James Blackshaw + Koen Holtkamp
Biography:
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 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 1981, Blackshaw has so far released six 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 huge critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, 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).
He has toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan and currently resides in Hastings, England.
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
James Blackshaw + Meg Baird + Metal Mountains
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 six 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 huge 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). His latest album, “Litany of Echoes” was listed as Uncut Magazine’s 13th Best Album of 2008.
Blackshaw has recently signed to Michael Gira’s (Swans/Angels of Light) Young God Records label and his seventh studio album is to be released in May 2009.
Collaborations have included a duo with Dutch lutenist Jozef van Wissem, performing under the name Brethren of The Free Spirit, live work with Andria Degen’s Pantaleimon,, a live improvisation with Japanese co-founder of The Boredoms Seiichi Yamamoto and work on the new Anok Pe Current 93 album.
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 and performed live on VPRO television in The Netherlands.
Meg Baird has been playing music with her sister Laura for as long as she can remember. The sisters were introduced to a trove of traditional material
via Smithsonian Archives LPs early in life. Their natural gravitation to folk music must have been strong if they felt compelled to write to agencies associated with the Federal Government to unearth old tunes from the vaults.
By the time Meg was high school-aged, Laura had a four-track recorder and a Fender Broadcaster that she let her fall in love with playing. Meg’s years of childhood piano lessons and her musical family upbringing transformed into a foundation for a self-taught guitar and singing style. In the last 5 years or so Laura and Meg became known as “The Baird Sisters” — just a name to tack on a show poster — but the name stuck well with them. As a result of her work with Laura, Meg was suggested to and recruited by Brooke Sietinsons, who was looking for musical collaborators in Philadelphia. In time, the collaborators became the group called Espers, a psychedelic folk group. In addition to being a founding member of Espers, Meg is also one of the primary songwriters and singers.
Metal Mountains
Helen Rush, Samara Lubelski and Pat Gruber
Apestaartje / Incunabulum Festival I
February 1, 2008
*The Apestaartje and Incunabulum labels present 2 nights of music focusing on the use of traditional instrumentation (lute, acoustic guitar etc) and styles (Baroque Music, Folk forms etc) in combination w/ contemporary experimental practices and adaptations.
james blackshaw + mountains + byron westbrook
James Blackshaw
James Blackshaw
Initially inspired by the folk/classical guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar 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 music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotionally charged.
Born in London, England in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released five solo studio albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous compilations. “O True Believers” (2006, Important Records/Bo’weavil Recordings) and “The Cloud of Unknowing” (2007, Tompkins Square) received huge critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The Rolling Stone, 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), Pitchfork (no. 34) and Uncut.
Blackshaw has toured the UK, Europe, Japan and U.S, most of Jose Gonzales, and has also played with Espers, Brightblack Morning Light, Sir Richard Bishop, Simon Finn, Marissa Nadler, Josephine Foster, Glenn Jones and many more. He has improvised live with Seiichi Yamamoto (ex-Boredoms) and recently released a collaboration with composer/lutist Jozef Van Wissem under the moniker “Brethren of The Free Spirit”.
www.jamesblackshaw.com
www.myspace.com/jamesblackshaw
Mountains
Mountains is an ongoing collaboration between Apestaartje co-founders Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp. Having worked in parallel and often overlapping contexts within their respective solo projects, ‘Mountains’ was created as an outlet for live performance. They have released two critically acclaimed albums and toured throughout the US and Europe performing everywhere from festivals, art galleries, and museums to basements, hippie communes, churches, and rock clubs. Mountains has performed with Fennesz, Tony Conrad, Greg Davis, Minamo, Tape, Nicholas Collins, Carsten Nicolai, Lichens, Supersilent, Alog, etc. They have also been included in several exhibitions, most notably at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. There current performances utilize acoustic instruments and objects played through a series of both analog and digital electronics to create an extremely gradual and hypnotic listening experience. ‘Mountains Mountains Mountains’, a new LP only release will be out on the Catsup Plate label in early 2008. “Infinite sheets of grainy sound build and renew themselves to immensely pleasing effect.”
www.staartje.com
www.myspace.com/apestaartjemountains
Byron Westbrook
Byron Westbrook is a composer/sound artist living in Brooklyn, NY. He performs solo under the name CORRIDORS using a system of multiple amplifiers and video projections to create a dynamic space within a space using sound and light. He has performed with Sawako, Tony Conrad, Lichens, Anette Krebs, Soft Circle among others. He has also collaborated with Rhys Chatham in the drone metal group Essentialist (Table of the Elements), as well as performed in the ensembles of Phill Niblock, Chatham, Glenn Branca, and Jonathan Kane.
This performance will premiere a multi-channel sound piece called *68 Footsteps (x8)*, which explores the use of an acoustic guitar to unify dissimilar location recordings broadcast within a space.
www.byronwestbrook.com
8pm $10
