The “American primitive” school of guitar fingerpicking often aspired to the universal in its expansion outwards from country / blues technique. Founder John Fahey was the most obvious exponent with his fusions of bluegrass and Indian raga - but actually one of the purest and most timeless expressions was this set of demos made by Kentucky guitarist Fosson for Fahey’s Takoma label shortly before its bankruptcy in the late 1970s. Fosson’s style is much less gnarled and more geometric and there’s a sense that his repetitions are approaching some kind of holy minimalism not a whole universe away from JS Bach’s canons and variations on themes. But this isn’t austere: for all its purity and focus there are lilting tunes galore.