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LP
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VDSQ 034LP
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The debut album from one of the most deeply emotive and spectral instrumentalists to emerge from Los Angeles in recent years. With Fortune's Mirror, guitarist Barry Archie Johnson claims his place as one of the most original and voices in the meditative music of today. Recorded, mixed and produced by Daniel Knowles. Mastered by Jeffrey Yellen at Ridgeline Sound. Album artwork by Liz Walsh.
"The new album/debut LP from Los Angeles by way of Ohio guitarist/flautist/songwriter Barry Archie Johnson sings out as a startling and gorgeous new voice in guitar centered landscapes. Barry's playing has the depth and patience of Segovia, Will Ackerman, Roy Montgomery, and Mary Halvorson but not only does he have his own voice, something alone which is almost intangibly improbable in the world of guitar music, he has a method of composition that defies easy emotional assignment. For instance, 'Half Smile,' the third track on the album could be a distant lament or an aching cry of gratitude... If anything, the songs on Fortune's Mirror almost mirror a baroque or Romantic era suite, keys and modalities and tension and instrumentation all carefully folding and unfolding together like branches. As unique and holistic as Barry's guitar playing is, there are deeper elements to his craft that emerge early in the record and escort us through the journey. He is a gifted flutist and he summons the same kind of beauty and mystery through the classical wind instrument as he does the steel strings... The penultimate track 'Outlaw's Wand' slowly morphs from a determined march into a free time almost adagio like pause of contemplation, then emerging back into a hypnotic waltz. The guitar fades away in ghostly fashion leading us into the final piece 'I'm Sure I'll See You Soon.' Here we are gifted with a meandering dialogue between Barry's guitar and the saxophone of the renowned Patrick Shiroishi, another shining light of the Los Angeles experimental music world. The song itself is simmering with gentle anticipation... Across nine compositions and in less time than it takes to drive from Pasadena to Burbank on a rainy day, Barry plants a flag in the ground and claims a piece of the sonic stratosphere for his own, a deeply emotive and spectral place where we can wander in our minds and don't want the journey to end." --William Tyler
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