Other contributors, live and recorded, include Lavinia Blackwall (vocals), Fran Bury (violin and viola), John Contreras (cello), Charlotte Glasson (alto sax, violin, flute, glockenspiel), Daniel Madav (cello) and Joolie Wood (violin, tenor recorder and clarinet).
Influences
Albert Ayler, Alfred Schnittke, Arnold Dreyblatt, Arthur Russell, Arvo Part, Bas Jan Ader, Brian Eno, Carlos Paredes, Charlemagne Palestine, Claude Debussy, Daniel Lentz, David Borden, Elodie Lauten, Fernando Pessoa, Folke Rabe, Frederic Chopin, Gavin Bryars, Hans Bellmer, Hans Otte, Henryk Gorecki, Jorge Luis Borges, Julius Eastman, La Monte Young, Leo Brouwer, Lois V Vierk, Lubomyr Melnyk, Lydia Lunch, Mark Rothko, Maurice Ravel, Meredith Monk, Michael Gira, Michael Gordon, Michael Harrison, Moondog, Morton Feldman, Olivier Messiaen, Paul Giger, Philip Glass, Rhys Chatham, Richard Brautigan, Robbie Basho, Simeon Ten Holt, Stan Brakhage, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Werner Herzog, William Duckworth, Vig Mihaly
Initially inspired by the guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar and piano that are heavily influenced by minimalist composers and European classical music and which use drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody to create instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotionally charged.
Born in London in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released seven solo studio albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous compilations in the last five years. "O True Believers" (2006, Important Records/Bo’weavil Recordings), "The Cloud of Unknowing" (2007, Tompkins Square) and "Litany of Echoes" (2008, Tompkins Square) have received critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Onion, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine. "The Cloud of Unknowing" was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of 2007 by The Wire (no. 24) and Pitchfork (no. 34). "Litany of Echoes" was listed as Uncut Magazine's 13th Best Album of 2008.
Blackshaw signed to Michael Gira's (Swans/Angels of Light) Young God Records label and his seventh studio album was released in May 2009. He is currently writing and recording his eighth studio album.
Blackshaw has played as a member of Current 93, Brethren of The Free Spirit, performed live with Pantaleimon, Seiichi Yamamoto (ex-Boredoms), Ben Chasny & Sir Richard Bishop, Peter Wright, Duane Pitre and Michael Gira.
He has toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan, playing approximately 200 shows since 2005 in a broad range of environments from sold-out 1,000 capacity venues supporting Jose Gonzalez to intimate church shows and institutions such as The Douglas Hynde Gallery in Dublin and The ICA in London. He has featured on National Public Radio in the US, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 and performed live on VPRO television in The Netherlands. His song "Fix" from "The Glass Bead Game" has been used in a series of recent Film4 promotional trailers. More international dates are to follow in 2010, both solo and for his newly formed five-piece ensemble.
Selected Press:
"... A veritable solo symphony that's as schooled in uncommon beauty as it is in complex 20th century composition... Blackshaw writes high drama into instrumental music with subtlety and charm, speaking on sentiments and stories without requiring a single lyric... Blackshaw seems fully settled, engaging his pieces and ideas with the unflinching belief of Tony Conrad in 1964 or Steve Reich in 1965... The Cloud of Unknowing carves out a new, peerless space altogether-- one that puts Blackshaw at the top of his class." - Grayson Currin, Pitchforkmedia.com
"In the tradition of "American Primitive" guitarists within which he's often grouped, James Blackshaw cuts rather an odd figure. Neither American, nor primitive, nor as Litany of Echoes begins, even playing the guitar, the English musician is all about upending the expectations we might have from his instrument. Whereas kindred spirits like John Fahey and Robbie Basho looked East for their Raga-inspired guitar diversions, Blackshaw instead sounds more East-Coast: his long-distance guitar tunes recalling NY minimalism, or Sonic Youth, as arranged for chamber orchestra. Mesmerising stuff, and proof that less is often more." - John Robinson, Uncut Magazine
"There's an indecent ease to James Blackshaw's guitar playing. His fingerpicking mantras are as melodic as a music box, gliding through dizzying tempos like clockwork... Such is the silky control he exherts over his instrument, Blackshaw often sounds more like a court harpist than a backwoods strummer." - Derek Walmsey, The Wire
"The hypnotic arpeggios at the heart of James Blackshaw’s acoustic guitar playing reflect 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. Mr. Blackshaw, a British autodidact still in his mid-20s, fingerpicks his 12-string Guild with an immersive focus befitting such heady allusions. At its best, his sumptuous new album, Litany of Echoes, conveys a stark and ancient feeling, like something handed down through the ages...." - Nate Chinen, The New York Times
"Twenty-seven-year-old Brit James Blackshaw has lately emerged as a major force in the world of instrumental guitar, his epic, austere compositions and unpretentious 12-string technique perching him somewhere between John Fahey and Robbie Basho... Downright beautiful stuff." - Jonathon Cohen, Billboard Magazine
"The most gem-like overlooked album this year is neither hairy nor scary; rubber-necking into the great unknown isn't high in its priorities. But it is preternaturally beautiful. O True Believers by 24-year-old guitarist James Blackshaw features 10 fingers and 12 strings and, frankly, urinates all over whatever will be the Mercury Prize's token folk nominee next year. Blackshaw is British, but virtually no one has heard of him outside the US folk underground; he deserves ticker-tape parades. His style derives from the Takoma school founded by John Fahey, but that is all detail. Blackshaw's got it all: skills to hyperventilate for, and instinctual loveliness in spades." - Kitty Empire, The Observer
"One of the best and most original instrumentalists in the new, acoustic renaissance" - David Fricke, Rolling Stone Magazine
Discography:
"Celeste" CD (Tompkins Square) 2008 - originally released by Celebrate Psi Phenomenon in 2004
"Lost Prayers & Motionless Dances" CD (Tompkins Square) 2008 - originally released by Digitalis Industries in 2004
"Sunshrine" CD (Tompkins Square) 2008 - originally released by Digitalis Industries in 2005
"O True Believers" LP (Bo'weavil Records) & CD (Important Records) 2006
"Waking Into Sleep - Goteburg 27.05.06" CD (Kning Disk) 2006
"The Cloud of Unknowing" CD/LP (Tompkins Square) 2007
"Litany of Echoes" CD (Tompkins Square) 2008
"The Glass Bead Game" CD/LP (Young God Records) 2009
Hello James, your tracks are for me a wonderful surprise. Great music really! I hope youll enjoy listening to my tracks.. Your feedback on it will be so much appreciated .. Thank you for accepting my friendship! All my best, Giorgio
Thanx for add,suport from sud Italy,your music is a pure form of art!i see you live in Turin(22.09.09)thanx for your music and for this special show,i hope to see you live in Italy again!
James, thanks for the tip on Hildur Gudnadottir and Michael Galasso. I'm enjoying them a lot... and to find Terje Rypdal playing guitar on Michael's CD was a delightful added bonus! I went and dug out some of his old vinyl from the 70's.
