Like some eccentric expression of ancient Indo-European voices channelled thru a Celtic body, Michael O’Shea’s improvised acousto-electric music intuitively distills a world of styles into singularly hypnotic works. From the moment it was announced - we knew it would be our reissue of the year - if not the decade - and to celebrate we have a special clear vinyl edition with an alternate cover colourway and a bundled download for instant world-enrichment, to those of you yet to get acquainted with its endless wonders.Ī busker among other trades, O’Shea was an itinerant soul who, after a childhood and formative years spent between Northern Ireland and Kerry in the south of the country, and extensive travel between Europe, Turkey and Bangladesh, created his own instrument - an electrified dulcimer known as Mó Cará (Irish for ‘My Friend’) - which he performed on at Ronnie Scott’s, before later playing on bills with everyone from Ravi Shankar to Don Cherry, and also recording with The The’s Matt and Tom Johnson.Īside from his two contributions to the Stano album, ‘Content To Dine In I Dine Weathercraft’ (also recently reissued by Dublin’s Allchival), O’Shea’s first and only album is the main point of reference for this unique artist. It’s one of those rare records that anyone we’ve played it to - from diehard music collectors and obscurists to those with no interest in the weird recesses of the music world we often inhabit - demanded to know what it was and where they could buy it. Luckily for us, in 2019, All City finally put us out of our misery and gave us this indispensable new edition - the first time the material has been available on vinyl since 1982 and a total ear-opener to a whole new generation of listeners. First brought to our attention by Blackest Ever Black at the start of this decade, we’ve developed an obsessive fascination with its sublime, rapid dervishes and warbling rhythmelodies to the extent that we spent a good couple of years trying to find out how to license it for reissue. Michael O’Shea’s sole, breathtaking album ranks among our favourite of all time - produced by Wire’s Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis at the Dome studio in 1982, it’s an utterly singular work of magick, meshing myriad, worldly modes into music that rarely fails to reduce us to tears.
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