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Sold outVisit product page →In celebration of the centenary of Louis Feuillade’s Fantômas silent film series, James Blackshaw was invited by Yann Tiersen to perform a live score to the fifth and final film, Le Faux Magistrat, at the beautiful and prestigious surroundings of the Thétre de Chtelet, Paris on October 31st 2013. Fantômas – a master of disguise and symbol of terror – is one of the most popular characters in French crime fiction, as well as a favourite with the avant-garde, particularly the surrealists.
Tim Hecker, Amiina, Yann Tiersen and Loney Dear also performed during the event (which was broadcast live on the European ARTE channel) each bringing their own unique sonic perspective to the other installments in the series.
Written during the course of a few months, Blackshaw drew influences from French impressionist composers, Brazillian guitar music, musique concrete and the works of other film composer such as David Shire and Pino Donaggio, to create a noirish score that is in turns sinister, quietly profound and thrilling.
Personally invited by James Blackshaw, experimental musicians Duane Pitre and Simon Scott (also of Slowdive) contributed drums, electronics, synth, bowed guitar, bass and more to Blackshaw’s nylon string guitar and grand piano, with multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Glasson adding violin, vibraphone and several wind instruments to the 75 minute long work. -
When UK-native James Blackshaw plays his 12-string guitar, something spiritual takes place. Performing and recording since 2003, his name is frequently mentioned as one of the foremost modern solo acoustic guitarists.Visit product page →
Now at the age of 25, Blackshaw, an untrained musician born and still residing in the suburban environs of Greater London, draws as much inspiration from early religious music, South-Asian folk music and composers such as Arvo Part, Simeon Ten Holt, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine as he does from John Fahey, Robbie Basho and the early Takoma Records roster, constantly breaking boundaries in what could be conceived as a somewhat limited medium.
In his part improvised and part written songs, Blackshaw makes expert use of Eastern and Western scales, chord changes reminiscent of European classical music and incredibly intricate fingerpicking patterns to make a sound that is both challengingly minimalistic, yet warm and approachable to anybody who might hear it, with a rare sensitivity that conveys both immense beauty, hope and sadness.
Blackshaw has been featured in a range of magazines across the world including The Seattle Weekly, The Washington Post, Italy's Blow Up magazine and most recently in a full - page article in the October 2006 issue of The Wire.
James has toured Japan, Europe, Scandinavia and UK in 2005 and 2006, playing with artists such as Sir Richard Bishop, Espers, Brightblack Morning Light, Feathers, Greg Davis, Jack Rose, Marissa Nadler, Josephine Foster, Seiichi Yamamoto of The Boredoms and Christina Carter.
Tompkins Square label will follow the release of The Cloud of Unknowing with reissues of his earlier, out-of-print, limited edition albums this summer. U.S. tour plans are in the works for summer 2007. James is booked by Concerted Efforts in the U.S. concerted@concertedefforts.com.
"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." - The Observer, 31/12/06
"In recent months, 24-year-old UK guitarist James Blackshaw has burst fully-formed onto the folk underground, his remarkable talents already seeming at peak maturity" - Pitchfork
Tracklisting:
1. The Cloud of Unknowing
2. Running To The Ghost
3. Clouds Collapse
4. The Mirror Speaks
5. Stained Glass Windows -
On saleVisit product page →Guitarist/composer James Blackshaw's 2007 Tompkins Square album, The Cloud of Unknowing, received 'Top 50 Albums of the Year' honors from Pitchfork and Wire Magazine. Fresh off a U.S. and UK tour with Jose Gonzalez, and a bevy of year-end
praise from the blogosphere to The New York Times, Tompkins Square reissues four catalog titles previously only available as tiny, limited edition CDR pressings. James will return to the U.S. this Spring in support of his next studio album, to be released in June of 2008. Mr. Blackshaw plays 12-string acoustic guitar, picking endlessly circling, intertwining arpeggios: stately, tolling ones on the lower strings and faster ones, verging on tremolo, up above. Yet what usually emerges from the welter of notes is not bustle but
tranquillity. The music has the same contemplative scope that turns countless tiny daubs into a Monet water lily. ' Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Dec 31, 2007
Originally released on CD in an edition of 1000 by Digitalis Industries (Digi017) and as one half of the "Sunshrine/Celeste" LP in an edition of 525 on Bo'weavil Recordings (Weavil08) in 2005. -
On saleVisit product page →Guitarist/composer James Blackshaw's 2007 Tompkins Square album, The Cloud of Unknowing, received 'Top 50 Albums of the Year' honors from Pitchfork and Wire Magazine. Fresh off a U.S. and UK tour with Jose Gonzalez, and a bevy of year-end
praise from the blogosphere to The New York Times, Tompkins Square reissues four catalog titles previously only available as tiny, limited edition CDR pressings. James will return to the U.S. this Spring in support of his next studio album, to be released in June of 2008. Mr. Blackshaw plays 12-string acoustic guitar, picking endlessly circling, intertwining arpeggios: stately, tolling ones on the lower strings and faster ones, verging on tremolo, up above. Yet what usually emerges from the welter of notes is not bustle but
tranquillity. The music has the same contemplative scope that turns countless tiny daubs into a Monet water lily. ' Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Dec 31, 2007
Originally released as a CD-R in an edition of 200 copies by Digitalis Industries (Digi08) in 2004. -
Sold outInitially inspired by the guitarists of the 60's Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, London-based musician James Blackshaw writes pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar that share more in common with the minimalist works of composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine, as well as French composers Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, than the blues/raga influence of his peers. Using drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody, Blackshaw creates instrumental music that is intelligent, hypnotic and unashamedly sentimental.Visit product page →
Blackshaw's previous 2007 album for Tompkins Square, The Cloud Of Unknowing garnered huge acclaim from all corners of the globe from both listeners and critics alike, receiving effusive reviews in Pitchfork, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar, and earning him a slot opening in the UK and US for Jose Gonzalez during fall 2007. The Cloud of Unknowing was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of 2007 by The Wire and Pitchfork.
Litany of Echoes, Blackshaw's sixth studio album in five years, shows a more mature, focused and, on the whole, accessible approach to composition. While the album often feels darker and more introspective in nature than on previous releases, many of the songs have a huge-sounding, classical quality to them. With Blackshaw adding some glistening piano work for the first time and Fran Bury returning to play swarms of sweeping string parts for violin and viola, Litany of Echoes is a truly original, affecting and timeless album from a guitarist/composer coming into his own. -
On saleVisit product page →Guitarist/composer James Blackshaw's 2007 Tompkins Square album, The Cloud of Unknowing, received 'Top 50 Albums of the Year' honors from Pitchfork and Wire Magazine. Fresh off a U.S. and UK tour with Jose Gonzalez, and a bevy of year-end
praise from the blogosphere to The New York Times, Tompkins Square reissues four catalog titles previously only available as tiny, limited edition CDR pressings. James will return to the U.S. this Spring in support of his next studio album, to be released in June of 2008. Mr. Blackshaw plays 12-string acoustic guitar, picking endlessly circling, intertwining arpeggios: stately, tolling ones on the lower strings and faster ones, verging on tremolo, up above. Yet what usually emerges from the welter of notes is not bustle but
tranquillity. The music has the same contemplative scope that turns countless tiny daubs into a Monet water lily. ' Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Dec 31, 2007
Originally released as a CD-R in an edition of 80 copies on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon in 2004 and reissued as a CD-R in an edition of 100 copies by Barl Fire Records (BF001) and as one half of the "Sunshrine/Celeste" LP in an edition of 525 on Bo'weavil Recordings (Weavil08) in 2005
