Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries (1984) [2015 SACD]

Michael Hedges' Aerial Boundaries remains one of the most groundbreaking albums in acoustic guitar history, a Grammy-nominated set remarkable for its intimate sound, revelatory playing, and unassailable technique. The 1984 record helped bring Hedges to light as a visionary that both stretched the limits of his instrument and created new languages that have yet been mastered by his peers. Teeming with classically derived harmonies and rapid-fire finger fretboard runs, Hedges' compositions feature multi-layered passages and an incredibly dynamic range of contrasts.
Performing with the determined zeal of a madman, and blending innovative approaches to tones, tuning, and intensity into his works, Hedges often makes it seem like what we're hearing is produced by more than just one man and his guitar. Stirring tracks such as "Rickover's Dream" and "Spare Change" coincide with an ingenious take on Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush." Hedges plays seductively quiet one moment and suddenly explosive - slow or fast, timid or thunderous - the next.
"There was simply no one like him," Bonnie Raitt said of Hedges, following his untimely death in 1997. "A very gifted performer, arranger and composer whose music sounded like nothing that had come before it." We couldn't agree more!
Hedges died in a auto accident at the age of 43. He received a posthumous Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for his 1998 release "Oracle".
Tracks:
01. Aerial Boundaries 04:42
02. Bensusan 02:32
03. Rickover's Dream 04:50
04. Ragamuffin 03:15
05. After The Gold Rush 04:12
06. Hot Type 01:34
07. Spare Change 05:47
08. Ménage à Trois 07:09
09. The Magic Farmer 04:01