Mark Renner

In the ashes of incipient punk outfits in the early 80’s, Mark Renner began recording independently. Recognized in nearly three decades of work, Renner finds the in between echoes and spirituality of the individual. One could observe Renner’s music presenting a duality – a dream-like instrumental side exploring sound as an accompaniment to his paintings, and a literary side echoing the individualism of Herman Hesse, or referencing W. B. Yeats. In Few Traces, we see both sides develop, while together embracing and evoking the timelessness of his artistic statement: a wordless translation of the individual’s musical experience, met with the poetic expression of being here.

Few Traces surveys the total chapter of Mark Renner’s scarcely released and unreleased material from 1982 to 1990. With a portable four-track, electric guitar, and Casio synthesizer, Renner put to tape what remains on par with the great ambient adventurers of the period, while the vocal and guitar-centric songs crystalize across similar terrains being transversed by Cocteau Twins and The Durutti Column. We’re confident Renner’s archived work will continue to resonate with today’s listeners, as an unfading expression that leads to pasture but not without shepherd. Renner is still actively making music and painting in 2017.