6/23/2009 - JAMES BLACKSHAW/THE GLASS BEAD GAME/Review Fact Magazine UK
It's a hypnotic 18-minute rush that's like vomiting gold, rainbows and unicorns out of every orifice in your head (in a good way), and it's one of the greatest songs made so far this year.
6/18/2009 - JAMES BLACKSHAW/THE GLASS BEAD GAME/Review Knoxville Daily Times / by Steve Wildsmith
The way guitar prodigy James Blackshaw sees it, there isn't a lot of difference, really, between his teenage years as a punk rock musician and the sweeping, ethereal arrangements he plays now on his signature 12-string.
6/17/2009 - JAMES BLACKSHAW/THE GLASS BEAD GAME/Review The Line Of Best Fit / by Matt Poacher
Blackshaw’s releases to date have been studies in the possibilities of repetition and iteration; and despite the baroque flourishes and the obvious flair, his work belongs in the realms of the compositionialists and minimalists: Steve Reich, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass...
6/15/2009 - JAMES BLACKSHAW/THE GLASS BEAD GAME/Review fRoots Magazine / by Ian Kearey
...anything by James Blackshaw is unique and a delight, whether you’re into brilliant, rich guitar work, complex yet meditational atmospheres or modern composition, and this could be the album that sees him breaking through to wider acclaim. He’s that good.
6/15/2009 - JAMES BLACKSHAW – THE GLASS BEAD GAME Review Mystery Theater / by Peter Bebergal
...The Glass Bead Game is something of a wonder... it really is wholly original. I could also cite John Fahey, Steve Reich, and other modern composers as being part of his musical trajectory, but there is something much more inventive going on here than just a fusion of influences.
6/15/2009 - James Blackshaw / The Glass Bead Game / Review AMG / by Thom Jurek
The Glass Bead Game is the most forward-thinking and
sublimely executed of James Blackshaw's releases to date. It is a work that will hopefully introduce him to an entirely new audience who can appreciate the depth, sensitivity, and vision he brings to modern acoustic music.
6/10/2009 - JAMES BLACKSHAW/THE GLASS BEAD GAME/ Review Eye Weekly Toronto / by Chris Bolton
Blackshaw’s seventh album The Glass Bead Game
— played on a 12-string acoustic guitar and piano with occasional string and vocal accompaniment — is nothing short of elemental.