Grouper, the one-woman project of ambient experimentalist Liz Harris, has been picking up steam in recent years. Not only has she been getting kudos from Animal Collective and cropping up on high-profile compilations, but her live shows have been described as "jaw-dropping," or at least that's what we wrote in a 2009 review. Well, this spring, fans will be getting another dose of Grouper in the form of two simultaneously released LPs.
Separately, the two albums are called Dream Loss and Alien Observer. Packaged together, they're called A I A. While the albums are intended to stand alone, Harris told Pitchfork that they are like "satellites in the same system" that "become more when they are considered together." She has been working on the albums for four years.
She explained, "Dream Loss is a collection of older songs, mostly written before a hard time. Alien Observer, for the most part, is made of songs recorded after that time."
Harris went on to describe them as records that "explore otherness. Being an other to one's own self, to other humans; ghosts and aliens, both literal and metaphorical; and other worlds to escape to (beneath the water, in the sky). Thinking about people who have died."
The exact release date is currently unconfirmed, but we know that the albums will be self-released in April in vinyl and digital formats. See the tracklists below. An image from A I A is above, although it's apparently not the cover of either album.
Grouper's Google site also promises that she will also repress her split with Inca Ore later this year.
Dream Loss:
(first heart tone)
1. "Dragging the Streets"
2. "I Saw a Ray"
3. "Soul Eraser"
4. "Atone"
5. "No Other"
6. "Wind Return"
7. "A Lie"
Alien Observer:
1. "Moon Is Sharp"
2. "Alien Observer"
3. "Vapor Trails"
4. "She Loves Me That Way"
(second heart tone)
5. "Mary, on the Wall"
6. "Come Softly"
Separately, the two albums are called Dream Loss and Alien Observer. Packaged together, they're called A I A. While the albums are intended to stand alone, Harris told Pitchfork that they are like "satellites in the same system" that "become more when they are considered together." She has been working on the albums for four years.
She explained, "Dream Loss is a collection of older songs, mostly written before a hard time. Alien Observer, for the most part, is made of songs recorded after that time."
Harris went on to describe them as records that "explore otherness. Being an other to one's own self, to other humans; ghosts and aliens, both literal and metaphorical; and other worlds to escape to (beneath the water, in the sky). Thinking about people who have died."
The exact release date is currently unconfirmed, but we know that the albums will be self-released in April in vinyl and digital formats. See the tracklists below. An image from A I A is above, although it's apparently not the cover of either album.
Grouper's Google site also promises that she will also repress her split with Inca Ore later this year.
Dream Loss:
(first heart tone)
1. "Dragging the Streets"
2. "I Saw a Ray"
3. "Soul Eraser"
4. "Atone"
5. "No Other"
6. "Wind Return"
7. "A Lie"
Alien Observer:
1. "Moon Is Sharp"
2. "Alien Observer"
3. "Vapor Trails"
4. "She Loves Me That Way"
(second heart tone)
5. "Mary, on the Wall"
6. "Come Softly"
