Loren Mazzacane Connors & David Grubbs
Loren Mazzacane Connors es un legendario guitarrista estadounidense, reconocido por transformar el blues tradicional en complejos paisajes sonoros y melancólicos. A lo largo de su trayectoria, ha colaborado con figuras prominentes de la escena underground como Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore (ambos de Sonic Youth) y Jim O’Rourke. Su prolífica discografía cuenta con alrededor de 40 álbumes publicados.
David Grubbs es un respetado músico, compositor, escritor y académico estadounidense, considerado una pieza clave del rock experimental y la música de vanguardia desde la década de los ‘80. Sus raíces musicales se fundan en el post-punk, liderando bandas como Squirrel Bait y Bastro. En los años 90, cofundó el innovador proyecto Gastr del Sol junto a Jim O’Rourke, fusionando una innovadora mezcla de post-rock, música académica y folk experimental.
Además de colaborar con grandes referentes de la improvisación libre —como Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros, Matmos y el propio Loren Connors—, Grubbs es profesor de música en el Brooklyn College (CUNY) y ha publicado diversos libros sobre arte y experimentación sonora bajo el sello Duke University Press.
Este es el tercer álbum en colaboración de los artistas, el primero grabado completamente en directo y en el que ambos se centran exclusivamente en la guitarra. La obra se compone de dos extensas piezas: «Somewhere in the Wind», grabada en Blank Forms (Brooklyn, NY) el 11 de julio de 2025, y «A Spring Was Pressed», registrada en Public Records (Brooklyn, NY) el 4 de enero de 2025.
Al ser un registro en vivo, el disco plasma a la perfección el ruido, la energía pura, la inmediatez y la libertad sonora de sus actuaciones. En lugar de fusionarse en una armonía convencional, las guitarras se superponen de forma orgánica e interactúan entre sí a través del contraste: mientras Connors despliega acordes abiertos que transitan entre lo estridente y lo melancólico, Grubbs aporta el pulso rítmico mediante texturas abrasivas y loops de notas sostenidas y repetitivas.
Loren Mazzacane Connors is a legendary American guitarist renowned for deconstructing traditional blues into complex, melancholic soundscapes. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with prominent vanguard figures such as Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore (both of Sonic Youth), and Jim O’Rourke. His expansive, highly prolific discography spans roughly 40 albums.
David Grubbs is an acclaimed American musician, composer, author, and academic who has been a pillar of experimental rock and avant-garde music since the 1980s. His roots trace back to the post-punk underground, fronting influential bands like Squirrel Bait and Bastro. In the 1990s, he co-founded the seminal project Gastr del Sol alongside Jim O’Rourke, pioneering a genre-defying fusion of post-rock, classical minimalism, and avant-folk.
Beyond collaborating with icons of free improvisation—including Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros, Matmos, and Connors himself—Grubbs serves as a music professor at Brooklyn College (CUNY) and has authored several essential books on sound experimentation published by Duke University Press.
This release marks the duo’s third collaborative album, their first-ever live recording, and a document focused exclusively on their guitar interactions. The work comprises two extended, immersive pieces: ‘Somewhere in the Wind’: Recorded live at Blank Forms (Brooklyn, NY) on July 11, 2025. ‘A Spring Was Pressed’: Recorded live at Public Records (Brooklyn, NY) on January 4, 2025.
As a live document, the album masterfully captures the friction, raw energy, immediacy, and sonic freedom of their performances. Rather than merging into conventional harmony, their guitars overlap in distinct, organic streams that interact through stark contrast. While Connors deploys vast, open chords that drift between the strident and the melancholic, Grubbs generates a driving rhythmic pulse through abrasive textures and skeletal, repetitive loops of sustained notes.
