I had the privilege of enjoying Sir Richard Bishop’s opening set for teh Animal Collectivez during the spring 2007 tour when they premiered just about all of Strawberry Jam. The audience seemed to listen and enjoy the music, despite the fact no one was actually looking at him on the stage. It was odd, but understandable – unless you’re a guitar player yourself, the versatile guitar maestro and ex-Sun City Girl is just a bearded bro sitting down and noodlin’. However, if you’re one for tonality and next-level musicianship, the richness of his international musical vernacular, shifting modalities, pure dexterity, and evocation of ominous spirits through a Peavey amp at 120 decibels was a fucking shamanistic thing to experience.
Sir Richard Bishop’s latest, The Freak of Araby, is, as you could probably glean from the name, straight outta the Ottoman Empire. Most songs tend to air on the sparse side, which is as much for utility as mood – the tempo changes so often that very few percussions could probably keep up with the knighted one. When the rhythm does drop, though, the results are the best example of truly hypnotic music. The gypsy psych of “Kaddak El Mayass” and “Sidi Mansour” is a burgoo of eastern traditionals and western composition so seamless that David Byrne should probably feel retarded if he heard this. While The Freak of Araby offers no change of direction from earlier Sir Richard Bishop releases, his conceptual yet tangible explorations across desolate soundscapes and past (or possibly) parallel worlds are so unique that Bishop has placed himself in a position wherein he need not reinvent himself to sound “fresh.”
The Freak of Araby is out today on Drag City.
Fagen-Becker Quality Rating
MP3 :::
Sir Richard Bishop – Kaddak El Mayass
Sir Richard Bishop – Sidi Mansour
