PRESS
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james blackshaw (and others) article
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acoustic guitar magazine / Charles Saufley His music draws equally on his love of modern and minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and La Monte Young, as well as Debussy, Ravel, and Indian classical composers who’ve explored the meditative and transcendental potential of stringed instruments for centuries. Blackshaw’s deceptively simple compositions and performances are dreamlike, ever-unfolding pieces of spiderweb intricacy with a spacious quality heightened by the ethereal chime of his Guild 12-string.Acoustic Guitar Magazine 10/01/2009 Blackshaw, Bishop, and Smith By Charles Saufley James Blackshaw, Sir Richard Bishop, and Sean Smith are part of a thriving solo acoustic movement that fuses postpunk, minimalist, and experimental attitudes with Takoma-style fingerpicking, raga, and Gypsy styles in forms that range from the reverent to the radical. From vagabond Gypsies to country blues wailers and radical folkies, acoustic guitar has always had a role as an outsider’s instrument. But in the past ten years it’s become one of the most prevalent—even subversive—sounds in a teeming musical underground of players who grew up with the acoustic/metal fusions of Led Zeppelin, delved into experimentally minded post-punk artists like Sonic Youth, and readily embraced free jazz, electronic minimalists, and acoustic renegades like Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull, Davey......
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james blackshaw live review
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Uncut Magazine / John MulveyIt’s quite lovely, a meticulous reconstruction of the expanded sound of “The Glass Bead Gameâ€, propelled but never totally dominated by Blackshaw’s egoless, aesthetically-charged playing.Uncut Magazine UK http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog=6&title=james_blackshaw_london_vortex_september__2009&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 9/17/09 James Blackshaw: London Vortex, September 17, 2009 by John Mulvey 2009-09-17 The first show by James Blackshaw with additional musicians begins a little oddly. A man plays a brief tuba solo, then settles down to some concerted texting on his phone. It turns out that this is a false start, however. The James Blackshaw Ensemble might contain a cellist, two violin players and a flautist, but the tuba player – warming up, it transpires – is here to accompany the support act, guitarist/pianist Tom James Scott, through a series of hushed, minimal pieces. Blackshaw, meanwhile, is a little nervous upfront of the show: finally, he has a sizeable following, and the Vortex (in Dalston) is rammed. I’ve written many times before about this fine British musician – you can find a blog about his most recent album, “The Glass Bead Game” and links to previous pieces here – so it’s great to see he now can pull a decent audience, and one that’s prepared to go......
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lisa germano / magic neighbor review
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babysue.com / baby suethe music itself is peculiar and strangely absorbing. And at the heart of the songs are those heavenly vocals...strikingly subtle yet amazing vocals that can evoke real emotion in the minds of listeners.www.LMNOP.com 09/30/2009 Lisa Germano / Magic neighbor http://www.babysue.com http://www.babysue.com/2009-Oct-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor87455 Lisa Germano - Magic Neighbor (CD, Young God) Soft puzzling pensive pop)Reflective strange modern lullabies for people with a heightened sense of perception. Lisa Germano's music has touched us more deeply than any other artist in the twenty-first century. Sometimes music serves the simple purpose of providing entertainment...but in other cases music can go farther than that...much, much farther. In our constant search for music that is unique and genuine, Germano wins the top prize. Her sound is so highly stylized that at this point in time she has no competitors. She operates in a unique genre of music that she herself has created. Magic Neighbor picks up where Germano's last album (In The Maybe World) left off. The melodies are heavenly...strangely hypnotic and trippy. The lyrics come straight from the heart (as always). And music itself is peculiar and strangely absorbing. And at the heart of the songs are those heavenly vocals...strikingly subtle yet amazing......
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James Blackshaw live review vortex, london
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pennyblackmusic.com / Dominic B. Simpson...arrived with a mini-orchestra, which suggests that a more fuller sound will be on the cards somewhat. He doesn’t disappointPennyblackmusic .com James Blackshaw : Vortex, London, 16/9/2009 Author: Dominic B. Simpson Published: 24/09/2009 The Vortex may look huge from the outside, but after checking out the bar downstairs and waltzing up the stairs, you realise this venue in the heart of Dalston in east London is in fact tiny. Its décor remains orientated towards jazz, the music that it predominantly features here, with tables and chairs dominating the stage, and taking precedence over the standing area at the back and the bar (a grand piano, meanwhile, takes up roughly half the space of the stage, which isn’t very big to begin with). Nonetheless, the venue has branched out impressively with its programme as of late, with the likes of Broadcast and Richard Youngs set to entertain the venue this month. It’s an intimate enough setting to see British guitarist James Blackshaw, and certainly contrasts with where he was rumoured to originally plan on playing (the reverbed recesses of the Union Chapel, which feels about a thousand times bigger than the Vortex). Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s packed to......
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lisa germano / magic neighbor review
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brainwashed.com / Anthony D'Amicoan unexpected amount of light is now filtering into her creaky, melancholy, and decayed little sonic snow globes...brainwashed.com http://brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7834&Itemid =1 Lisa Germano, "Magic Neighbor" Written by Anthony D'Amico Sunday, 20 September 2009 A new album from Lisa Germano is always a noteworthy event, as each of her periodic hiatuses has threatened to be a permanent one. Magic Neighbor, Lisa's first new album in three years, shows that an evolution has been occurring during her recent silence: an unexpected amount of light is now filtering into her creaky, melancholy, and decayed little sonic snow globes. This shift in direction, however, is still in a bit of an awkward stage. In Michael Gira’s description of Magic Neighbor, he mentions that it reminds him of early Disney songs. Despite my longstanding love of Germano's work and my intense antipathy towards all things Disney, I have to agree with him a bit. This album seems like it could have been a soundtrack to a movie (perhaps about a very sensitive and lonely unicorn) that had to be scrapped because the music made all the children in the focus groups cry. This odd association is largely rooted in Lisa’s conspicuous new divergence......