Justin Adams: Ribbons CD review

It has been 16 years since the guitarist and producer Justin Adams released his last solo album, but he can hardly be accused of slacking. A member of Robert Plant’s current band, he has revealed his fascination with Arab and African cultures in an extensive series of collaborations with artists ranging from Juldeh Camara to Seun Kuti, while exploring African-Celtic fusion with Sharon Shannon. 

Now he uses those global influences in an original set of ambient experimental pieces, matching carefully layered and textured guitar work against vocal effects from Anneli Drecker, from the Norwegian Arctic. These are not songs but atmospheric, often hypnotic mood pieces. The throbbing, doomy guitar work on the opening Lightshaft sounds all the more eerie thanks to Drecker’s throat singing, and is followed by excursions into African desert blues, now given a mysterious, unworldly edge. It is a strange but compelling set.

read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jun/08/justin-adams-ribbons-cd-review-hypnotic-moody-global-blend