How did they do it? They did it by meeting to record a series of electric guitar duets in Sydney just as summer was turning to fall. They did it because Grubbs was limber and uncharacteristically chill after a couple of weeks in Australia playing shows and not playing shows. Sydney resident Liam Keenan’s comfort zone gravitates toward singing and songwriting under the moniker Meteor Infant, and on this session one genuinely senses an unabashed spirit of discovery. It’s happen- ing, it’s really happening in these three generously scaled improvisations. Maybe The Necks— as well as solo recordings by Tony Buck and Chris Abrahams—count as unconscious reference points. From the juggling and interplay of pitches in isolation, to the ecstatic speaking-together of strings, to guitar music as electronic music, there’s little in the way of searching for endings in this revelatory meeting. No hastening the dream’s end. Hail the first encounter.
David Grubbs has released fourteen solo albums; was a member of the groups Gastr del Sol, Bastro, and Squirrel Bait; and has performed with Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros, Luc Ferrari, Will Oldham, Loren Connors, the Red Krayola, and many others.
David Grubbs: electric guitar
Liam Keenan: electric guitar
Recorded April 14, 2023 by David Akerman with Yianni Adams at Lost Sound, Sydney. Mixed by David Grubbs and Mitch Rackin at Deep Dive, Brooklyn;
Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space.
Cover photo by Liam Keenan.
All music by Grubbs and Keenan, published by Gastr Virgo Music (BMI).