Artist: Golden Gardens
Album: Narcissus and Bellflower [Special Edition]
GENRE...: Indie, Ethereal, Ambient, Shoegaze
LABEL...: Golden Gardens SCENE DATE.: 2015-02-08
bITRATE.: 260 kbps avg STORE DATE.: 2014-09-04
ENCODER.: LAME 3.993 TRACKS.....: 11
SiZE....: 86.78MB SOURCE.....: WEB
- TRACKLIST
Narcissus:
1 My Viridescent Heart 6:09
2 All Night I Lay Hidden In The 4:11
Garden
3 Peering Through A Glass Prism 3:44
4 Blue Eyes Of A Broken Doll 4:29
Bellflower EP:
5 The Ghost Of A Total Stranger 3:11
6 I'll Burn Alone 3:35
7 Carmilla 3:48
8 In Dreams I Roam The Petaled 3:28
Gloom
Bonus Tracks:
9 All Night I Lay Hidden In The 4:11
Garden (Dark Dream Remix)
10 The Ghost Of A Total Stranger 5:37
(Your City Sleeps Remix)
11 Echoworld (Bedroom Demo) 3:48
Total Playtime: 46:11
URL..: https://nwshoegazing.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/golden-gardens/
- NOTES
Special Bumbershoot Magic Edition!
Available for download between 9/4/2014 and 9/12/2014 only.
Contains tracks from the Narcissus EP (June 2013) and the Bellflower EP
(December 2013),
plus unreleased bonus remixes and a working demo from a forthcoming untitled
full length album
+++
Bellflower:
Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble + Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville are Golden
Gardens, a mystical duo up from the nocturnal underground, weaving
dreamscapes and anthems for magical minds. They present their latest
release, Bellflower, the darkly shimmering companion to Summer 2013's
Narcissus. These enchanted mirror-image EPs examine the cycle of love and
infatuation from two unique perspectives. Where Narcissus danced on the
yellow rays of fantasy and first love, the more serious and mesmerizing
Bellflower broods in the shadows of solitude and self-preservation. Each
represents a movement of boutique music making, personalized art that is big
at heart and beautiful in details.
The opening track of Bellflower öThe Ghost Of A Total Strangerö rides a
phantasmal, scarcely-60s garage beat, while BrambleÆs unearthly soprano
crests over Japanese Whispers-era Cure synths and NevilleÆs jangling guitar.
The eerie, deep sea sonar sounds and dreamily mournful guitar of ôIÆll Burn
Aloneö propels the EPÆs theme of solitude to its most somber depths as
Bramble wails the phrase, ônothing will ever break my heart againö over a
driving, arpeggiated bass line and Coldwave beats. The indigo-hued moodiness
reaches a climax on ôCarmilla,ö a crepescular dance number relying heavily
on electronic beats and staggered Latin backing chants. BrambleÆs soprano
takes center stage, soaring over NevilleÆs beautifully sullen guitar hook.
The entire brief collection comes to a rapturous close with ôIn Dreams I
Roam The Petaled Gloom,ö a sparse, honey-soaked ethereal gem of lilting
vocals and spangly guitars over delicate billows of watery synths.
Meditative and mysterious, Bellflower is a gorgeously devastating, concise
collection of songs that gives its listener the best of Golden Gardens in an
ebony-colored nutshell.
When earlier this year Golden Gardens began work on Narcissus, Bramble found
herself lyrically drawn to the themes of desire and adoration ù that
brightness, dizziness, almost-dreaminess of infatuation. Once it was time to
start working on new material, the duo decided to develop the story further.
Instead of working towards another full-length, Bramble and Neville began to
craft a sister EP to Narcissus, one that examined the darker twist of the
love life cycle ù despair, loneliness, wrath. ôAnd here you have
Bellflower,ö Bramble says. ôIn a way, the story is seasonal. Narcissus
represents Spring/Summer, Bellflower represents Winter/Fall. We wanted to
produce a compendium of compositions that could take the listener through an
entire year of experiences.ö
Bellflower is a limited run of 50 hand-numbered, hand-assembled CD EPs, each
a little unique, with special bonus material that is not available with the
digital-only version. It will come in a clear vinyl sleeve with hand-printed
inserts and the disc itself will be pure white with a custom stamp and a
handwritten number. Neville says: ôFor Bellflower, we are doing bluebell
stamps in silver (versus the daffodil stamps in gold on Narcissus) and the
bonus material will consist of some previously unreleased tracks from the
How Brave The Hunted Wolves session.ö Also of note, there will be four
unique art films made to accompany each track on Bellflower; these will be
released individually online leading up to the worldwide digital-only
release and may also be available for purchase on a limited DVD run at a
later date.
The Bellflower limited physical release was on October 29th, with a special
show on October 30th for fans at Gargoyles Statuary on The Ave in Seattle.
Golden Gardens will next play a full show on November 30 at Columbia City
Theater with Suzanne Perry of Love Spirals Downward, trading off songs
together from each otherÆs bands.
+++
Narcissus:
Seattle-based shoegaze/dream-pop duo Golden Gardens might be a new name to
regular HSS readers, but I'm ready to introduce you to the dreamiest band
you've heard in ages. You can thank me later. The pair consists of Gregg
Alexander Joseph Neville, the multi-instrumentalist genius who constructs
shimmering soundscapes over which Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble weaves her
subtle vocal magic. The sounds contained in "Narcissus" are neither the
overly dense fuzz-pop that often fits into the "shoegaze" world nor are they
minimalist pieces. Golden Gardens take great care to craft balanced and
memorable songs that have elements of artists like Stereolab, Slowdive, or
even a bit of Portishead at times, but never feel like mimicry of another
artist's style.
Golden Gardens' strongest suit is their self-restraint. Many bands who work
in more ethereal forms of music tend to just let each song bleed all over
itself, with each sound existing in an uncontrolled universe. While the
music retains its fluid nature, Golden Gardens clearly have taken great time
placing each note and each vocal line exactly where it needs to be. Subtlety
is absolutely key here, as it can often be the line between artistic
excellence and self-indulgent excess. I certainly feel that while the album
may be a reflection on infatuation and perhaps even self-love, Golden
Gardens' sense of identity is strong without giving in to the temptation of
bloated, heavy music.
While the album lingers for a brief twenty-minute span, the highly
accessible nature of the music and the incredibly catchy tunes make it
perfect for repeat listens on lazy afternoons or relaxing evenings. This
album will be released on June 11th, but you can listen in full right now.
Be sure to visit Golden Gardens' bandcamp page or check out the Neon Sigh
website once it's officially released next week! Until then, enjoy the
stream and let us know what you think!
+++
Golden Gardens, Bellflower EP (out now, self-released,
wearegoldengardens.com) When this local dream-pop act released its EP
Narcissus this past summer, the duo seemed to be going for a more
lighthearted, few-cares-in-the-world approach. ThatÆs why Bellflower, which
the group released this fall after cutting ties with local label Neon Sigh,
seems such a departure. From the opening notes of ôThe Ghost of a Total
Stranger,ö itÆs evident that this collection of songs is much darker than
the last, with vocalist Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble adapting her dreamy
soprano into something a little more urgent, a little more eerie. The
murkier approach is also felt in the noticeably more haunting production;
sparse arrangements, simmering electronic beats, and rumbling percussion
create a somber backdrop for BrambleÆs creeping vocals. As a whole,
Bellflower is a welcome mixture of mystery and magicùsome sort of love child
of Phantogram and Purity Ringùand it results in an audio sensation thatÆs
equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking. Yet the highlight of the four-track
EP may come in the closer, ôIn Dreams I Roam the Petaled Gloom,ö a vibe-y
slow-roller that finds BrambleÆs words weaving in and out of bandmate Gregg
Alexander Joseph NevilleÆs fuzzy guitars and springy synths. The result is
an audio experience that will leave you wanting to hear more and more with
every listen.
+++
Bio:
Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble met Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville when she was
producing and curating art, music, and film events in Florida around 2006.
She hosted a series of multi-format events at various venues under her own
arts collective, Avant-Garde In The Now. Neville was acquainted with
BrambleÆs husband and was involved with a noise project at the time.
ôAubrey booked my project, noWhere, for a couple of her events and we became
friendly,ö says Neville. He had been kicking some dreampop demos around in
Tampa, FL a few years later, after Bramble had moved to Seattle, but was
having trouble finding a local vocalist. ôI had been secretly dying to sing
in this sort of project forever, so I asked him if he would be into trying
something out remotely,ö she says. ôWe worked on a track through file
sharing, and it went so well that we just continued to develop material
until we found ourselves with a complete EP (Somnambulist, released December
2010).ö Neville moved to Seattle in early 2012, and theyÆve been
persistently growing their following in the underground dark dance/art music
scene.
Following two full-length albums, a modest collection of EPs and singles,
and with both band members living in the same city, Golden Gardens is
hitting their musical stride. Ever-maturing and ever-growing, their
sparkling melodies continue to dazzle and delight, advance and evolve,
consistently twist and bend yet always stay true to that signature dark
Golden Gardens sound. With Bellflower Bramble and Neville hope to reach new
audiences and a wider network of fans.
Golden GardensÆ tracks have received radio love from around the globe on
stations including WZBC Boston, WFNX Phoenix, SydneyÆs 94.5 FM, MunichÆs
92.4 FM, as well as the internationally-renowned listener-powered Seattle
radio station KEXP 90.3 FM. ôTransparent Thingsö from 2012's full-length How
Brave The Hunted Wolves was John RichardsÆ pick for Song of the Day on KEXP
on February 1, 2013 and was also included on French Vice-subsidiary
HartzineÆs Summer 2012 mixtape. Other tracks that have seen notable airplay
in the US and abroad include ôOstara,ö ôAlcove,ö ôPearls Pierce The Mistsö
(all from How Brave The Hunted Wolves), as well as ôAll Night I Lay Hidden
In The Gardenö and ôPeering Through A Glass Prismö (both from Narcissus).
Among the many bands and performers Golden Gardens has shared the stage
with, the most memorable events include Blissfest 2012 in Chicago with
lovesliescrushing, Airiel, and New Canyons; Seattle shows at The Crocodile
with Nite Jewel and The Sunset with Sister Crayon; a Portland cruise
performance with Suzanne Perry of Love Spirals Downwards; and regional gigs
with local and national bands such as Whirr, Kithkin, Pony Time, and The
Redwood Plan.