Glass bead game review blackshaw

James Blackshaw has released a number of introspective and genre-defying records since his debut on Digitalis Recordings. He has, however, arguably saved his best work for his debut on Young God. With a couple of familiar Current 93 faces behind him, The Glass Bead Game exhibits Blackshaw's experimental preferences, but also showcases his strength as an emotive and able songwriter.

Why Blackshaw named his album after a Herman Hesse novel is anyone's guess. Strong religous and romantic allusions aside, Blackshaw's music is simply and strikingly hypnotic. Its mantra-like quality is perhaps all that is required to share a name with Hesse's meditation on the intellectual and mystical. But, this hypnotic color is something every Blackshaw record has. At a young age he has explored more musical territory than many bands do over the course of an entire career.

What differentiates this album from his previous efforts is the quality of the voices added to the arrangements. Flutes, clarinets, violins, pianos, and a stellar vocal performance all. It's as if this is the band he has always wanted with him. Together with their talents, Blackshaw sounds more spectral and colorful than ever.

With all pistons firing, Blackshaw paints a dramatic, but meditative melodic picture with his guitar. His strings are seemingly caught in a never-ending upward movement, each note intent on elevating the song to a higher and more introspective level. In the background, violins and cellos radiate a steady current of calm hums and ghostly utterances. Then, with just a brief pause, the band begins to weave their disparate melodic and harmonic patterns. Each member bends their instrument, wringing from it more emotion than was present the moment before.

This pattern continues until Lavinia Blackwall adds her voice to the mix. Wordlessly, she accentuates the song's beauty with eruptions of melody and effortless soul.

Her voice seems to steam off of the music, occuring as a natural result of all the activity already churning beneath it. It's a stunning way to start a record and, after hearing it for the first time, I was uncertain that anything could live up to it.

Smartly, Blackshaw goes into deep meditation with both "Bled" and "Fix. The latter is a brief and lovely piano-based song fleshed out by understated and cinematic string accompaniments. It's moderate pace and gentle dynamics pave the way for the epic conclusion that follows. Although the tones pulled from the piano are largely major and bright, they eminate an evocative quietude that only. The final track -- and also the longest at nearly 20 minutes -- is "Arc," which begins as a solo piano piece.

The piano is once again caressed in reverb, playing what seems like the halting beginning of a nearly forgotten melody. As the strings enter, they do so in single-note drones and begin very slowly to emerge in harmony, creating their own melodic frames while holding a series of chromatic changes very closely.

The piece begins to evolve from its snail-like tempo into something beautifully pastoral and then pronounced; it's an open space of possibility for engagement between the three instruments and, eventually, Blackwell's beautiful contralto.

The control by Contreras and Wood is exceptional here. Blackshaw is working out his melody very purposefully, repetitively, and in controlled bits and pieces. That said, by the time the piece reaches its center, the density of melody, sound, and texture is one of almost unbearable beauty and the release of tension is full to the breaking point of bliss itself.

The Glass Bead Game is the most forward-thinking and sublimely executed of James Blackshaw 's releases to date. It is a work that will hopefully introduce him to an entirely new audience who can appreciate the depth, sensitivity, and vision he brings to modern acoustic music.

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Positive: 8 out of 9. Mixed: 1 out of 9. Negative: 0 out of 9. The Glass Bead Game is the most forward-thinking and sublimely executed of James Blackshaw's releases to date. All this publication's reviews Read full review. At the piano bench for the poignant ballad 'Fix' and the stunning, assured finale 'Arc,' Blackshaw makes you forget all about his guitar and your earthly cares.

The Glass Bead Game sees him broadening his palette to even greater effect. All this publication's reviews. Blackshaw creates multiple orchestral effects with his instrument alone, each strum resounding like multiple windchimes. Dusted Magazine. User Reviews. Write a Review.

Positive: 0 out of.