C/S006 ALEXANDER “NORTON ST.” C31
David Alexander Shapiro, AKA alexander, is still young but he’s been an active force for some years now. His early life was spent just outside of New Haven, Connecticut, but his musical life truly blossomed while attending Oberlin College (perhaps not such an uncommon story). While in Ohio projects like Lituya Bay (Shapiro’s solo electric guitar wanderings) and Nagual (Shapiro’s collaboration with Ian McColm) took shape. After years spent touring, releasing cassettes and records, and a year spent studying to be a luthier, Shapiro has found himself back in New Haven. Since arriving back Shapiro has been somewhat restless, moving from house to house, and endlessly collaborating with musicians on anything from bar rock to sludge metal, noise to folk, and anything caught between. And somehow through it all he’s found the time to make solo recordings. As alexander, Shapiro improvises and writes acoustic guitar numbers for fans of Fahey, Connors, and Rose. Balancing equal parts Americana, blues, jazz, and avant-garde, and always maintaining the intimate qualities of home recording, Norton St. features 15 concise pieces from Shapiro’s time spent at that address. Like his previous Mellen St. cassette this recording documents a brief time, at a particular place in this transient artists ever-winding journey. Limited to 100 copies.