Summary:The first full-length solo release for the Sun City Girls guitarist in five years.
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Record Label:Drag City
Genre(s): Jazz, New Age, Spoken Word, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Experimental Rock, International, New Acoustic, Progressive Folk, World Fusion, Western European Traditions, Flamenco, Ethnic Fusion, Solo Instrumental, Finger-Picked Guitar, Progressive Alternative
It’s strange to encounter an album that is so deeply weird and disjointed, and yet feels polished and made with the utmost craft. The result is otherworldly, and plays like a soundtrack to a moody and impressionistic film.
Sir Richard Bishop is an artist who has shown he can point his music in any number of directions, and the ten tracks on Oneiric Formulary each lead the listener to someplace worth visiting.
Strike a rich vein of form. ... This record lacks a stated motif, but finds the musician digging into the American primitive style (which has often been at least in the orbit of his playing) more keenly than before. “Celerity”, “Enville” and “Vellum”, deft instrumentals all, sit ably in Fahey/Basho territory. [Apr 2020, p.50]
Yes, Bishop takes the guitar on a few mesmerizing turns, alternately embracing frenetic strums and pleasant licks familiar from his past. But on an album inspired by the sounds and scenes of his dreams, Bishop finally seems tired of being confined to one instrument.
Oneiric Formulary may lack overall thematic consistency, and could benefit from Bishop letting loose a little more, but it's satisfying to hear a master of his craft putting his own stamp on some timeless sounds.
Oneiric Formulary, in turn, might not be his best record or feature his best work – but it's more engaging and sonically adventurous than most of what those who consider themselves the lauded experimental jet-set can muster.