Articles
2011 Top 10s and 20s
Spotlight 4

Albums
Akhet
Cory Allen
Alva Noto
Aun
Bass Communion
Alexander Berne
Birds Passage / Rosado
The Black Dog
BNJMN
Ursula Bogner
Cokiyu
Steve Coleman
Cubenx
Mats Eilertsen
Elektro Guzzi
eleventhfloorrecords
Ben Fleury-Steiner
Golden Gardens
Goldmund
Thom Gossage
Steve Hauschildt
Helvacioglu & Pancaroglu
Illuha
Larkian & Yellow6
Clem Leek
Mamerico
Milyoo
Hedvig Mollestad Trio
Nao
Yann Novak
Sasajima & Hirao
Scissors And Sellotape
Ryan Scott
Till von Sein
Shaula
The Silent Section
Scott Solter
Spheruleus
Talkingmakesnosense
thisquietarmy
Anna Thorvaldsdottir
tINI
Tycho

Newly Issued
The Beach Boys

Compilations / Mixes
Deetron
Mike Huckaby
Radio Slave
Rebel Rave 2: Droog

EPs
Thavius Beck
Niccolò Bianchi
Falko Brocksieper
Alex Cobb & Aquarelle
Deru
Everything Is
Ed Hamilton
Hammock
Herzog
Oknai
SlowPitch
Tracey Thorn
Damian Valles

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