Description
Product Description
Released as the first in RVNG Intl.'s Reflections series, this is a simple yet deeply moving ambient folk masterpiece by two undeniable masters of guitar and piano, now released as a Japan-exclusive 2-CD set, adding their latest live album, "Live in London"! The masterpiece collaboration "Let the Moon be a Planet," released in 2023 by guitarist/songwriter Steve Gunn (who has also released solo works on labels such as Matador and Thrill Jockey) and David Moore of the minimal ambient project Bing & Ruth, is now being released as a 2CD set, including the live album "Live in London" recorded at Cafe OTO in London! This project, imbued with a reciprocal aura, stemmed from an invitation to connect two New York-based musicians who, while admiring each other's work, had never truly collaborated: Steve Gunn, a guitarist and songwriter who has established a landmark in contemporary guitar music with his solo, duo, and ensemble recordings, and David Moore, a pianist and composer highly acclaimed for his minimalist ensemble music as the leader of Bing & Ruth (and more recently, Cowboy Sadness). This exchange began remotely when Gunn and Moore responded to each other's solo improvisations, embarking on a synergistic development of deeper listening and connection through musical conversation. "We're both fans of each other's music, and this was a chance to try a different, more open process," says Moore. ?gI felt that truly collaborating with someone without controlling the final output was something I personally needed as an artist.?h For Gunn, who was exploring new frontiers and paths in classical guitar when the dialogue began, the project was an invitation to pure conversation and interaction, creating space to re-examine the forms that underpin his playing: ?gI was trying to get out of what I was doing and create something that stripped away all the elements of the usual structured things.?h Let the Moon be a Planet intertwines the trajectories of two musicians renowned for pushing the boundaries of their instruments. Fueled by the magnetic pull of call-and-response practice, Gunn and Moore embarked on a songwriting journey without a destination. ?gWe didn?ft think it would become an album, so there was no pressure to finish something, to make something. It was interesting to step back and realize that this could become an album?cto arrive at the project retrospectively.?h By focusing on connecting with the spectrum of internal and external emotional reality, the duo found their way into a world where the most subtle gestures flow forever. This work is more of an ode to experimentation than to results, lighting a candle in a corner of introspection and capturing the flickering patterns within it. The album's compositions are sprinkled with a hard, film-like grain. This was recorded "without using the best microphones," and emerged from their usual studio environment. For both artists, this lo-fi sensibility was essential to the record and its production, and they worked closely with engineer Nick Principe to preserve its otherworldly haze in the final mix. Across the eight tracks, the ripple-like impulses of Gunn and Moore's inner worlds converge in the minds of two strangers wandering the same path, unfolding into a natural, dreamlike repetition. Melodic tableaux are born, drift, and dissipate in tranquil open spaces. Painted with the earthy tones of nylon strings and undulating, gentle keyboards, the two stand side by side, conversing with clear introspective motifs and gestures cultivated by a shared desire for intuitive play. ?gThis project was a very simple idea. It got to the heart of where I am, or where I was, and where I'm going as a musician. Making this record became a very meaningful ritual for me. As Moore recalls, ?eOur motivation for making these songs was simply that it felt good to make them, nothing more?c I?fve never made a record that came together so naturally.?f?h This work was conceived through deep collaboration, but it also revealed Gunn and Moore?fs paths to returning to their roots as musicians. Infused with the power of mutual connection and balance, this record explores creative synergy while following the flow of inner experience. The Japanese CD release will be a 2CD set that includes a bonus disc, ?eLive in London,?f which contains live recordings from the second-to-last night of this duo?fs European tour in the spring of 2023 at the famous London venue, Cafe OTO. Using tracks from "Planet" as a loose framework throughout the entire live set, the five new songs create a meditative stillness while expanding and contracting tension, expressing the undulating interaction, joy, and friendship between piano and guitar in real time. Disc 1: 1. Over the Dune 2. Painterly 3. Scattering 4. Basin 5. Morning Mare 6. Libration 7. Paper Limb 8. Rhododendron Disc 2: 1. I 1. II 1. III 1. IV 1. V