James Blackshaw - Litany of Echoes

“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. But guitar isn’t the first thing you hear on “Litany of Echoes”; rather, it’s the tense piano plunking on opener “Gate of Ivory,” likely presented to assure fans that Blackshaw isn’t content to stay in one musical place. Repetition remains key to the material’s development (three of the six songs approach or exceed 12 minutes), but there are more accessible and melodic transitions here (”Infinite Cycle”) than in the past. There are even passages that resemble “hooks” (at the eight-minute mark of “Shroud,” particularly), and the songs make more logical sense as pieces of music thanks to their presence. Mostly, it’s just downright beautiful stuff. —Jonathan Cohen”