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LP
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BF 004LP
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Before the spectral, romantic electric guitar miniatures for which he is celebrated today, Loren Connors recorded a string of nine solo acoustic guitar improvisations under the name of Loren Mazzacane between 1979 and 1980. The records feature Loren's contorted impressions of Delta and country blues, persistently kneaded into sidelong guitar excursions entangled with wordless, mournful vocal utterances, hummed and moaned in imitation of the dogs that often howled outside his window. Originally released on Loren's own Daggett Records (named after the street he lived on in New Haven), these LPs slipped into obscurity after Daggett's distributor went bankrupt, forcing the guitarist, who didn't have a car, to dispose of their unsold stock rather than drag the records home without transportation. Now, thanks to a recording found by Unseen Worlds's Tommy McCutchon in the archives of Columbia University, Blank Forms presents the tenth volume of the series. Recorded in Woodstock, in front of a live audience at the Creative Music Studio (the improvised music nonprofit founded by Karl Berger, Ornette Coleman, and Ingrid Sertso), Unaccompanied Acoustic Guitar Improvisations Vol. 10 provides a welcome addition to the canon of Loren's early solo releases and is the first contemporary vinyl publication of material from his Daggett Street period. As with the original Daggett records, the LP is issued in handmade covers with paste-on art featuring a replica of a recent drawing included in Loren's October 2018 art exhibition Wild Weeds, presented by Blank Forms. One of the world's most singular guitarists, Connors is among few living musicians whose prolific body of work can be said to be wholly justified in its plenitude. On more than 100 records across almost four decades on labels like Table of the Elements, Drag City, Ecstatic Yod, and his own Daggett Records, Connors has wrung distinctive shades of ephemeral blues from his guitar, its sound ever-shifting while remaining unmistakably his own. From his early, splintered take on the Delta bottleneck style through his song-based albums with Suzanne Langille and on to the painterly abstraction that defines his current work, Connors has earned the admiration of many, leading to collaborations with the likes of John Fahey, Jim O'Rourke, Keiji Haino, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Alan Licht, and Jandek. Creative Music Studio is an ongoing organization that engages musicians and listeners from all backgrounds to deepen and broaden their musical sensitivity, expression, and understanding through workshops, recordings, and concerts worldwide.
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R 042LP
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The fourth LP in Recital's Loren Connors editions/reissue series. Pretty As Ever is a beautiful collection of Loren's guitar ballads, dedicated to his wife Suzanne. It includes the "Pretty As Ever" and "Trinity" suites, from the out-of-print album Sails (2005), alongside the complete Little Match Girl (2000). This album falls in line with the other LPs Recital has published, Airs (2015), Lullaby (2016), Evangeline (2017)... as hopeful and careful as a heartbeat. This LP includes "Woman of Sorrows", a 6″x9″ 12-page art-booklet of illustrations by Loren, unpublished until now. It also includes with Loren's rendering of "The Little Match Girl", a tragic tale written by Hans Christian Anderson. Remastered for vinyl by Sean McCann. Edition of 500.
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R 029LP
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Recital present the first-time vinyl issue of Loren Connors's Evangeline, originally released as a limited CD in 1998. Evangeline finds Connors working in a narrative structure. This album trails the story of Evangeline, the heroine of an epic-poem written in 1847. Loren's guitar tone follows the weary landscapes and mournful souls of the characters. Thematically, Evangeline falls in line with the other romantic Connors LPs Recital has published, Airs (2015) and Lullaby (2016), though with a defining arc in direction. Parallel guitar preludes begin this collection, leading to distant ballads in spheres of reverb. Suzanne Langille softly singing on the first track sets this album as a child's fable. As longing, clouded in dreams of loss and devotion. Includes an 8.5"x11" insert: a story written by Suzanne Langille based on the epic poem, Evangeline; Includes restored audio and new artwork by Loren Connors; Remastered for vinyl by Sean McCann; Edition of 500.
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