Lee Ranaldo & Michael Vallera Early New York Silver

Over two days in July 2022, Michael Vallera and Lee Ranaldo improvised at 411 Kent in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a cozy place that felt more like a living room than a concert hall or recording studio. The sweltering July heat cloaked the place in a layer of sweat and humidity. Nevertheless, they took it over to record material and to perform one evening, their fuzzy guitars slicing through the thick air with both the precision of a razor blade and the gentleness of a cloud. Early New York Silver recaptures the renegade spirit and excitement of those days. The album presents material culled from those improvisation sessions, which were made possible by New York-based musician David Watson, who at the time was curating the Shift series at 411 Kent. To record the music, Ranaldo and Vallera spread out throughout the area, taking over its every crevice. Their contrasting, yet similar, approaches to music offered ample space for exploration. “I really appreciate the way Lee approaches improvising because he really dives in immediately,” Vallera said. “I tend to be very measured when composing solo or in collaborations, so I enjoy following and reacting to the vocabulary Lee is exploring in real time.” Early New York Silver highlights that effortless flow. At 411 Kent, the two guitarists were in sync, lost in the world they had created together out of shared curiosity on their instruments. Their melodies tumbled and intertwined into masses that seemed to shapeshift and morph with every strum. There was no inertia—only motion, forward. That was the beauty of the Shift series, and that is ultimately the beauty of Ranaldo and Vallera’s practice: It is always traveling, always open, always changing.