Compiled by 12-string alchemist James Blackshaw as a quick through-the-veil viewing into experimental music for solo stringed instruments, this is a bag of solo post-psychedelic free-folk performances. All of the five songs here are linked by their use of circular momentums, pressing them in different directions but still return that root of melody or sound. Chieko Mori?s ?Spiral Wave? is a musical tumble of moving notes, a waterwheel creak moving in wobbling plucked circles as it moves. But it?s Blackshaw himself who pushes this feeling of reoccurrence on the album with the most evident forward momentum as he plays. A weary-hearted piece with slowly out-going melodic ripples, ?The Broken Hourglass? is typically superb. With notes glistening and curling as it moves, there?s a narrative feel to this song even though he never stops long enough to solidify his stream of thoughts. It?s a very tight toss-up between Blackshaw and Van Wissem for the record?s peak performance, but the latter just edges Blackshaw out of the frame. Lute player Jozef van Wissem?s ?The Mirror of Eternal Light? feels like the biggest journey on the disc, slowly forming as contrasting sections as it progresses. Beginning in a conventionally dark manner, the lower notes creating a baleful clock-like air, he chalks up three of four different parts while never losing the heart of the song. The Garden of Forking Paths is a good sampler for a particular type of artist and specific stream of sounds, unlikely to shake the foundations of any listeners familiar with these avenues, but a fine sounding taster for strangers nonetheless. 8/10 -- Scott McKeating (29 April, 2008)