John Fahey's artistic reputation wasn't so hot during the last two decades of his life: a generation of somnambulant acoustic guitarists who emulated Fahey's distinctive finger-picking style but lacked his melodic invention, tonal experimentation and bizarre wit turned the solo acoustic guitar album into just another new age cliché. But since his 2001 death, adventurous rockers have rediscovered Fahey's classic '60s and '70s albums, and he's become a key influence on those artists misleadingly lumped together under the catch-all term "post-rock." Thirteen of that lot are represented here, and it's those who take the most liberties with Fahey's material who do the best work. Devendra Banhart merely does his best Fahey imitation on his solo acoustic track, but M. Ward (whose Transfiguration of Vincent album was a partial Fahey homage) turns "Bean Vine Blues #2" into a needly electric blast. Calexico, the recently disbanded Grandaddy, Sufjan Stevens and Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo all contribute songs that sound very much like their usual work, which is the greatest compliment another artist can give to John Fahey: no matter what his source material, he always sounded like no one else. That kind of individuality is what makes I Am the Resurrection work.
