City of Refuge (John Fahey album)
| City of Refuge | ||||
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| Studio album by John Fahey | ||||
| Released | February 11, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1996 | |||
| Genre | Folk, Avant-garde | |||
| Label | Tim/Kerr | |||
| Producer | Scott Colburn | |||
| John Fahey chronology | ||||
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City of Refuge is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1997. It was his first original release in over five years and helped start his career resurgence.
Most of Fahey's catalog had been out-of-print before renewed interest in him began with the release of the Return of the Repressed compilation project for Rhino Records and an article by Byron Coley called "The Persecutions and Resurrections of Blind Joe Death". At the time, Fahey was divorced from his second wife and was living in homeless shelters or cheap hotels.
City of Refuge was Fahey's first release in over five years and helped start his career resurgence although it bears minimal resemblance to his earlier work. It incorporates sound collages overlaying guitar work with various sound effects, including portions of "Pause", from Stereolab's 1993 album Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements. He followed its release that same year with a collaboration album with Cul de Sac, an EP, and another full-length CD.
Fahey states in the liner notes: "For many years I was listed in the Schwann Catalog under popular. That is a much more accurate category than folk or new age. But, the most accurate category is Alternative."
City of Refuge received mixed reviews upon its release, most commenting on Fahey's unpredictability and innovation. Music critic Robert Christgau stated, "He doesn't want to be folk or New Age, and who can blame him?... Once in a while tunes poke through the refuse..." and referred to it as "...Fahey's ticket to wankdom."
Critic David Browne commented on Fahey's unpredictability and eccentricity and that "...Fahey's idiosyncratic style can lead to dark, glistening pieces like the title track—but also, alas, to indulgences like a 20-minute sound collage of static. Call it bizarro Windham Hill."
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