• Michael-Oshea

Micheal O'Shea - S/T

AllChival

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>> Repress available again in the original style sleeve <<


Totally spellbinding first vinyl reissue of a long-lost classic from the incredible Michael O'Shea, circa 1982.

This record has been crazy hard-to-find / afford for some time now, and it's a centrepiece to a rather illusive travelling artist that has nonetheless found love from some of the most respected in the fields of improv' - Alice Coltrane, Don Cherry, Ravi Shankar and more...
But forget all that, just take this record, put it on the deck, dim the lights and enter the very special place that this music offers.

"Having sold his instruments to fund a nomadic 1970s lifestyle, eccentric Irish experimentalist Michael O’Shea was forced to create his own handmade answer to the sitars and zelochords he’d become accustomed to playing on his travels around the globe.

Using an old door, 17 strings, chopsticks and combining them with phasers, echo units and amplification, the new device was to become his signature sound, mixing Irish folk influences with Asian and North African sounds in a mesmerising and soulful new way that brought him to the attention of the leading improvisers of his day - Alice Coltrane, Ravi Shankar, Don Cherry and more.

A logical follow up to AllChival’s recent reissue of Stano's debut LP, Michael O’Shea’s self titled LP was originally released on Wire's Dome Imprint in 1982.

The background to the album is as interesting and inspiring as the artist who created it - born in Northern Ireland but raised in the Republic, O’Shea was keen to travel and escape the troubles of his home.

Wandering throughout Europe and the Middle East, O’Shea found himself living and working as a relief aid in Bangladesh in the mid Seventies where he learned to play sitar while recovering from a bout of hepatitis. A later period spent busking in France accompanied on zelochord by Algerian musician Kris Hosylan Harp led to O’Shea’s idea of combining both instruments as a homebuilt instrument - Mo Chara

No Journey's End



Kerry



Voices



Anfa Dásachtach