Review:'Garment District, The' 'Flowers telegraphed To All Parts Of The world'
- Label: 'Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records'
- Genre: 'Pop'
- Release Date: '22.9.23.'- Catalogue No: 'HHBTM224'
Our Rating:
Garment District are the current musical project from Jennifer Baron formerly of LadyBug Transistor, who is in love with vintage synths and musical instruments. This album was recorded mainly in David Klug's studio atop Mount Washington, as well as a studio deep in the Western Pennsylvanian Hills in isolation during the pandemic, as well as with collaborators including Gary Olsen, Kyle Forester, Sean Finn and Corry Drake. The album comes on Orange Sunshine vinyl.
The album opens with Left On Coast from its gentle organ opening this slowly evolves transitioning after a minute and a half into an organ led shimmer pop stomper with Stingray style synths and gauzy vocals set among layers of music and ideas that will take a few listens to get to the heart of.
The first single Street Called Finland is next, it feels like you should strut down that street, that if its like the streets I walked in Finland, will probably be tree lined, as a travelogue unfolds in the lyrics a panoply of synths, with an assortment of percussion, both human and machine driven accentuate the tale, as the strings try to sweep away the heartache.
Following Me has a 60's soundtrack feel, on this cover of a song by The Human Expression, It now sounds crossed with Viva Saturn or Opal, this is sun dappled dense layered magical music to wander around hoping the object of your desire starts to follow you, so you can lead them towards the destiny you have in mind for them as you wander along the shore. Until of course the backing singers come in on the la la la's and it goes all New Seekers in space.
The Starfish Song continues the seaside feel to parts of this album, the upbeat faster pace, with just as many layers and profusion of musical ideas, slowly seeping in, slowly revealing themselves among the 70's tv soundtrack idents, married to barrelhouse organ, sci-fi synths and a dozen other things going on at once, as it goes distinctly Bo Hannson circa UR Trollkarlens Hatt fused to several other tunes.
Seldom Seen Arch opens the B-side taking us down deep into a labyrinth to find this arch among the castanets, pulsating analogue synths searching for Martin Denny's ghost, as they finally find themselves next to this antediluvian arch that serves as the portal to the Garment Districts magical world.
The Island Of Stability is a sort of love duet for a long term relationship, that has pushed and pulled itself around the word, through all sorts of adventures accented by the 60's style organ and vocals, washes of early Krautrock synth explorations to the netherworlds and back again.
Moon Pale And Moon Gold shifts tonally from pale to golden, in love with temporal adventuring searching for other civilization's on distant part of the universe as a dinner bell chimes the drums almost clap along as the wall of synths consumes everything within the cocoon they create.
Cooling Station is the cocktail bar at the end of the universe, Korova Milk bar cocktails the order of the day, get some Synchromesh in to truly enjoy the warped world this creates, as the byzantine strings add a warped sense of time to the scene being created.
The Instrument That Plays Itself, the old player piano in the corner, the Synth you press play on as it dreams up myriad sounds for you, Could this soundtrack the Kurt Vonnegut book Player Piano? Vuuuzip Kabloom Quite possibly as you wonder how much programming was done to get the machines to create this themselves, as the vocals drag us off, our need to waft gently about feeling mellow, before this soars towards the stratosphere making sure John Averageman is nowhere to be seen anywhere near this song or album.
Find out more at https://www.thegarmentdistrictmusic.com/ https://www.hhbtm.com/product/flowers-telegraphed-to-all-parts-of-the-world/ https://www.facebook.com/TheGarmentDistrict https://linktr.ee/TheGarmentDistrict?fbclid=IwAR0pbSHW2Cuu2bOoweJ3utXkZfB4T89KwjJpjQMJxeKtq77MCMrkUkYSGY4 https://hhbtm.bandcamp.com/album/flowers-telegraphed-to-all-parts-of-the-world
