Loren Connors – 9th Avenue

What our staff has to say: “Room next door practice amp blues. Total control and fearlessly personal riffing – TRUE BLUES.” – Alex

For me, this is the blues. Utterly wailing “solos” over a base of thick distorted guitars, Loren Connors’ music conjures up scenes of lonely streets, dark nights, but also hopeful and joyful mornings. 9th Avenue is the first vinyl reissue of a CD Loren released on his Black Label in 1995, a view into his mid-90’s heavier electric guitar era, back when he was going by his Loren Mazzacane Connors moniker.

9th Avenue fits right alongside releases from that same time period, such as Long Nights (Table of the Elements) and Crucible (Black Label, with his partner Suzanne Langille), as well as his collaborations with Alan Licht, Keiji Haino, and MMMR (group featuring Jean-Marc Montera, Thurston Moore, and Lee Ranaldo).

The LP consists of 11 pieces, ranging from heavy bottom-end distortion with overlaid single-note airiness, to multi-layered dirge, to washed/phased out vignettes, to single note story-telling delicateness, all with a particular sound that makes you feel like you’re in the next room. With more than 100 releases, Loren is a singular and unique force in the cannon of American experimental guitar players.

About Loren:
Loren Connors has been releasing his unique brand of guitar work since 1978, under monikers such as Guitar Roberts, Loren Mazzacane, Loren Mazzacane Connors, and now, simply, Loren Connors.

He has released his music on various self- run labels such as Daggett Records, St. Joan, and Black Label, as well as a plethora of mostly US based labels, such as Road Cone, Family Vineyard, Secretly Canadian, Table of the Elements, Ecstatic Yod, Dexter’s Cigar, Northern Spy, among others.

Feeding Tube has also been re-issuing Loren’s very early series of releases known as Unaccompanied Acoustic Guitar Improvisations, volumes 1 through 8.

This LP is co-released with Feeding Tube Records.