Loren Connors Given Box Set Treatment

Night Through: Singles & Collected Works, 1976-2004 will be released on June 6, and adds up to over 3 and a half hours of Connors' distinctive solo guitar work as well as a couple of tracks from Connors' band Haunted House. But even if you already somehow own most or all of the previously released tracks, the comp boasts the remastering talents of Jim O'Rourke, who worked his wicked mastering skills on the original tapes.

Night Through's first two CDs focus on Connors' many 7"s on labels such as Road Cone, Union Pole, Table of Elements, Menlo Park, St. Joan, and of course Family Vineyard. And though CDs one and two contain a few scattered unreleased songs (including a 1959 rendition of "Peace" by Connors' mother Mary Mazzacane), the third CD really packs the unheard recordings with 13 such tracks ranging from as early as 1998 to as late as 2004. As if all this rounding up from the vaults weren't enough, Family Vineyard seems to have also been diligent in collecting tracks scattered on different compilations. All in all, don't hold your breath for a more comprehensive look at Connors' non-album work coming out anytime soon.

Or who knows, maybe these'll make a run on the charts, especially "Deirdre of the Sorrows":

CD 1:

01 Come on in My Kitchen *
02-04 Ribbon o' Blues 7"
05-10 Mother & Son 7"
11-15 Five Points 7"
16-24 The Stations of the Cross 2x7"
25-28 Deirdre of the Sorrows 7"
29-34 Battle of Clontarf *

CD 2:

01 Betty Mae *
02 Night Through
03-05 Exile 7"
06 The End, The Afternoon, The Light 7"
07-08 Desire 7"
09 Adonais 7"
10 Spirit 7"
11 In a Street Full of Rain 7"
12 Air *
13 Oh Bonny Doone *
14 Woman Taken in Adultery
15 For NY 9/11/01 CDR Single
16 Pretty as Ever
17 The Departing of a Dream Vol. 4 *
18 Moon Gone Down 7"
19 Peace (by Mary Mazzacane) *

CD 3:

01 Why We Came Together
02 Suzanne's Rain
03 I've Had Trouble, I've Had Joy
04 Untitled *
05 Haunted House CDR Single
06 Shadows
07 Only When You Sleep *
08 I Love You Porgy *
09 Star of Bethlehem pt. 1 *
10 Star of Bethlehem pt. 2 *
11 Earth *
12 Stars *
13 Night in Vain *
14 Untitled *
15 Untitled *
16 Untitled *
17 For Miles Davis *
18 For Miles pt. 2 *

* previously unreleased

Connors has two performances scheduled for the summer: August 14 at Tonic in New York City, where he will perform a guitar duo with Tetuzi Akiyama, and an appearance at Eyedrum in Atlanta, Georgia on August 31 as part of the Table of the Elements festival.