitarists. Now at the age of 25, Blackshaw, an untrained musician born and still residing in the suburban environs of Greater London, draws as much inspiration from early religious music, South-Asian folk music and composers such as Arvo Part, Simeon Ten Holt, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine as he does from John Fahey, Robbie Basho and the early Takoma Records roster, constantly breaking boundaries in what could be conceived as a somewhat limited medium. In his part improvised and part written songs, Blackshaw makes expert use of Eastern and Western scales, chord changes reminiscent of European classical music and incredibly intricate fingerpicking patterns to make a sound that is both challengingly minimalist, yet warm and approachable to anybody who might hear it, with a rare sensitivity that conveys immense beauty, hope and sadness."

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