Various Artists

Imaginational Anthem: A Guitar Anthology

(Tompkins Square)

Record Review by Steven Rosen

No synths, no screaming electrics, no drug-addled vocals to interfere with the pure and essential beauty of acoustic guitars played by some of the most unheralded and most gifted instrumentalists the world has ever known.  This is for the organically-grown listener who can appreciate the precise and ubiquitous beauty of John Fahey (one of Jimmy Page’s biggest influences) and even more obscure six-stringers like Harry Taussig and Sandy Bull, Harris Newman, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Gyan Riley and a host of others.

The pendulum swings from rawboned folk to morphed blues with strange tunings and droning strings; there is jazz and even foreign interludes in the forms of Eastern ragas and Celtic dance compositions.  And all the players are hardly household names; only the serious collector will recognize the monikers here but no one can deny the strength and complex makeup of these vintage gems.

True aficionados have dubbed the ragged, sometimes glitch-filled music as the Takoma sound, named after the record label famous for showcasing the style back in the early 60’s.  In a strange way, this somewhat forgotten idiom has regained popularity amongst the dozens of independent films recently released that harkens back to a time of simpler things, of dustbowl tragedy, of rural migration into the urban jungle.  And more poignantly, it has found an audience – albeit a secular one – amongst discerning fans tired of the same electric pabulum served up by the major labels, fans seeking a new and uncluttered sound and there is nothing more primal than a man – or a woman – and their guitar.

Produced by Josh Rosenthal, Imaginational Anthem has about it the qualities of an extended acoustic, performed – to make the music a bit easier to comprehend – by the likes of Jorma Kaukonen and John Cipollina and Leo Kottke and even Dave Matthews.  So, shut off your cell, turn down the lights, don a pair of comfortable headphones and listen to the sheer and jaw-dropping artistry of musicians more gifted than anyone on MTV and less known than the person driving next to you on the freeway.  Stick this in your CD player and cue up to any song.  You’ll be transported to a place in time you thought may have vanished forever but indeed exists here beneath the fingers of obscure players whose sole purpose in this world is to hold a guitar and delight anyone willing to devote a little time and attention to listening.