James Blackshaw - All Is Falling
by Jamie Rowland
published: 9 / 7 / 2010

Label:
Young God Records
Format: CD
intro
Breathtakingly orchestral ninth album from guitarist/pianist James Blackshaw, which finds him playing with a twelve-string electric guitar rather than its usual acoustic counterpart
'All is Falling' is guitarist/pianist James Blackshaw’s 9th studio album, and his second on Michael Gira’s Young God Records after last year’s 'The Glass Bead Game'. On this new album, Blackshaw moves away from his more usual acoustic twelve-string and picks up its electric counterpart. While there are of course many similarities between the compositions on 'The Glass Bead Game' and this new album, on 'All is Falling' Blackshaw expands his sound to create genuinely breathtaking orchestral pieces. The album is split across eight parts, building as it goes in cinematic movements, until it finally reaches its peak in part 7, then slowly brings you back down to earth through it’s eighth and final track. This is mood music as its best; instrumental pieces but by no means background music – 'All is Falling' demands your attention, and undoubtedly will grab it tightly. Buy this record, stick it on your hi-fi, crank up the volume, close your eyes and let Blackshaw’s amazingly beautiful pieces work their magic
Track Listing:-
1 Part 12 Part 2
3 Part 3
4 Part 4
5 Part 5
6 Part 6
7 Part 7
8 Part 8
Label Links:-
http://younggodrecords.com/https://www.youtube.com/user/YoungGodTube
live reviews |
KOKO, London, 28/10/2010 |
![]() |
At the London KOKO, Jamie Rowland watches James Blackshaw, supporting head-splitting no wave legends Swans, play a brave and ultimately triumphant set of instrumental acoustic music |
Vortex, London, 16/9/2009 |
reviews |
The Glass Bead Game (2009) |
![]() |
Spellbinding latest album from distinctive London-based fingerpicking guitarist, James Blackshaw, who, despite being still in his twenties, has already managed to release an impressive back-catalogue of material |
most viewed articles
current edition
Waterboys - Roundhouse, London, 1/6/2025Cary Baker - Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking and Street Music
Lemonheads - O2 Ritz, Manchester, 16/8/2025
Robert Forster - Interview
Brian Wilson - 1942-2025
Belouis Some - Video Vault
Last of the Lovely Days - Interview
Morrissey - Photoscapes
Motorcycle Boy - Interview
Tossing Seed - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Big Flame - Peel Sessions 84-86Silver Biplanes - Coming Up For Air
Suzie Ungerleider - Among The Evergreens
Bruce Dickinson - More Balls to Picasso
Good Charlotte - Motel du Cap
Wolf Alice - The Clearing
Kirk Adams and Ed Woltil - Eat The Sunshine, Drink The Starshine
Liarbillys - Vandalheart
Phew, Erika Kobayashi,, Dieter Moebius - Radium Girls
Rupert Wates - Father to the Man
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart