Pitchfork

Since last year's The Cloud of Unknowing (Pitchfork's 34th favorite album of 2007) introduced James Blackshaw and his formidable 12-string skills to a wider audience, fans exploring Blackshaw's back catalogue have been in for quite a dig. Some of the UK guitarist/composer's earliest limited-run CD-Rs and LPs have been out of print. But thanks to his current label Tompkins Square, four of those releases will again see the light of the laser and the prick of the needle on March 25.

2005's Sunshrine, 2004's Celeste, and 2004's Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances will all get individual CD releases, while all three, in addition to 2005's White Goddess, will be split between two vinyl releases (Celeste/Sunshrine and Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances/White Goddess).

JB will come to the U.S. for a handful of shows starting tomorrow, January 25. Then he'll play a bunch of UK and European dates before returning to the States to support his forthcoming new album.

And just this week, Important Records released The Garden of Forking Paths, a compilation curated by and featuring Blackshaw.

Blackshaw:

01-25 New York, NY - Orchard Gallery
01-26 Brooklyn, NY - Sound Fix (in-store)
01-29 Philadelphia, PA - Brickbat Books
01-31 New York, NY - Orchard Gallery
02-01 New York, NY - Issue Project Room (Silent Music Festival)
02-05 San Francisco, CA - Aquarius Records (in-store)
02-06 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord
03-06 Manchester, England - Sacred Trinity Church
03-10 Cambridge, England - CB2
03-11 London, England - Gramaphone
03-26 Galway, Ireland - Roisin Dubh
03-27 Cork, Ireland - The Whiskey
03-28 Limerick, Ireland - Baker's Place
03-29 Dublin, Ireland - Boom Boom Room
03-30 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Pavilion Bar
04-17 Utrecht, Netherlands - Theater Kikker
04-27 Glasgow, Scotland - Triptych Festival
07-08-10 Zaragoza, Spain - Expo Zaragoza 2008