Mike Gordon & Leo Kottke – NOON

Acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon have released their first new album together in 15 years. Intricate, warmly askew, and indelibly dexterous, NOON showcases 11 remarkable new tracks created by two of the most accomplished and idiosyncratic instrumentalists in American music. The album – which marks Kottke’s first studio record since his previous collaboration with Gordon, 2005’s 66 STEPS – was recorded in New Orleans and Vermont, with music exchanged between the two artists by file, tapesealed boombox, sheet music, and face-to-face. Working with longtime Gordon collaborator, producer/engineer Jared Slomoff, Kottke and Gordon have crafted a singular collection of improvisational mood music, including a strippedback version of Gordon’s classic “Peel” and Kottke’s stark rethinking of the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High.”