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Song of the Day: Golden Gardens - Transparent Things
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Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscri...Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Every Friday we spotlight a Northwest artist. Today’s selection, featured on the Mornging Show with John Richards, is “Transparent Things” by the aptly named Seattle band Golden Gardens off their 2012 album, How Brave The Hunted Wolves, on Neon Sigh.
Golden Gardens – Transparent Things (MP3)
With an eclectic list of influences ranging from “Music boxes and icicles,” to Greek mythology and Marcel Duchamp it’s not really a surprise Seattle dreamgaze duo Golden Gardens are able to find their own captivating sound in a genre often brushed aside for being dull and boring. Instrumentalist Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville and Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble, whose vocals are reminiscent of a much sleepier and much less creepy Twin Peaks soundtrack, came together as Golden Gardens in 2010 to record something “original and alchemical” and instantly began creating undeniably enchanting and mythical soundscapes.
The first single off their latest album, “Transparent Things” is an absolutely-dreamlike song that slows down/speeds up/completely messes with time, trapping whatever it is you happen to be doing or not doing at that time and holding onto it in that moment for exactly three minutes and 11 seconds. ARVB’s vocals barely rise above the atmospheric shoe-gaze-stylings of GAJN, filling the track with all-consuming ethereal and dreamy textures. Good luck trying to make out exactly what she’s saying and if you can, you’re missing the point.
In case you missed them last night at the Comet Tavern, Golden Gardens currently have dates scheduled in Portland and Seattle in the upcoming months. More information on those dates is available here and on their Facebook page, but in the meantime be sure to check out the incredibly dreamy and low-budget video for “Paresseux” off their 2010 debut release the Somnabulist EP here:
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Golden Gardens - How Brave The Hunted Wolves
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You can reasonably expect to assume that a band who list their location as "Utopia" on Facebook are ...You can reasonably expect to assume that a band who list their location as "Utopia" on Facebook are either going to be a Goldfrapp tribute act or, in one form or another, something would fall under the dreampop banner. As you're unlikely to find us featuring tribute acts, this should narrow things down further. From what we gather, the duo that make up Golden Gardens are based in the Seattle area, which is unlikely to be comparable to Utopia, but you never know. 'How Brave The Hunted Wolves' is their second full-length and taps into fantasy-land dreampop and the lighter side of shoegaze, although it does this in a very modern way and is speckled with innovative ideas.
Strangely, that Goldfrapp remark (one of their early singles was called 'Utopia') ends up fitting rather well, with Golden Gardens having a definite pop aspect to what they do that's not too distant from how that band sounded before they turned into a chart-storming electro-disco act, with 'Swirl' being particularly reminiscent. With a lot of shoegaze and dreampop (they refer to themselves as "dreamgaze") records, the lush sound is provided by overlaying guitars and sometimes synths and also a heavy use of delay and other effects pedals. Golden Gardens' approach is broader with the bass-heavy 'Flutter' seeming to incorporate a wider variety of techniques along with the tried and tested methods, as does the slightly gothic title-track.
There are more conventional "dreamgaze" songs here and they're expertly made. 'An Apparition' feels more traditional and could be from 1991, and the wispy 'Transparent Things' is pure ethereal bliss. A few more sinister twists and turns are included; 'Gemini' is particularly spooky and 'Alcove' sings of "dancing in this realm of hell". The standout 'Ostara' would make an ideal single choice and is quite stunning in its gentle waves. This haze carries on into the more upbeat 'Pearls Pierce The Mist', another man-of-the-match contender. Finishing, as many a decent album does, with an epic last track in 'A Sudden Violent Rainstorm', Golden Gardens leave you knowing that it's very unlikely that this will be your only venture into their swirling, magical world.
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Golden Gardens: How Brave The Hunted Wolves
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How Brave The Hunted Wolves, Golden Gardens' follow-up to 2011's full-length debut Between the Siren...How Brave The Hunted Wolves, Golden Gardens' follow-up to 2011's full-length debut Between the Siren and the Amulet, presents the latest collection from self-described Dreamgaze duo vocalist Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble and instrumentalist Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville. That the two identify their hometown as Utopia (rather than Seattle, Washington where the album was recorded) and characterize their music as “Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Minds” says much about the kind of alchemical experience the new release offers.
Though it's sometimes unwise to read too much into song titles, “Swirl,” “An Apparition,” and “Pearls Pierce the Mists” certainly do much to convey the gothic and oneiric qualities of the group's sound. Infused with mystery, “Gemini” and “A Sudden Violent Rainstorm” play like cryptic, modern-day Grimm Fairy Tales brought to haunting synthetic life. The group's reverb-drenched sound is well-served by a soul-stirring setting like “Alcove,” whose sheets of sound resonate at an epic pitch, while the album's dreampop at times feels oceanic it's so huge (e.g., “Transparent Things,” “Pearls Pierce the Mists”).
For those desirous of a reference point, Golden Gardens drinks from a similar well as Cocteau Twins, though the former opts for a slightly more atmospheric approach compared to the latter, whose music typically finds a melodious pop heart strongly beating beneath the music's gauzy surfaces. Not surprisingly, Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble's singing isn't as distinctive as Liz Fraser's, whose vocalizing is a thing of beauty indeed, though that's less a criticism of the Golden Gardens singer than it is an acknowledgement of Fraser's singular gift. Bramble's vocal sound is closer in style to a singer such as Julee Cruise than Fraser anyway, which is consistent with Golden Gardens' emphasis on moodscaping and entrancement. Further to that, the singing is treated as part of the total sound fabric more than placed out front as vocals often are, a move that again suggests a stronger preoccupation with texture than standard song form. That's not to suggest, however, that the group's not able to produce a good, solid dose of dreampop when it wants to, as “Ostara” makes clear.
January 2013
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Golden Gardens Craft Gothic Synth Odysseys on How Brave The Hunted Wolves
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On their second full-length, singer Aubrey Bramble and multi-instrumentalist Gregg Neville blend tri...On their second full-length, singer Aubrey Bramble and multi-instrumentalist Gregg Neville blend trip-hop beats with Bramble's just-out-of-reach vocals and some decidedly gothic undertones. The songs on How Brave The Hunted Wolves are dreamlike guitar and synth odysseys that, sonically at least, resemble The Cure circa Disintegration if they had known about shoegaze.
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Golden Gardens - "The Covers"
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Dopo l'album di Agosto, “Between The Siren And The Amulet”, e il “Somnambulist” Ep dello scorso inve...Dopo l'album di Agosto, “Between The Siren And The Amulet”, e il “Somnambulist” Ep dello scorso inverno, ecco una nuova creazione dei Golden Gardens, magico gruppo composto da Aubrey Rachel, Violet Bramble, Gregg Alexander e Joseph Neville.
La loro musica si situa tra dream pop, shoegaze, con profondità ambient, perduta in un clima di sogno, con inflessioni che devono qualcosa al mondo visionario, a volte glaciale, a volte cinematografico, intriso di cultura anni '60 underground e retrò, intessuto da Angelo Badalamenti al lavoro per David Lynch.
L'album di covers è aperto da “The Garden”, insolita cover di The Creepshow dal loro album “Sell Your Soul”: il brano, in origine un pop-rock sixties maledetto, risulta stravolto e dilatato. Su una batteria astratta e appena accennata al rallentatore, si insinua un basso cavernoso e trame di chitarre, quindi le voci femminili angeliche e sinuose: mistica del giardino, luogo di sogno e di fiaba, tra note sempre sfuggevoli.
“The Loop”, cover di un raro brano di Morrissey contenuto in un Ep del 1992, è invece caratterizzata da un ritmo veloce, e da suoni dilatati e liquidi, con forti accenti sixties e tipicamente americani: qui il coefficiente dreamy è nell'atmosfera, nelle vibrazioni di questi suoni, con l'aggiunta di quella maledizione presente sulle strade americane dei road movies, di certi b-movie horror, o del Lynch di “Fire Walk with Me” e “Twin Peaks”.
“Summer Dress” da “Ocean Beach” dei Red House Painters compare qui nuovamente trasfigurata: la base musicale è quasi ambient, tra tastiere campionate e un basso di sottofondo, diversa dalla versione originale con arrangiamento d'archi.
Segue “Pale Shelter” dai Tears For Fears dell'album “The Hurting”: qui il pezzo, un omaggio particolarmente sentito, incede tra synth, ritmica accattivante e splendide chitarre, in un incanto che profuma di memorie e introspezione.
Insolitamente tra le covers è stata inserita una versione di “Violet”, un ruvido pezzo pop rock da The Hole di Courtney Love: riletta dai Golden Gardens il brano smarrisce fortunatamente le cacofonie e la sguaiatezza che aveva in origine, per divenire un sogno delicato e impalpabile, pur mosso da una dinamica interna di chitarre.
Chiude il disco l'ipnotica e amara “Into The Night” da Julee Cruise, presente anche nella colonna sonora di Twin Peaks, qui arricchita di chitarre e basso, ma tutto sommato si tratta di una cover che già nell'originale è davvero vicina alle sonorità stesse dei Golden Gardens.
Un notevole piccolo album, realizzato per fare sognare.
O come ama dire la band stessa “Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Minds.
We come to you across the forest with messages of alchemy and wisdom ...”
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Golden Gardens, "The Somnambulist Remixes"
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Golden Gardens is a duo whose members reside in opposing corners of the United States – in Seattle a...Golden Gardens is a duo whose members reside in opposing corners of the United States – in Seattle and Tampa. Their “Somnambulist” EP was released in 2010, and is a dreamy cloud of bliss-pop. The cassette at hand, however, is a different affair entirely. The original tracks were handed out to a gang of electronic acts for the remix treatment; as is all to common, the results are hit-and-miss.
An electro-pop treatment of “Elizabeta” by Cex starts off the affair in an idiosyncratic style that is full of energetic flair, while Nonnon delivers demonic apparitions that are actually kind of frightening. Unfortunately, the “Sometimes in the Moonlight” remix of “Paresseux” by Teras is just plain boring.
On the flip, a buoyant reading of “Elizabeta” by Haïr is quite a bit more experimental in nature than Cex’s version, and Phantom of the RIAA plays up the techno/house angle with his own interpretation of “Paresseux.” By far the best remixing job was done by the band members themselves – their delicate passages of drift-drone nearly had me journeying to the land of Nod.
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Interview: Golden Gardens
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ExposeExpress presents: Golden Gardens, a Seattle dreamgaze duo consisting of Gregg Alexander Joseph...ExposeExpress presents: Golden Gardens, a Seattle dreamgaze duo consisting of Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville and Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble, who creates Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Minds.
It is indeed dreamy and magical, and this is your chance to get to know these two golden people better.
How are you feeling today?
Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville: We are doing wonderfully.
?What’s going on at the moment? Any upcoming projects?
Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble: Gregg actually just moved to Seattle from Florida, so now that we are both in the same city we are focusing on playing a lot of shows and promoting our record, Between the Siren and the Amulet. We are looking into doing a West Coast tour and a European tour later this year, also.
For how long have you been producing music?
GAJN: We have been working on music together since the Summer of 2010.
What do you think of your music?
ARVB: I think it’s very cinematic. It’s sparkly, shadowy, transcendent; full of secret messages from other worlds.
Why did you start making music?
GAJN: We were both working on other projects and in other mediums for years. I started having ideas for music that skewed much more toward the dreamy and ambient. After looking for a while for collaborators, Aubrey and I started working together and it became apparent that we had immediate musical chemistry and her vocal and structural additions really fleshed out the music and atmosphere.
Do you feel like your music mirrors your personalities?
ARVB: In many ways, yes, though of course we are much more complex than what our music suggests. There is definitely that dichotomy of pretty and dream-like versus dark and serious that I think characterizes Gregg and I pretty well. It’s the marriage of those two moods that makes our music so dynamic.
What’s the most fun part of being musicians?
GAJN: Creating and performing have become such integral parts of my life, I would not trade them for anything.
ARVB: Sharing stories, emotions and suspended moments in time with other humans.
What inspires you?
ARVB: Gorgeous things. Magical talismans and ghost stories. Colorful landscapes. Strange films and old fairytales.
GAJN: Extremes in emotion, sadness, joy, cold weather, dead things, living things, strange cinema, noise, ghosts, monsters.
What makes you happy and sad?
GAJN: Creativity makes me happy – writing music, performing, reading. Boredom makes me sad.
What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up today?
ARVB: Adventures!
Who are your influences?
GAJN: David Lynch, Angelo Badalamenti, Johnny Marr, Robert Smith, Akira Yamaoka, Peter Hook, Crispin Glover.
ARVB: Harriet Wheeler, Kate Bush, Alison Shaw, Elizabeth Fraser, Daniel Ash, Lata Mangeshkar.
?What’s your favourite song at the moment?
ARVB: “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” – Father John Misty
GAJN: “Where The Threads are the Thinnest” – Feeding Fingers
What have you got in your pockets today?
GAJN: Change, receipts and pens.
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
ARVB: The sea. I need to be near open water, to gaze out at the vastness of it all whenever I want and imagine all the sea creatures underneath, and imagine all the magical places the water can lead you to. Inland environments are like a creative prison to me.
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, living or dead, real or fictional, who would you choose?
ARVB: I’d like to trade places with a mermaid so I could live in an underwater city.
GAJN: I want to trade places with Philip Marlowe and solve mysteries.
Which super power would you like to have and why?
GAJN: Laser eyes. For shooting people. With my eyes.
What would be your ideal birthday party?
ARVB: Unicorn rides, pink and lavender frosted cupcakes, Marie Antoinette costumes, glittery shoes, feathery hats, jewel-encrusted masks and all of my fancy friends in a garden of roses and wildflowers.
What’s your favourite word?
GAJN: Scuba.
ARVB: Fancy.
Top three dinner guests, and why those?
ARVB: Hayao Miyazaki, so that he could tell me fantastical bedtime stories; David Lynch, in the hopes that he would assume his Gordon Cole character from Twin Peaks, and that he might cast me as a quirky beauty in his next film project; Courtney Love because she is a wild goddess.
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Curious What It Sounds Like When Quentin Tarantino Goes To Sleep?
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More times than not, genres are a pretty ambiguous thing. Someone stumbling upon "Fire Fly" by Child...More times than not, genres are a pretty ambiguous thing. Someone stumbling upon "Fire Fly" by Childish Gambino might mistake the Stone Mountain, Ga. rapper as a West Coast native. And deathcore? You guessed it - not so death-oriented (typically.) However, the wispy, ghost-like dream affair of trippiness known only as Golden Gardens can and should be summarized by two little words: dream pop.
The Covers opens with "The Garden," a slow, slow, slow and mildly creepy/angelic song that basically floats for more than seven minutes. Ambient with a mega-dose of reverb, the tune doesn't really go anywhere ... but that's not really the point. It's soothing and minimalistic, with just the right bit of punch. And that's good, given the records intent. Don't expect to be blown away with technicality, but rather, absorb the layers and melodies and harmonies. It's really quite amazing.
Don't zone out too much, though. "The Loop" kicks things up with a fast snare and an assertive electric guitar that sounds borderline identical to something that would have been featured on the Kill Bill soundtrack. The ambience is still there, but the mood is lifted to a faster, twangier place where Quentin Tarantino thinks up plot lines (and probably sees things only in black and white.)
As a whole, The Covers is an impressive release from a band that summarizes its sound best on its Facebook page: "Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Minds."
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Golden Gardens Give Tunes A Dreamy Treatment on "The Covers"
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They say a great cover is one that does something new with a song, without destroying its essence. O...They say a great cover is one that does something new with a song, without destroying its essence. Otherworldly shoegazers Golden Gardens did just that on their six-song EP, The Covers, released in December, despite a selection of songs that isn’t exactly intuitive. Golden Gardens’ greatest talent lies in their ability to create dreamscapes out of soundscapes, something that serves them well as they take on other artists’ works – after the first track, it’s easy to forget that these are songs you’ve heard before. The band interprets the songs of Creepshow, Morrissey, Red House Painters, Tears for Fears, Hole and Julee Cruse, with each piece receiving the same gauzy treatment typical of the band’s original material. Every listen creates a different sub-universe built on rippling guitar play and careful percussion. The dream-pop duo defy all skepticism and cover Hole successfully – on “Violet”, Audrey Bramble achieves the perfect tone, translating Courtney Love’s anguished howls through her own diaphanously pure vocals. Bramble and bandmate Gregg Neville released their first full-length album, Between the Siren and the Amulet, last August. With Neville’s recent relocation to Seattle, the band is looking forward to more shows in the city, starting with a March 4 appearance at The Crocodile.
- Kate Shepherd
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What I Learned At Bandcamp: Golden Gardens
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Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble met Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville in Tampa, Fla. when his noise projec...Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble met Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville in Tampa, Fla. when his noise project played at many of the art shows she curated. They kept in touch after Bramble moved to Seattle, and began Golden Gardens on the internet a few years later. It has since developed into a major creative force in their lives.
Golden Gardens is self-described as dreamscapes and anthems for magical minds with messages of alchemy and wisdom. I wish I could lie in a dreamy trance of ambient noise in the Seattle park the band is named after, only then could I fully appreciate the music.
The duo released their first album, Between the Siren and the Amulet, in August and has since released The Covers, an EP of music originally recorded by Creepshow, Morrissey, Red House Painters, Tears For Fears, Hole and Julee Cruise. Both albums are available on Bandcamp.
How long have you been making music?
ARVB: We have been making music as Golden Gardens for about a year and a half now. Prior to Golden Gardens we were both involved in other musical projects; I first started making music and continue to do so as one half of a cabaret act/performance art duo called Prima-Tertia with the lovely Micheal Hooker of The Living Arches.
GAJN: Before Golden Gardens I used to make harsh noise under the moniker Nowhere and have done my time in various synth pop, shoegaze and metal projects. I have been making music off and on since my early teens.
Who or what are your influences?
ARVB: Anything can be an influence. I am magnetically drawn to beautiful trinkets and sad stories, alchemical talismans and otherworldly beings. Anything that might make for a fantastical tale.
GAJN: Musically, my tastes have been running toward doom metal, post-punk and goth rock, along with dream pop and shoegaze. Movie soundtracks are also a huge influence on me. Trying to capture the way soundtracks communicate mood and atmosphere guides how I write music quite a lot.
How did you come up with your name?
ARVB: There is a park here in Seattle on Puget Sound called Golden Gardens. Not only is it an absolutely divine setting for taking in the majestic beauty of the Pacific Northwest, but its name makes it sound like some magical, mysterious hideaway in a decades-old storybook. It just fits our sound and aesthetic so well.
Upcoming projects, where do you want to go from here?
ARVB: We are finally going to be living in the same city (Seattle) for the first time since forming the band, so we are looking forward to playing live shows on a regular basis and really getting out and supporting our debut full-length, Between the Siren and the Amulet. We are also working on putting together a European tour for later this year.
What inspires your music?
ARVB: Lyrically, I am inspired by fairytales and fables, Greek mythology, art nouveau and art deco, experimental and avant-garde film (Maya Deren is a favorite), candy-colored jewels and Parisian aesthetics, crystal vibrations, Native American spiritualism and the sea.
GAJN: I am inspired by events in my life, books I have read, movies I have watched; surrealist films, weird horror, wrought iron gates, Celtic and Norwegian mythology.
What musicians or bands do you look up to?
ARVB: Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays) is just so talented in my opinion. She is a huge inspiration along with Alison Shaw, Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser, Robert Smith, Daniel Ash… basically I am stuck in a 90s dream pop time loop when it comes to music I admire. Newer stuff that makes me tingle: Phantogram, A Place To Bury Strangers, Chelsea Wolfe… Anything that’s a little dark and a little sparkly.
GAJN: The Cure, The Smiths, Katatonia, Agalloch, Portishead, Bauhaus, Alcest, Joy Division, and a million and one other bands.
Why do you make music?
GAJN: I can’t stop making music. For a few years I wasn’t writing or playing and I was utterly miserable. Creating music really makes a noticeable difference in my mood and my life.
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Top Albums of 2011
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Top Albums of 2011
These are not just collections of random songs; these are albums in the traditio...Top Albums of 2011
These are not just collections of random songs; these are albums in the traditional sense that we lost ourselves in hour after hour. (Just a note, all of the albums are in alphabetical order according to album title, but we decided for the first time to single out our top pick at the bottom of the list.) Enjoy!
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Golden Gardens/Living Arches Split EP and The Covers EP
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I could not let the year close out without writing about the last two releases by Golden Gardens. Th...I could not let the year close out without writing about the last two releases by Golden Gardens. The first is a split four-track EP with songs by both Golden Gardens and The Living Arches. When I heard that they collaborated on an EP, I immediately remembered the phrase “the scene that celebrates itself.” Though the phrase was originally intended to be insulting, the reality is that it described one of the most fascinating aspects of shoegaze. The original shoegazers all had connections to one another, celebrating each other’s music. And that is what Golden Gardens and The Living Arches are doing now … collaborating on a project, celebrating their music. The second is an EP of covers. Any collection of covers is a tricky thing that usually fizzles down to clichés and silly attempts at covering a “hit” song. But Golden Gardens stayed true to form, assimilating these songs right into their repertoire with ease.
I know little about The Living Arches (though I plan to educate myself thoroughly during the holidays), who offer up the first two tracks of the EP. Touted as “electrified-acoustica,” I could not have been happier with my introduction to this duo of Michael Hooker and Jensen Kistler, who hail from Tampa, Florida USA. Minimalist in approach (essentially guitar and vocals with some musical accents), these tracks are not bare in the visceral sense at all. From the allure of the guitar playing to the lusciousness of the vocal arrangements, these two tracks are enrapturing. “Our time is limited,” are the first words of “500 Years,” the first track of the collection. Folk meets dirge, with an incredible pop sensibility, this is one of those heart-tugging tracks you will hit repeat on various times. The bluesy “The Serpent and the Bird” has one of the most interesting vocal harmonies. It just has this ability to make you listen to every word, as their singing accents exactly what they want you focus in on.
The last half consists of the two Golden Gardens’ tracks, “In the Rosebuds” and “An Apparition.” If ever Golden Gardens mixed the same amount of dream pop and shoegaze into one track, it is “In the Rosebuds” – wispy and distorted, layered and ethereal, what I really like about this track is how classic dream pop/shoegaze it sounds. The final track on the EP is “An Apparition.” Just like Cocteau Twins and The Cranes, these vocals are more than just conduits for lyrical expression; they are intricately woven into the musical arrangements, like another layer of music. Though ethereal, Golden Garden manages to “darken” the mood with this track, bringing them closer to their post-punk influences.
As I said above, covering a song is a tricky thing. When I think about collections of cover songs, I immediately think of two collections that have become the measuring rod for all cover collections in my book. The first is Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Through the Looking Glass” (1987). With some completely unexpected songs (for example, “Strange Fruit” and “Trust in Me”), what makes this an incredible collection is how the band was able to at once expand their sonic repertoire and eerily “own” the songs. The second is Annie Lennox’s “Medusa” (1995). Lennox proved that one of the reasons to cover music is to save a song from obscurity (for example, “No More I Love You’s”). (I have always imagined that the meaning behind the album has to do with the fact that mythological Medusa transmutes people into other (stone) versions of themselves, just has she has transmuted those songs.)
The first cover of this collection is of The Creepshow’s “The Garden” – gone are the tinges of rockabilly, as well as the upbeat tempo and all that goes with it. Golden Gardens transmute this song into a minimalist dream pop faire that is elegantly haunting. The second cover is of Morrissey’s “The Loop” (one of the last songs by Morrissey I thought anyone would cover!). The opening of the cover is reminiscent of the opening of The Smith’s “How Soon Is Now,” but then the intact lead guitar arrangement is juxtaposed to an ambient key background and vocals that could not be more disparate from Morrissey’s. It is this juxtaposition that really brings out a new dimension to the song that could not have been imagined from the original. And if “The Loop” was a curve ball, then the third cover of Red House of Painters’ “Summer Dress” is surreal! Never in a million years would I have thought of Golden Gardens covering this track, which they really interpreted á la post-punk – down to the early Simon Gallup-esque bass sound.
Golden Gardens then ambitiously goes for Tears For Fear’s “Pale Shelter” on the fourth track. I have always thought that Tears For Fears should have explored their new wave and post-punk influences, which they forsook after their debut album. Golden Gardens concentrates on the mournful, ambient aspects of this song that Tears For Fears did not. The fifth track is a cover of Hole’s “Violet.” Like the first track, their interpretation forgoes the upbeat tempo (and angst). Golden Garden’s interpretation is much more pensive and reflective, loaning itself to deeper introspection than the original. The final cover is of Julee Cruise’s “Into the Night,” a song that I have not thought about in more years than I care to admit. This is homage to dream pop! In many ways true to the original version, but more ethereal, the vocal arrangements are sung in tandem with the musical arrangements, as opposed to above them as in the original.
Do Golden Gardens pick at least one unexpected song? Check. Do they own these covers? Check. Do they save at least one song from obscurity? Check. “The Covers” is an excellent cover album, which meets with all of my personal expectations for cover collections. I for one am really happy that the band did not tread down the road of clichés; not that I have anything against anyone covering Cocteau Twins, but that would have been too easy! They engaged music that was not in their realm of references, continued to keep dream pop and shoegaze alive, while simultaneously paying homage to the past and pushing the classic form a bit further – and these two releases are just further reasons to delve into the world of Golden Gardens.
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Golden Gardens - Between the Siren and the Amulet
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Golden Gardens: Between the Siren and the Amulet
Golden Gardens
Golden Gardens, composed of sel...Golden Gardens: Between the Siren and the Amulet
Golden Gardens
Golden Gardens, composed of self-described dreamgaze duo Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble (vocals, lyrics) and Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville (synths, guitar, keyboards, drums, bass), presents an hour-long collection of luscious, alchemical dreampop on Between the Siren and the Amulet. Atmospheric in the extreme, the group's sound might be likened to Mazzy Starr jamming with Julee Cruise at the Twin Peaks lodge. Bramble's voice possesses a gauzy and velvety softness that allows it to glide overtop of Neville's entrancing dreamscapes with ease, and the duo acknowledges shoegaze and triphop outfits such as Slowdive, Loveliescrushing, Massive Attack, Cocteau Twins, Portishead, and My Bloody Valentine as kindred spirits.
When faint traces of piano surface amidst the synthetic ambient darkness of the instrumental overture “Peisinoë,” you'll be forgiven for thinking you've entered the disturbed realm commonly associated with Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch. Golden Gardens specializes in widescreen shoegaze lamentations, exemplified by “The Empress,” suitably transporting in its marriage of Cruise-like vocals and reverb-drenched guitar-and-synths atmospherics, and the comparatively more uplifting yet equally ethereal “Amethyst.” The album's full of seductive dreampop (“Ghostwood,” “Three Jewels”) and, to a more modest degree, triphop (“The Golden Dawn”). Near album's end, a penultimate instrumental, “Cimaruta,” sets the scene for one final entrancement, the suitably gothic dreamscape “The Death of Lovers.”
Between the Siren and the Amulet is Golden Gardens' first full-length and follows quickly on the heels of a small string of EP and single releases that began with the late-2010 Somnambulist EP. The detail is worth noting for the simple reason that the album finds the group's sound fully-formed, with Bramble and Neville having distilled their many influences into a persona that, while clearly derivative, isn't without its own distinctive character and appeal.
December 2011
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Shoegazr.de - Golden Gardens
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Hier noch ein wunderschöner Tipp für lange, kuschelige Winterabende: das Duo Golden Gardens aus Seat...Hier noch ein wunderschöner Tipp für lange, kuschelige Winterabende: das Duo Golden Gardens aus Seattle bzw. Florida mit seinem bezaubernden Album Between The Siren And The Amulet. Der Titel hält was er verspricht und auch die von der Band favorisierte Bezeichnung Dreamgaze ist genehmigt, zumal die Songs wunderschöne mystische, märchenhafte Geschichten erzählen. Für die ist Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble zuständig, und säuselt sie uns dann auch gleich mit ihrer atemberaubenden Stimme, die mich angenehm an die guten alten Cranes erinnert, ins Ohr. Auch die Begriffe Ethereal und Ambient sollten an dieser Stelle gefallen sein, denn Kollege Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville schafft traumhaft atmosphärische Klanglandschaften zum reinkuscheln.
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Indie Music Reviewer - Golden Gardens
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Warning: Do not operate heavy machinery while listening to The Golden Gardens’ debut full-length alb...Warning: Do not operate heavy machinery while listening to The Golden Gardens’ debut full-length album, Between the Siren and the Amulet.
This is because the experience is like being on those kick-arse drugs they give you in hospital when you’ve broken your toes or collarbone. You know the ones, they make you confess your love for all mankind and suddenly you cannot only understand, but actually see the flow of the universe.
Logic tells you that this album was made in a recording studio, but I can’t shake the feeling that wood nymphs were somehow involved in the process, and this is entirely appropriate given that The Golden Gardens belong to the shoe gaze/dream pop genre.
As a whole the album takes its time, it fades into existence and back out again without any fan fare. It’s as though the music would exist even if you weren’t there to listen to it and as such it does not feel the need to grab at your attention. Rather it will seduce you slowly and sweetly if you have the patience to allow it to do so, and there is something enigmatic about that.
From track to track there is an expression of sameness that makes me think the album could be improved by blending the songs into an hour long musical ‘gaze haze’. This is a chill out album; it’s made for the background and the silences between tracks break the harmony that a continuous track could achieve.
Now this may just be the paranoia resulting from the drug-addled experience that The Golden Gardens have simulated in my mind, but I found the vocals reminiscent of a creepy little possessed girl from a horror movie. This is of course mildly unsettling (at least for those of us with a practical fear of reanimated dolls) but again, it is so genre appropriate. When the vocals are coupled with the use of wavering guitar effects the album creates a discordant soundscape good for laying back and drifting through the depths of your mind.
While shoegazing had never been one of my favourite, for anyone who is a fan of the genre Between the Siren and the Amulet is definitely worth a listen, just not while at your day job as a forklift operator.
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Golden Gardens: An Interview with Aubrey and Gregg
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Tell us something about Golden Gardens?
Aubrey: We create Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Mi...Tell us something about Golden Gardens?
Aubrey: We create Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Minds.
A brief history of how the band started?
Gregg: Aubrey and I had known each other for a few years before we started Golden Gardens. She used to curate art events in Tampa, FL, and I had a solo harsh noise/performance art project that had performed at a couple of them. At a certain point, I had decided to pursue music in a collaborative project.
Aubrey: I had moved to Seattle, WA but asked Gregg if he might be interested in trying to make something work long-distance, by sending files and recordings back-and-forth.
Gregg: We had similar interests and compatible ideas, and the concepts and works that became Golden Gardens came together organically and amazingly quickly.
As you're duo, who is in charge for making music and who is for lyrics?
Aubrey: Gregg writes and records the instrumentation. He then sends it to me and I work out vocal melodies and lyrics. Once we get a demo going, I may add additional musical sounds (toy piano, synths, etc.) and he in turn may make vocal suggestions. It's really a collaborative process where, although we each focus on one particular aspect of the music foremost, we do cross paths creatively and production-wise as well.
Gregg: We tend to be on the same wavelength when we're writing, so putting together a song is a very natural process for us.
There's a French/Australian duo Sealight, that uses fragments of letters of their families from F/A as lyrics. Seems like a good ides, don't you think?
Gregg: That sounds like a beautiful and sentimental approach to songwriting. I know of a few bands that assemble lyrics through the William S. Burroughs "cut up" method, but not with that subject matter.
Aubrey: That's definitely an interesting concept and probably creates a lovely narrative effect. In regards to Golden Gardens' lyrical process, I find that I prefer to draw more from the imagined, and less from the real. I like to express a certain mood or emotion with my lyrics. I enjoy dreaming up fictional, historical, fantasy scenarios and themes rather than making them personal in any way.
I hear lots of Cranes & Cocteau Twins in your music. And you call it "dreamgaze". Are there any other bands that influenced you to play music?
Aubrey: We feel that our sound is very shoegaze musically and very dream pop vocally, and at the same time other-wordly/magical; the "dreamgaze" label sums that up nicely. I am definitely influenced by Alison Shaw (Cranes) and Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins), but I also draw a lot of inspiration from Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays). Mood inspiration comes to me from the instrumental compositions of Max Richter and Angelo Badalamenti. The vocal techniques of Swedish artists like The Knife/Fever Ray, Jonna Lee and Lykke Li really influence my creative process and sound as well.
Gregg: Cranes and Cocteau Twins are absolutely huge influences on us. My playing style is also heavily influenced by early goth rock bands, 90's shoegaze, britpop, earlier black metal, film soundtracks, early industrial. Noise and dark ambient music factors a great deal into how I play as well.
Song/album that changed your life?
Aubrey: I would have to say that pretty much anything by The Cure, especially "Wish" or "Disintegration," could easily qualify as a life-changing album. When I first heard their music as a pre-teen, everything I knew or understood about music up to that point was completely turned upside-down. The lush, complex instrumentation, the heavy layers of guitars, the dark themes and Robert Smith's unique vocals drew me in to my own private Wonderland. No other musician(s) had previously had that sort of effect on me. Song-wise, I'd have to say any of the following: "Horror Head" by Curve, Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser's cover of Time Buckley's "Song to the Siren," "Beautiful Friend" by Cranes, "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus.
Gregg: The Cure's "Disintegration", The Sisters of Mercy's "First and Last and Always", Slowdive's "Souvlaki". Ulver's "Nattens Madrigal" and "Perdition City" certainly changed my life in weird ways. Tom Waits' "Raindogs".
Are there any song that you would like to cover and any artist that you would like to play with?
Aubrey: As far as current artists go, I'd love to play a show with Esben and the Witch or Active Child at some point. If Robert Smith is looking for undiscovered supporting acts, we are always available! As far as "dream" artists go, it would have been amazing to play with Cocteau Twins definitely. Especially around their "Heaven or Las Vegas" era. We are currently working on a small EP of cover songs, so you'll have to wait and see what we've chosen to put our Golden Gardens spell on!
Gregg: As Aubrey says, we do have a cover EP planned, as well as the covers we have already put out (The Knife's "Heartbeats" and Cocteau Twins' "Serpentskirt"). There are many bands that I would love to play with; Portishead would be a wonderful band to open for, as would The Cure. I'd love to play with My Bloody Valentine as well.
Which do you prefer, cd, vinyl or mp3?
Aubrey: For convenience and portability I love mp3s and other digital formats. Having music anywhere and everywhere, whenever I want it, is a supreme luxury. Though I still love the tangible aspect of compact discs - the fold-out or pull-out booklets and the artwork/design that goes into each little self-contained package. I can't seem to get rid of any of my hundreds of CDs...
Gregg: I have an absolute love of mp3s and digital music formats, but I will agree that the artwork and extras that come with vinyl and CDs add an experience to the music that mp3s just do not provide.
What do you listen when you're at home, on tour, right now…?
Aubrey: Currently on rotation in my headphones: Washed Out, Dustin O'Halloran, Massive Attack, Tricky, Robin Guthrie, iamamiwhoami, Ministry and Chelsea Wolfe.
Gregg: Motorama, Feeding Fingers, Current 93, Cold Cave, Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" and Jonsi's "Go". A lot of movie soundtracks as well.
Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else you'd like to say to our readers?
Aubrey: We hope you enjoy the music we make, and we hope to one day make it over to Croatia to play for you in person!
Gregg: Thank you so much for listening.
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Between the Siren and the Amulet Review
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Quite often, I use music as the ultimate escape from the wear and tear of everyday life. I usually o...Quite often, I use music as the ultimate escape from the wear and tear of everyday life. I usually opt for music that creates a netherworld of sounds, where the expected is rarely realized and beauty, in so many forms, abounds. So it is no surprise that recently, as I so often do, I turned to dream pop and shoegaze to suspend reality, but I did not immerse myself in the soundscapes of yesteryears. Rather, I finally found the time to sit down and listen to Golden Gardens’ debut album, “Between the Siren and the Amulet” (23 August 2011). Though I hate to truncate or give the illusion of hybridity, this luscious album could easily be called “dreamgaze.” From the opening track, the instrumental “Peisinoë,” the dream like trance generated by compressed guitar sounds and synthesizers lulls you away into nearly an hour of music that is unconventionally alluring and emotionally engaging.
When I first reviewed Golden Garden’s “Somnambulist” EP (link), I wrote of days when incredible EPs and mini-albums were being released; now I remember those amazing days when fledging shoegaze bands were releasing amazing debut albums. But what really makes “Between the Siren and the Amulet” distinct is how Golden Gardens weave the earthly with the ethereal, the post-punk with the dream pop, the shoegaze with electronics. Furthermore, most albums released nowadays are merely a collection of new songs, not connected sonically or thematically in any premeditated way, and simply mixed to give the verisimilitude of cohesiveness to the songs. “Between the Siren and the Amulet” is an album in the traditional sense: there is sonic cohesiveness in how the music was conceived, written, and recorded. The listener simply glides through the musical journey of soundscapes, to the credit of multi-instrumentalist Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville; each song effortlessly flows into the next, even when the tempos and textures are different. This is most obvious between the broody “Amthemusa” and the near-poppy “Ghostwood.” There is no disconnect in the experience, and the change in tempo and style is part of the cinematographic feel of the music.
Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble’s vocals are stunning! Of course, the lazy comparison would be with Elizabeth Fraser (the amazing vocalist of Cocteau Twins), but the more apropos comparison would be with (early) Alison Shaw (of The Cranes) – but dare I say that Bramble’s are more beautiful! She uses her voice not just to create vocal melody and deliver lyrics, but also as another layer within the musical arrangements. Even when the background music is more earthy and guttural, her vocals elevate each song into ethereal euphoria. Take “Three Jewels” for example; musically one of the “earthiest” moments on the album, and though Bramble’s vocals are not as high-pitched, her vocals adds the airy / ethereal counterpart to the music. In a nutshell, the music itself is a perfect example of classic shoegaze, her vocals dream pop.
“The Empress” is one of the most mesmerizing sounds I have ever heard. The guitar-arrangements are as haunting as the vocals, the languid beat accents the anxiousness – it is the perfect example of how to generate visceral power in a song without being bombast. The other track I must mention is “Night Never Ends.” With a nice dose of post-punk “gothicness,” this is the epic track of the album – as well as my favorite track and latest obsession. Like all great epics, it never feels as long as it is actually is (nearly seven minutes). The perfect bass line, even paced beat, ambient keys, and cinematic guitar arrangements all conspire to be the perfect soundscape for the airy vocal arrangements to lull and mesmerize the listener.
Golden Gardens is the exemplar of dream pop and shoegaze in today’s music. “Between the Siren and the Amulet” is not the replication of music of yesteryears gone by, but rather a relevant collection of music that keeps the tradition of the “album” alive in this post-broadband revolutionized world, while bringing the power of two musical traditions to contemporary audiences in a new and vibrant way. Golden Gardens is one of those truly independent bands that treads where others might not, because it is obvious that they place the emphasis on the artistry of the music, like all those nascent shoegazers of two decades ago. If you are obsessed with dream pop and shoegaze as I am, this is an album you will most definitely treasure. If you have no clue what dream pop or shoegaze is, then take the plunge with this album, suspend your expectations, and lull away an hour to this visceral catharsis.
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Golden Gardens - Between the Siren and the Amulet
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Nowadays, the blurring of genre lines is a fairly common practice among bands seeking to stir the mu...Nowadays, the blurring of genre lines is a fairly common practice among bands seeking to stir the musical melting pot. Sometimes it’s a conscious decision to ape a particular style, while at other times there is an attempt to hide influences under the guise of spontaneous experimentation. The kind of music bands cite as inspiration don’t always find way their into the actual songwriting process, and there are a variety of grey areas (like multiple members bringing their own influences and experiences into the mix) that further complicates the issue. Basically, genre labels are silly, and yet they do inevitably serve a purpose. The silliness comes from labeling a certain sound “Shoegaze” or “Dream Pop” or “Post-Punk” etc, which only gives one a narrow idea of what to expect from the actual music on display. But such labeling does serve its intended purpose in giving the listener at least an indication of where an artist fits on the musical scale. Seattle-based duo Golden Gardens, made up of Gregg Alexander Joesph Neville and Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble, are self-professed carriers of the “Dreamgaze” tag, which comes chock full of dreamy synthesizers, cinematic arrangements, airy drumming, and ethereal female vocals. Neville writes and records most of the instrumentation, while Bramble supplies the vocals, and one can hear the influence of seminal shoegaze/dream pop bands like Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, and Spacemen 3 throughout their debut LP Between the Siren and the Amulet. But perhaps a more appropriate comparison might be to Japanese duo Sugar Plant reimagined as a David Lynch film score.
Indeed, one only needs to hear the first few moments of opening instrumental track “Peisinoë” to catch the influence of Lynch composer Angelo Badalamenti, with its wall of mystical synths and loose guitar lines plunging the listener into the nightmarish unknown. On songs like the lovely “The Empress” (which sounds a little like the aforementioned Sugar Plant pushed through a magical wormhole) and “Ghostwood” (featuring gorgeous overlapping vocals), Golden Gardens prove that correctly genrefying their sound is secondary only to the music they make.
Bramble’s voice is high-pitched and airy, gliding seamlessly above Neville’s layered atmospherics, and over the course of 12-tracks, the two musicians take dreaminess to new levels of sublimity. There is a constant feeling of floating—floating through fragmented space, floating over and above rumbling clouds, floating deep inside someone else’s dream. It is this sense of slowly building ascension that the album sustains for nearly an hour. But even though Between the Siren and the Amulet is tonally consistent throughout its entire running time, this can also be seen as something of a minor weakness. There are slight variations on the languid dreamgaze sound, such as “Shimmerine”, which has a foreboding quality pitched somewhere between Portishead and a gothic fantasy dream sequence, and “Amethyst”, which makes good use of digitally manipulated drums, but on the whole most of the songs lack diversity. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the experience of taking in an album like this is based more in conjuring a mood than picking out individual tracks. Still, it will be interesting to see if they can stretch this kind of thing further with upcoming releases.
As it stands, Between the Siren and the Amulet is a strong contender for dreamiest album of the year, and Golden Gardens are a duo smartly using their influences to capture their own distinct brand of melancholy ambiance.
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Between the Siren and the Amulet Review
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Between the Siren and the Amulet is an album of perfectly produced warm shoegaze music. Starting wit...Between the Siren and the Amulet is an album of perfectly produced warm shoegaze music. Starting with a droning ambient introduction, this album presents dreamy guitar based music and even more dreamy and gentle female vocals, that fill you with the atmosphere of complete calmness. Delayed and hazy guitars make songs sound totally soundscapic, ambient. And admitting the crystal beauty of singer's vocals again. A perfect piece of music for dreamers.
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Textura Reviews "The Somnambulist Remixes"
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Golden Gardens duo Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble and Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville characterize thei...Golden Gardens duo Aubrey Rachel Violet Bramble and Gregg Alexander Joseph Neville characterize their sound as “Dreamscapes and Anthems for Magical Minds,” a succinct and fairly apt description for the music the long-distance collaborators release (Bramble and Neville are Seattle- and Florida-based, respectively). Though the group's sound comes out of the dreampop and shoegaze traditions, it's a tad more dreamy than the norm (due in part to a self-professed love for fairy-tale literature, among other things), and consequently “dreamgaze” might serve as the most useful handle, even if phantasmagoric might just as easily spring to mind.
But let's not forget that The Somnambulist Remixes, a thirty-eight-minute limited-edition cassette release, is a remix collection, so what we're hearing is the group filtered through the madcap sensibilities of contributors. And a madcap ride it is, though it's also (depending on who's in control), on occasion, relatively clear-headed. In a so-called “Lizzy” remix, Cex (Rjyan Kidwell) twists “Elizabeta” into mangled electro-pop funk shape, with quirky flickerings of electronic noise darting out like tentacles while a quasi-hip-hop beat saunters merrily alongside. Just as trippy, nonnon's (Dave Madden) “Pareidolia” remix of “The High Priestess” dishes out a stomping, clatter-funk maelstrom of chopped vocals and mind-melting experimentalism, though some semblance of nightmarish control sets in during the closing minutes. Teras's “Sometimes In The Moonlight” remix of “Paresseux” comes across like some desperate night-time invocation, with the male vocalist pouring out his soul in an impassioned plea against a swollen, synth-heavy backdrop, and after an intro of crackly strings gets things underway, Phantom of the RIAA's “Paresseux” remix turns into a 4/4 techno thumper with Violet Bramble's Julee Cruise-like vocals riding o'ertop.
Not insignificantly, two of the strongest tracks come courtesy of the group itself. Joseph Neville turns “The Uselessness of Enchantment” into a beautiful, Badalamenti-esque instrumental of vaporous cloudscaping, while the group's “Invocation of the Violet” remix of “Paresseux” offers a luminous glimpse into an imaginary dreamworld. The tracks are so satisfying, in fact, they make one want to also track down the group's originating Somnambulist EP.
September 2011
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The Somnambulist Remixes
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I am torn on this one. First of all I am not very familiar with Golden Gardens not remixed so my fra...I am torn on this one. First of all I am not very familiar with Golden Gardens not remixed so my frame of reference made it difficult to be objective. I was holding off on reviewing this until i knew more… Then time went by and I said, "fuck it. I am going to review it on the merit of it's work and not worry about the context". So now that you know that here is the second thing: I half love and half hate the tracks on this cassette. There are some real stand outs, especially from Golden Gardens themselves. Those tracks are exceptional. I could listen to them all day. I like them enough to want to search out everything from this beautiful Seattle and Florida duo. The other remixed tracks though are pretty hit or miss. The track from Cex is okay but i am really not of fan of anything this guy has put out yet. Not horrible, just not my thing. The Nonnon track that follows it kinda bums me out. It makes me think about being in the middle of Hempfest, surrounded by people who i seem to have one thing and only one thing in common with. It's too much trippy wanderings for me. The remix from Hair is pretty nice. Quiet but still complex. Interesting and pretty cool but then the track that follows that is pretty much straight up house music. Again, just not my thing. I hate that one drum beat with a passion. Luckily the last track is from Golden Gardens and it's fantastic. The whole affair is certainly interesting and worth giving a listen to. I give the tracks a 2, 2, 4, 5, 4, 2, 5… so average that out and there you go.
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Golden Gardens - Somnambulist EP
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The marvels of modern technology are amazing, revolutionising the way we access music and the freque...The marvels of modern technology are amazing, revolutionising the way we access music and the frequency and quality in which we do so. Whilst a blessed time to be alive, there's nothing more satisfying than taking the time and effort to track down a limited edition EP or vinyl, that was carefully handmade, and adding it to your physical collection. So when I got a copy of Golden Gardens' Somnambulist EP in the mail all the way from Seattle, (with my own little personalised note of love), it plastered a grin on my face from ear to ear. The first five tracks are of a similar vein to their debut The Uses of Enchantment - Aubrey's sweet but growling voice telling sweet tales of princess warriors conquering all feats. Or so it may appear. Then, all of a sudden, it starts. Heartbeats, as in Jose Gonzales' Heartbeats and my head almost exploded in pure joy.
It starts a little bit cute and a little bit girly, and somewhat hopeful compared to the mature and worldly outlook of the previous tracks. And then, slowly and gradually, it fades into a minimalist, raw, absolute pure undiluted proclamation of emotion.
I'm definitely happy to have this little piece of Seattle in my corner of the world.
Genre: Out of this world, shoegaze, dark dream-pop, ambient, cover
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Music Monday, Volume 22
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Ivan – Golden Gardens, Somnambulist EP (2010)
This dreamgaze, electronic duo hails calls Seattle ho...Ivan – Golden Gardens, Somnambulist EP (2010)
This dreamgaze, electronic duo hails calls Seattle home (but 1/2 of the group lives in Tampa) and offers up a magic pop meets Alice in Wonderland vibe. Check it out at their bandcamp site.
supersonic
