CITY OF REFUGE
John Fahey's first album in five years is a bold, brash return to the acoustic guitar work of which he's been a master for almost 40 years, and a confident expansion of his talents. "Chelsey Silver, Please Come Home" and "City Of Refuge III" are classically pretty, country-tinged numbers that recall the better-known parts of the Fahey songbook, but nearly everything else on City Of Refuge finds him clearing the brush through new territory: playing the parts of the guitar that don't usually get played and experimenting with ambient buzzes behind him. Producer Scott Colburn may be responsible for the sound-collage that begins "Fanfare" and the electro-acoustic miking techniques on that track that turn Fahey's slide-guitar into a huge, vibrating scythe, and he's almost certainly responsible for the Stereolab and Sun City Girls samples that pop up on the album. But what are we to make of the film-projector rattle that supports "The Mill Pond"'s free-form whines? Or the 20-minute musique concrete piece that closes the album. "On The Death And Disembowelment Of The New Age"? Still, even when Fahey ventures into untested waters, his playing is a model of concentration and sure-handedness.
- Douglas Wolk: CMJ New Music Report Issue: 508 - Feb 10, 1997
3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Fahey has explored the possibilities of dissonance intertwined with the
undulating rhythms of the blues....strong, pure statements, complete with the familiar Fahey
sounds of dry, close-miked strings acting as metallic, otherworldly messengers..."
Rolling Stone 1/23/97, p.67
"...the notoriously eccentric Fahey returns with a set of fret scrapings, woodsy pluckings, and
unplugged improvisations....Call it bizarro Windham Hill." - Rating: B
Entertainment Weekly 2/7/97, p.69