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Brethren Of The Free Spirit
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Description: | CD on on Audiomer, JAMES BLACKSHAW & JOZEF VAN WISSEM ltd to 1000 copies!! |
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| Format: | CD | |
| Genre(s): | Folk/Folk Rock | |
| Label: | Audiomer | |
| Price: |
£11.99
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| Availability: | Sold out / currently unavailable. Sorry! |
...according to our Phil on 31 January 2008.
Brethren of the Free Spirit
'All Things are from Him, through Him and in Him'
Brethren of the Free Spirit is composed out of Jozef van Wissem (The
Netherlands), who plays the lute, and James Blackshaw (United Kingdom),
who plays 12-string guitar. Their first release under the Brethren
moniker is called 'All Things are from Him, through Him and in Him',
and is loosely based on the heretic writings of 13th Century French
mystic Marguerite Porete. The album consists of four contemplative and
circular pieces, that were the result of sessions held at Locksley Hall
in 2007.
'All Things are from Him, through Him and in Him' is the first release
on the MER. Paper Kunsthalle vzw project, audioMER. The record is
available on CD in an edition of 1078 copies, and on vinyl, in an
edition of 330 copies. Both versions contain artwork by Belgian
illustrator Wouter Vanhaelemeesch. Graphic design & typography was
handled by Levi Seeldraeyers & Marijke Loozen.
Bio Jozef van Wissem
Jozef van Wissem probably plays and composes for the most unlikely
instruments in the world of contemporary improvised music: the
Renaissance and Baroque lute. He has accomplished the strange feat of
bridging the idiom of seventeenth century lute literature and
twenty-first century free improv of the silent type. Although Van
Wissem uses subtle electronic sound manipulation, he has largely stayed
faithful to the particular timbre, resonance and playing technique of
the lute. Van Wissem first came to be noticed a few years ago because
of his radical conceptual approach to Renaissance lute music: he
deconstructed existing compositions, for instance by playing them
backwards.
He also composed his own pieces for lute, using palindromes and
mirrored structures. His music therefore does not have a traditional
linear progression, nor leads to a climax, it rather stays on the same
level of intensity. His music is quiet and not so much demands
concentrated listening, as it will bring the listener in a state of
concentrated listening - an aspect that makes Van Wissem a natural ally
of the current post-reductionist improvising musicians. Van Wissem also
runs the Incunabulum label, and performs regularly around the world in
duo with guitar-wizard of Captain Beefheart-fame, Gary Lucas. He also
works with M.B. / Maurizio Bianchi., Tetuzi Akiyama and Elliot Sharp.
ÊJozef van Wissem attracted attention with his first work for solo lute
entitled "Retrograde, A Classical Deconstruction" which consisted of
the backwards rendition of original solo lute compositions from around
1600. For two years he appropriated hundreds of original lute
compositions to create this work which was inspired by his studies of
Renaissance lute with Pat O'Brian in New York City. He discovered that
from the Middle Ages on, a common technique in lute composition was the
backwards performance of the melody.In general van Wissem's work takes
the classical ideas and techniques of lute composition such as
retrograde melodies and the application of mirror images, another
technique idiomatic to lute tablature of around 1600, and brings them
in to the 21 Century. He writes the tablature from bottom right corner
to top left and to these inversions he adds new themes, accents and
rhythms. In addition he has applied the cut up technique of writer
William Burroughs and cut shifted, mixed and pasted the parts together
so that a new entity arises. Instead of going back into history to seek
out original conventions he moved backward in search of something new.
The second application of the mirror images is heard on his CD's
"Simulacrum" and "Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear". This
work is based on musical palindromes, structures which sound the same
when played forwards or backwards. His work with palindromes and mirror
images are also related to concepts derived from the teaching of Gilles
Deleuze and Lacan. His CD, "Simulacrum" consists of works using a
combination of long lute notes, which are electronically enhanced in
the studio and palindrome compositions, including bransles, which were
written for dance. The lute electronics are achieved by inserting a
microphone in to the inside body of the lute to capture certain
overtones and frequencies allowing him to perform while moving around a
large space. His fifth cd "Objects in Mirror are closer than they
appear" consists of manipulated airfield recordings, lute palindromes
and electronics. His cd "A Rose by any Other name" consists of
classical lute pieces from the Golden Age by anonymous composers. Van
Wissem has toured extensively, as soloist or together with the likes of
Tetuzi Akiyama and Gary Lucas.
(from http://www.jozefvanwissem.com/)
Bio James Blackshaw
When UK-native James Blackshaw plays his 12-string guitar, something
spiritual takes place. Performing and recording since 2003, his name is
frequently mentioned alongside the likes of Jack Rose, Steffen
Basho-Junghans, Sir Richard Bishop and Glenn Jones as one of the most
foremost modern pioneers of solo acoustic guitar music. 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 one page article in the October 2006
issue of The Wire. His last album, "O True Believers" (Important
Records/Bo'Weavil Recordings) also received enthusiastic reviews in
Pitchfork, Fakejazz, Uncut, The Wire, Signal To Noise, The Observer
(one of the UK's most highly-regarded national newspapers) and many
other printed and online magazines.
After succesfully touring Japan, Europe, Scandanavia, US and UK in 2005
and 2006, playing with artists such as Sir Richard Bishop, Espers,
Brightblack Morning Light, Feathers, Greg Davis, Jack Rose, Glenn
Jones, Sharron Kraus, Simon Finn, Marissa Nadler, Alexander Tucker,
Josephine Foster, Seiichi Yamamoto of The Boredoms (with whom he
improvised with) and Christina Carter. James Blackshaw has been busy
recording a new album, entitled "The Cloud of Unknowing", which will be
released by New York's Tompkins Square label in early 2007, alongside
CD reissues of his earlier, out-of-print, limited edition albums.
(from http://www.jamesblackshaw.com/)
Selected Press Quotes (James Blackshaw):
"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, 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... Blackshaw has established himself as an
instrumentalist of astonishing grace and delicacy, seeming as though
he's gobbled and digested whole the primitive folk canons of Takoma and
Vanguard. Relying primarily on 12-string guitar, Blackshaw's intricate
creations web together Robbie Basho's wayfaring mysticism, Ben Chasny's
soft-focused acid tongues, and the rustic fantasias of Sandy Bull...
Blackshaw is able to differentiate himself through his exotic lyricism,
stray pan-ethnic flourishes and pure unmasked virtuosity." -
Pitchforkmedia.com
"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. His raga-like instrumentals are not
structured as much as woven, teasing out a single melodic strand to
explore all it's textural possibilities. 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
