Loren Connors - The Departing of a Dream Vol. II
(Family Vineyard)
Obviously a continuation of his album The Departing of a Dream, which included his tribute to those who died on 09/11, Loren's newest album is a solemn, though occasionally hopeful affair. Six tracks in, birds chirp and the tape hisses warmly—a welcome respite from the dark, dissonant and sometimes untreated (and mostly very short) solo guitar improvisations that precede it.
Two tracks break the 10 minute mark (1 & 7), making them the main focus of the record (it totals just under 32 minutes long!). Meditative, tremeloed guitar leaves a thick fog of minor-key hypnosis on the opener. Track 7 is a bit more lively; with its pulsating strums and tighter focus (which actually works against it, making it the weaker, less spacious of the two lengthy excursions). The album ends with a ray of light. Sounding like a typical soundtrack piece, track 8 evokes images of a bright morning—a new beginning.
The nature of these songs and the broad smattering of cavernous texture make the album feel like a continuous piece with slight shifts in mood, rather than 8 separate tracks. This is the warm hum of an accomplished guitarist burrowing deep into an improvised mood piece.
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