Revenants, Prodigies and the Restless Dead

VINYL FORMAT. Pressed on high quality virgin vinyl in a hand-numbered edition of 500 copies. Included is an insert and a free MP3 download coupon. C Joynes is a musician whose playing has consistently invoked a broad and shifting stream of inspirations. As a guitarist, there is no doubt that Joynes has been influenced by some of the most idiosyncratic finger-pickers of the last 40 years and beyond, but his music goes far beyond simply this. His recordings have always offered many dimensions for the listener to explore, be it through solo acoustic pieces, larger ensemble work, or the intimate use of improvisations and hill recordings.

Revenants, Prodigies and the Restless Dead is a more expansive affair. Joined on a number of these tunes by an assortment of friends and collaborators, a range of acoustic and vintage electronic instruments all make appearances, gradually fleshing out some of the ideas and direction that Joynes clearly has imprinted in his mind's eye, adding color and hue to some of these beautiful compositions. While Joynes remains at home with English and American forms of folk music, the twelve pieces on this album continue to demonstrate the extent to which other traditions, both Eastern and Western, have an equal and instinctive pull on his music. Listen to the detuned and prepared guitar of "Nyambai Sawmill," which seems equally drawn out of late 60s classical experimentalism as it does to sounds from the Western Sahara.