PRE-ORDER: Loren Connors - Battle of Clontarf [Vinyl]

Battle of Clontarf collects a remastered series of late-'90s guitar jewels by Loren Connors, most appearing on vinyl for the first time. At its center is an unrealized double 7" from 1996, Battle of Clontarf, named after the bloody battle fought outside Dublin in 1014. Gestures of blistered guitar billow, but underneath a defiant elation prevails. Loren's partner Suzanne Langille composed and performed the poem in Part II and the song in Part V of the Clontarf sequence. The six pieces are followed by a curated circlet of recordings from around the same period, including the complete 1994 EP The Five Points (originally issued by Table of the Elements) and several other short works from the years surrounding Connors' notable albums Airs (1999) and Lullaby (2001). These recordings occupy only a few minutes at a time, but manage to convey such vulnerability. Each seems to find its way toward the next, like a chain of small amulets. The collection continues with the Star of Bethlehem suite from 2000, and concludes with Connors' arrangement of Gershwin's "I Love You, Porgy." The latter is a personal favorite, with a breathtaking cadence that shares the beauty of Billie Holiday's version, but transmitted from the solitude of a dream. Battle of Clontarf gathers all these scattered parcels of Connors' work into one fluent LP.

01. Battle of Clontarf I
02. Battle of Clontarf II
03. Battle of Clontarf III
04. Battle of Clontarf IV
05. Battle of Clontarf V
06. Battle of Clontarf VI
07. Untitled
08. Brigid's Air
09. A Way Home
10. Arrival
11. The Five Points
12. Moonyean
13. Saoirse ("Freedom")
14. Little Shoes
15. Star of Bethlehem Part I
16. Star of Bethlehem Part II
17. I Love You Porgy