James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

James Blackshaw made his name with his prodigious talent on the twelve-string guitar, but eighth album The Glass Bead Game suggests that dexterous fingerpicking is only one facet of his inordinate skill. On the 18-minute Arc, Blackshaw demonstrates an equally impressive proficiency on the piano, but the fluttering flourishes linger longer than necessary and indicate that his impeccable musicianship might currently be running ahead of his songwriting muse. Nonetheless, such preternatural ability deserves praise, and the album’s best moments - Fix’s hushed beauty and the quietly tempestuous melodies of Cross – will only add to the young Londoner's laurels. While still nominally folk, The Glass Bead Game frequently has more in common with modern classical composers such as Phillip Glass or Michael Nyman, but its cinematic qualities are slightly undone by the aforementioned self-indulgence of which he is occasionally guilty. Perhaps a record to admire, then, rather than to fall in love with.