Also From This Astral Plane
Stars of The Lid released an album last year hits in a similar way to Blackshaw’s latest: Both are weaved of beautifully long strands of light that shine favorably on most thingsespecially deep concentration and spinning around in the high-winds.
The music of
James Blackshaw, 12-string guitar virtuoso, elegantly drones and is perfect for drifting—in and out of the room, in and out of concentration, between the city, silent trains, and the ocean. “Infinite Circle” is really about these sorts of grand and complete movements. Derek Walmsey of
The Wire magazine
calls it like so: “His fingerpicking mantras are as melodic as a music box, gliding through dizzying tempos like clockwork…Blackshaw often sounds more like a court harpist than a backwoods strummer.”
“Infinite Circle,” is one-fifth of Blackshaw’s latest album,
Litany of Echoes, and the mesmerizing 12-string guitar is perfect. We should expect no more—that’s what 10 out of 10s are for. Float onwards, away-wards. —
Mike Smith, Sep. 11, 2008