Tom Carter and Loren Connors are a pairing so obvious, it’s a mystery how it took this long to happen. Each has traversed the American underground on their own unique path. Carter co-founded acid-folk improvisers Charalambides in 1991 and Connors has been redefining his singular vision of the blues since the late 1970s.
On this debut non-titled LP, these guitar masters conjure a stunning, and at times labyrinthine, six-string tableau. Carter’s high-contrast spiral melodies sear through Connors’ expanding canvas of blacks and molten reds. It’s a startling and new language of psychedelic and avant blues that is a next step in Carter and Connor’s ongoing exploration of the guitar.
Loren Connors has improvised and composed original guitar music for over four decades. His music embraces the aesthetics of blues, Irish airs, blues-based rock and other genres while letting go of rigid forms. Connors, who names abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko as his most important influence, also creates evocative print work that arise from the aesthetics of his music.