Jake Xerxes Fussell Out of Sight (Paradise of Bachelors)
I’ve been a fan of Jake’s for a while and was delighted when I realised after a few listens that this was his best album yet. Although incorporating a full band set up, the music is restrained and thoughtful, perfectly framing the foraged songs throughout. I’m biased, so the two instrumental pieces, ‘Three Ravens’ and ’16-20′, are particularly dear, but there can be no denying that ‘The Rainbow Willow’ is a highlight, although everything here is excellent.
Try: The Rainbow Willow
Sarah Louise Nighttime Birds and Morning Stars (Thrill Jockey)
Another year, another Sarah Louise album in the polls; Nighttime Birds sees Sarah at her most abstract and creative, with the eight nocturnal pieces here having been crafted mainly from electric guitar fragments in standard tuning and manipulated through her electronic programme. The result is, of course, her most electronic-sounding record yet, but somehow still her most earthy and profound.
Try: Ancient Intelligence
Bill Callahan Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (Drag City)
It was a great moment finally seeing the arrival of a Bill Callahan album after several years of laying musically dormant, and Shepherd indulges its fans wonderfully, through twenty songs and over an hour of music. Subtlety is key here, with minimal adornments on songs built on a simple acoustic guitar and voice foundation. The whole thing is wonderful, with beautiful writing and music throughout.
Try: Watch Me get Married
Rob Harbron Meanders (Self Release)
It takes a special musician to hold the listener’s interest for forty-five minutes with just a concertina recorded in the simplest way, with no accompaniments or overdubs. Thankfully this is Rob Harbron, so the traditional tunes are chosen with experience and taste and the original compositions are beautiful and evocative. With generous liner notes and lovely packaging, this is a very special folk album from a master of the genre.
Try: Mill Lane
Rant The Portage (Make Believe Records)
And this effort from Scottish violin quartet Rant is another absolute triumph for many of the same reasons as Rob’s. The recording was done quickly in a Glasgow church and the music is untampered and impeccably performed by four musicians working at a very high level. The packaging again is gorgeous, with interesting and very readable song notes behind a lovely painting by Ruth Brownlee. It is honest, deep instrumental music at its finest.
Try: Nach truagh mo chàs (Hard is my Fate)
J.R. Bohannon Dusk (Figureight Records)
There are many guitarists coming through the woodwork that are influenced by the Tacoma and Windham Hill schools and Bohannon, who adheres to both and neither, is one I have found particularly intriguing. Dusk is a perfect companion to his Recôncavo EP released last year and is a balanced mix of American Primitive style finger-style guitar and more disparate experimental playing. Well executed and full of ideas.
Try: A Continuous Harmony
Bill MacKay and Katinka Kleijn Stir (Drag City)
Bill has had a cracking year, with his solo Fountain Fire album hitting the ground running and this more challenging duo set also delighting. MacKay and Kleijn have worked together before and both have a history in free jazz and improvised set ups, which shows clearly on Stir. At points quiet and contemplative and at others fierce and bold, this one shows what you can do with minimal tools and maximum ability.
Try: Door to the Magic Theatre
Charles Rumback & Ryley Walker Little Common Twist (Thrill Jockey)
And Bill’s bandmate Ryley’s own duo album for 2019 is in a similar vein to the above, with the project ranging from gentle acoustic guitar meditative pieces to abstract, sci-fi plains music, where notes and drum patterns whisper around each other. This is his and Chicago jazz drummer Rumback’s second album together and it’s a blinder.
Try: Self Blind Sun
Various Artists Ten Years Gone (A Tribute to Jack Rose) (Tompkins Square)
This compilation put together by Buck Curran and put out by Josh Rosenthal at Tompkins Square is a melting pot of guitar and occasionally fiddle talent either influenced by or contemporaries of the late great Jack Rose. The quality of music across these fourteen tracks is very high and there is a huge variety of musical styles on display, each showcasing some originality within the parameters of solo acoustic music.
Try: By Any Other Name (Sir Richard Bishop)
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Thomas Bartlett Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Thomas Bartlett (Real World Records)
Oh, wonderful improvisation! These two talented devils actually played as a duo before they became fully incorporated into the heavyweight folk outfit that is the mighty Gloaming and this is a demonstration of their skill as a pairing. Caoimhín’s Hardanger d’amore (a ten-string Hardanger and viola d’amore hybrid) has amazing depth and Thomas’s piano playing is perfectly judged on an amazing work that defies categorising.
Try: Strange Vessels