The passion for exploratory acoustic music currently in grip has been with Steffen Basho-Junghans for a long time. Based in Berlin, Steffen has been one of the most searching artists in the ever-increasingly loose folk idiom for over two decades. His work on the six and twelve-string guitar makes him a modern-day counterpart to great trailblazers John Fahey and Robbie Basho, from who he takes his name as a creative talisman. While experimentation is a feature of Steffen’s playing, the soul of acoustic guitar tradition is there in equal measure. With boundless imagination, his technique takes in American folk, Eastern raga and Western classical harmonics but also resonates with the inspiring power of free jazz. His Unknown Music series feature what he describes as his most personal excursions yet, containing some of his most stirring and unique compositions. While some pieces are relentlessly intense, there’s an undeniable beauty at their core, found as equally in those that curl out with complex, but softer melodic measure. The percussive qualities of his sound heighten its hypnotic feel in a space created from, and for, pure feeling above all. Unknown Music II is much more than just a set of psychedelic overtures. It’s a work of deep spiritual vision that comes from having travelled far down an exceptionally individual path. (Label info)