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LP
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RM 4273LP
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A note from David Grubbs: "Somewhere in the Wind is the third record that Loren Connors and I have made together. Of the three, it's the first that consists exclusively of electric guitar duos and it's the first that was recorded live. To me it feels very much like a live record; this music happened in crowded rooms in Brooklyn on two dates in 2025 and there's an urgency to connect with others and a pleasure in doing so that can be heard on both of these tracks. On the first of our duo records (Arborvitae, 2003) I primarily play piano, and on the second (Evening Air, 2024) we switch off on piano and guitar. Both of those albums bespeak the privacy of the recording studio, where time is suspended and one can explore the quietest of sounds. By contrast, Somewhere in the Wind is the noisiest, most raucous and most free of our duo records. It's the sound of us taking it to the stage. I became a fan of Loren's playing from the moment that I first heard it, after happening upon a beat-up copy of In Pittsburgh circa 1992 in a used bin in the Dr. Wax record store in Chicago where my then-bandmate Bundy K. Brown worked. Everyone has taken a chance on a record because it looked interesting and wouldn't set you back too much. In that regard In Pittsburgh was the find of a lifetime. I had just switched from playing in a postpunk power trio (Bastro) to making mostly drummerless respect-your-neighbors music (Gastr del Sol), and Loren's pacing and touch and his lovely, unaffected compositions had me from the first listen. Not long after that, Jim O'Rourke and I reissued In Pittsburgh on our Dexter's Cigar label, and I fondly remember first meeting Loren in New York's Grand Central Station -- so glamorous for this country mouse -- and taking the train upstate with him where he shared a bill with Gastr del Sol. During soundcheck, Jim, Loren, and I played together for a bit and Loren's approach to the instrument was something that one could instantly sink into, the kind of situation where there are no mistakes. I still feel that when we play together."
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LP
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RM 4226LP
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Evening Air is the result Loren Connors and David Grubbs's first trip to the recording studio in the two decades since their first duo album, Arborvitae (Häpna). Arborvitae stood out for its spell-binding, utterly unhurried meshing of electric guitar (Connors) and piano (Grubbs). With this long-awaited return, Connors and Grubbs take turns trading off on piano and guitar, with Grubbs at the keyboard for the two gently expansive pieces on the first side and Connors taking over the instrument for three gorgeous miniatures on the flip, including an album-closing and perfectly heart-stopping version of Connors's and Suzanne Langille's "Child." The album's wildcard is "It's Snowing Onstage," which finds the two locking horns with two electric guitars before Loren blew the minds of all present in the studio by unexpectedly switching to drums. Loren Connors is one-of-a-kind, one of a handful of deservedly storied musical greats gracing listeners with their presence, and with Evening Air David Grubbs again demonstrates that he's a stellar musician who also ranks among the most simpatico of collaborators.
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CD
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HAPNA 013CD
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"The most surprising part is that it hadn't happened before. Loren Connors and David Grubbs first performed as a duo on May 30, 2003 at the Green-Wood Cemetery Chapel in Brooklyn, N.Y. Green-Wood Cemetery is one of Brooklyn's landmarks -- it's the highest natural point in the borough, and an unexpected expanse of tranquility in the midst of the city. The stone interior of the chapel makes the quietest of sounds audible, and Loren and David played a remarkably quiet yet extraordinarily varied hour of improvised music. Energized, they repaired to the studio to record Arborvitae. Arborvitae opens and closes with the pairing of David on piano and Loren on an electric guitar played so quietly that at times his pedal-stomping is wondrously distinct. 'Blossom Time' and the title track positively float, with Loren alternating between soaring single-note lines and playing the rough, barnacled anchor to David's relentless tide. David's approach to the piano recalls his playing on Palace's Arise Therefore (Drag City) and his own Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange (Table of the Elements). Loren hypnotizes throughout. This is one of the rare instances in his career that he's recorded in a commercial studio, and his playing time and again rewards such a detailed representation. 'The Ghost of Exquisite' and 'Hemlock Path' are two slow-motion lockings of guitar horns. 'The Highest Point in Brooklyn' isn't the place to be in an electrical storm -- but it rolled in all of a sudden and there we were, uncovered and open to the elements . . . "
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