| City of Refuge | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 11, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1996 | |||
| Genre | Folk, avant-garde | |||
| Label | Tim/Kerr | |||
| Producer | Scott Colburn | |||
| John Fahey chronology | ||||
| ||||
City of Refuge is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1997. It was his first original release in over five years and helped start his career resurgence.
Most of Fahey's catalog had been out-of-print before renewed interest in him began with the release of the Return of the Repressed compilation project for Rhino Records and an article by Byron Coley called "The Persecutions and Resurrections of Blind Joe Death". At the time, Fahey was divorced from his second wife and was living in homeless shelters or cheap hotels. [1] [2] [3]
City of Refuge was Fahey's first release in over five years and helped start his career resurgence although it bears minimal resemblance to his earlier work. It incorporates sound collages overlaying guitar work with various sound effects, including portions of "Pause", from Stereolab's 1993 album Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements . He followed its release that same year with a collaboration album with Cul de Sac, an EP, and another full-length CD. [4]
Fahey states in the liner notes: "For many years I was listed in the Schwann Catalog under popular. That is a much more accurate category than folk or new age. But, the most accurate category is Alternative." [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [6] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [7] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B [8] |
| Robert Christgau | C+ [9] |
| Rolling Stone | [10] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [11] |
City of Refuge received mixed reviews upon its release, most commenting on Fahey's unpredictability and innovation. Music critic Robert Christgau stated, "He doesn't want to be folk or New Age, and who can blame him?... Once in a while tunes poke through the refuse..." and referred to it as "...Fahey's ticket to wankdom." [9]
Critic David Browne commented on Fahey's unpredictability and eccentricity and that "...Fahey's idiosyncratic style can lead to dark, glistening pieces like the title track—but also, alas, to indulgences like a 20-minute sound collage of static. Call it bizarro Windham Hill." [8]
Rolling Stone said "...like a sleeper awakening, Fahey has ambled back into the room, still a bit unsteady from slumber." [10] and Allmusic stated "Although guaranteed to irritate Fahey fans who only think of him as a "pretty" folk guitarist, City of Refuge is a mature and deep (if misanthropic) work, and one that deserves to be heard." [6] CMJ New Music critic Douglas Wolk referred to the album as "...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." [12]
PopMatters called the album "barely listenable", [13] but probably the harshest review came from Gary Kamiya at Salon.com . "[It] may not be the most unpleasant album ever recorded, but it comes close. At several points during this interminable, self-indulgent aural experiment, I became convinced that Fahey's purpose was to recreate the exact sensation of a bad LSD trip or an evil hangover on a metaphysical scale. If that is true, he succeeded admirably: This album should come with a free packet of Thorazine. There are one or two tracks on City of Refuge where something like guitar playing can be heard... At its best, [it] achieves a nightmarish soundtrack quality... If you like nightmares, this album is for you." [14]
In his article on Fahey's career resurgence in No Depression , Matt Hanks called City of Refuge "an album so good that in one fell swoop it erases many of the transgressions of former colleagues Kottke, Winston, and a host of other players who claim Fahey as a formative influence." [4]
All songs by John Fahey.
Production notes
Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He has overcome a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. He resides in the Minneapolis area with his family.
Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by guitarist John Fahey in the late 1950s. It was named after Fahey's hometown, Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
American primitive guitar is a fingerstyle guitar music genre, developed by the American guitarist John Fahey in the late 1950s. While the term "American primitivism" has been used as a name for the genre, American primitive guitar is distinct from the primitivism art movement.
Blind Joe Death is the first album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey. There are three different versions of the album, and the original self-released edition of fewer than 100 copies is extremely rare.
John Aloysius Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who played the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been enormously influential and has been described as the foundation of the genre of American primitive guitar, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the self-taught nature of the music and its minimalist style. Fahey borrowed from the folk and blues traditions in American roots music, having compiled many forgotten early recordings in these genres. He would later incorporate 20th-century classical, Portuguese, Brazilian, and Indian influences into his work.
Leo Kottke/Peter Lang/John Fahey is a split album by American guitarists Leo Kottke, Peter Lang, and John Fahey, released in 1974.
Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes is a 1963 album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey. Various sources show either a 1963 or 1964 original release. It was Fahey's second release and the first to gain a national distributor.
The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites is the third album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1965. The 1999 reissue contained four previously unreleased tracks.
Fare Forward Voyagers (Soldier's Choice) (or simply, Fare Forward Voyagers) is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1973. It contains three songs, one comprising a complete side of the original LP.
The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1966. The cover simply labels the album Guitar Vol. 4 while the liner notes label it The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party & Other Excursions. The title never appeared on the record labels themselves. It marked the beginning of Fahey's interest in his recording of experimental soundscapes and sound effects. Despite Fahey's distaste for the 1960s counterculture, it is his release most often referred to as psychedelic.
Days Have Gone By is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1967. The cover labels the album Volume 6 while it was preceded in 1966 by The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party which is labeled Guitar Vol. 4.
Requia is the eighth album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey. Released in November 1967, it was the first of Fahey's two releases on the Vanguard label. It originally received hostile reviews from music critics, particularly for its musique concrète experimentation.
The Best of John Fahey 1959–1977 is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1977. The songs are collected from four of Fahey's dozen or so releases up to that point.
John Fahey Visits Washington D.C. is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1979.
I Remember Blind Joe Death is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1987.
The Return of the Repressed: The John Fahey Anthology is a compilation album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1994. Fahey's career, health and personal life had been in decline. The release of The Return of the Repressed, along with an article in Spin magazine by Byron Coley served to provide a renewal of his career.
Womblife is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1997. It was one of three releases by Fahey that year.
The Epiphany of Glenn Jones is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey and the alternative rock/post-rock band Cul de Sac, released in 1997.
Let Go is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1984. It was his first release on the Varrick label after over 25 years on his own label Takoma, as well as a few releases on other labels.
6- and 12-String Guitar is the second album by Leo Kottke, a solo instrumental steel-string acoustic guitar album originally released by John Fahey's Takoma Records in 1969. It is popularly known as the Armadillo album after the animal illustrated in the distinctive cover art. Although Kottke has had a prolific career as a recording artist, 6- and 12-String Guitar remains his best-known album.
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