John Fahey's extended experimentations decades later with avant-garde's music elite is foreshadowed on 1967's adventurous Requia. These moody, contemplative instrumental works (all featuring Fahey at his guitar-playing peak) resonate with passion, artistry, and--most of all--soul. "When the Catfish Is in Bloom" gradually crescendoes with Fahey's increasing, breakneck tempo, which--around the six-minute mark--becomes a blur of impossible fingerpicking that is both awe-inspiring and swinging. In the first part of "Requiem for Molly," the listener is bombarded by sound samples and tape loops, with Fahey slowly finding his chords. But the guitarist doesn't just noodle; he lets the composition slowly unfold, with humorous found-sound samples abounding and enough familiar guitar themes creeping up to keep you on guard. By part 3 Fahey reaches his most melancholy moment, letting out a methodical rendition of "California Dreaming" on top of lion roars and human screams. Though Fahey's playing influenced an entire generation of talented young guitar pickers, including Leo Kottke, his conceptual prowess goes unmatched here. A truly seminal recording. --Jason Verlinde