Twittering Machines

James Blackshaw
The Cloud of Unknowing

Sometimes, some things just take time. I’ve owned this record for a while, probably near a year, listened to it twice and just never got it. So I put it away. Until yesterday when I listened again and thought it was just beautiful.

Blackshaw plays mainly unaccompanied 12-string guitar and is certainly a descendant of ‘the Tacoma school’. But Blackshaw adds something more mystical, more worldly with roots spreading in many directions at once. I think part of my initial block were the rave reviews I read and it took this long for the expectations to dissipate and just sit and listen. And enjoy.