Album Review
Fahey, John – “Hitomi” – [Important Records] (33rpm)
Jawbone 10/24/2006 12-inch, Country
At times shimmering, ghostly, hypnotic and drenched in reverb. At times bluesy in a slow, zen, discordant way. John Fahey’s last album to be released while he was still among the living, was his first to be self produced and self recorded since 1961. Supposedly, a live recording (there is no audience noise), the album lopes along at a very relaxed pace, until side 4, when it takes off in a free jazz workout known as “A History of Tokyo Rail Traction” (complete with locomotive sound effects). This is the only non-solo piece on the album, where Fahey is accompanied by Tim Knight and Rob Shrivener on keyboards and guitars.
After 40 years of recording and 40 albums, Hitomi was originally released in 2000, just months before Fahey’s death at age 61 after undergoing sextuple bypass surgery. A few postmortem releases have come out since, but this remains an interesting final testament from the father of American Primitive Guitar.
–Jawbone
you heard it 23 times on kfjc! most recently:
- 1192 days ago, Louie Caliente played Hitomi
- 1513 days ago, Avakhov played Hitomi
- 2117 days ago, Slug((o)) played A History of Tokyo Rail Traction
- 2333 days ago, Dusty Rhodes played Hitomi
- 5404 days ago, Joe Ed Dick played Delta Flight 53
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