The Lost Mariner

On this series of partly improvised duets, New York's avant-garde guitarist Loren Mazzacane Connors finds a sympathetic partner in bassist Darin Gray. The latter is integral to the Chicago post-rock scene, having worked with Jim O'Rourke, Brise-Glase, Hoffman Estates, and You Fantastic!, while the former holds such a distinctive style it is hard to think of a collaborator who could assert there music into his signature guitar language. However, the duo establish an eloquent dialog on The Lost Mariner, and, in keeping with the theme of the title, create an ebb and flow that is austere and stoic while maintaining a degree of searching. The music is a loosely thematic, referencing the blues only when it is absolutely necessary. For the majority the duo spar off long resonating tones that allow space, silence, and noise to become intricacies in this minimalist vocabulary. Proving that delicate and pensive moments can exist in even the most challenging diversions of avant-garde music, The Lost Mariner is a beautiful slow-motion study of the small corners music which could only be achieved by a duo with mastery in improvisation.