BISHOP, SIR RICHARD

Imagining a more loose-limbed and DIY "American primitive" style, Sun City Girls founder Sir Richard Bishop unleashes his inner hillbilly, playing raga-influenced jams without overdubs, effects or electricity. Furious biz - essential listening if yr into Jack Rose, Tashi Dorji or Robbie Basho.

Long lumped in with the post-Fahey American primitive players, Bishop has been troubled by the genre's lack of edge. "It always seemed too orderly, too developed and too safe," he explains. "Way too safe." That's not a slight, just an observation - for music that's expected to be "primitive", it's way too studied. So Bishop tapped into his inner hillbilly, imagining a figure hidden from view in his own private backwoods who never studied any sort of musical canon. Not beholden to the usual set of rules, the veteran guitarist harnesses pure emotion, trying to figure out what genuinely raw, aggressive and rhythmic folk ragas might sound like. And it works, 'Hillbilly Ragas' isn't a million miles away from Bishop's best-known material, but it's intentionally rough around the edges, ignoring the decoration of the post-Fahey set's studied fringe.

Instead of repeating the past, Bishop considers an alternate history, distorting what might as well be flamenco on 'Buzzard's Curse' and stretching out meditative, exhaustive repetitions on 'Worn Slap Out'. Of course, it's impossible for Bishop to completely forget his context - he's well versed in folk music from across the globe - but his emphasis on rhythm and inflamed performance is still captivating. It's the rhythmic, shaker-like strums that make 'Raw Eggs and Rooster Juice' so compelling, and the noisy, squeaky runs that keep us going back to 'Cuttin' the Shine'.