Sunday 21 October 2018

THE GARDENING CLUB REVIEW

Acclaimed illustrator’s aural drawings add Arcadian colors to plastic decade.

Martin Springett may not be a household name even for those classic rock aficionados who can vividly recall the artwork of Ian Hunter’s self-titled solo debut which bore striking imagery without hinting at the visual artist’s own musical talents, yet the early ’80s saw the Canada-based British ex-pat come up with this album. Resolutely out of its time, “The Gardening Club” offered soft folk tinted with sci-fi proggery when the world was firmly latched onto synth-pop and couldn’t care less about a 12-string troubadour weaving romantic yarns about ancient heroes and interstellar wanderers – only to catch up with the record recently, when the veteran came up with a sequel.

Not that the original LP has lost any of its charm – full of dulcet, if intricate, instrumental passages such as “The Garden” but never shying away from electric fantasy which will drive “Andromeda” through a mellow nebulae towards the pastorale of “Rebirth” – one quirky enough to retain an art-rock aroma. Immediately creating adventurous atmosphere, the sweet strum of “Midnight Road” appears as inviting and unobtrusive as moonlight, while the drift can also get hilarious, as in the retro twang and croon covering “Mole Hole Blues” with harmonic patina and spilling its jazz into “The Traveller” whose sax-spiced dance is greased with cosmic funk along the way.

Closer to the city, and Martin’s approach will become playful, as “Three Days At Brighton” suggests in scintillating, effects-sprinkled terms. Still, gradually, the momentum is being dispensed with, so the West Coast-inspired reverie of “The Stone That Speaks” doesn’t impress, and the “Endersby” suite would find it difficult to engage the listener, especially when vocals lose a clear melodic direction in favor of lyrical musing, although guitar waves help the mood ascend to celestial heights. There is an exciting, cinematic promise to “The Riddle Overture” – one of a handful of demo-like bonus tracks which, all rather punchy, fall beyond the album’s context, yet hearing a subtle riff in “After The Glow” or finding funky fusion in “Upside Down Blackbird” – pieces that, had they been given a proper production polish, could make period pop chartbusters – is a pleasant surprise.

The artist released more albums further down the line, yet this one – reissued with a richly illustrated booklet – remains Springett’s finest hour… At least until the aforementioned sequel is out.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

The Gardening Club
CD - £9.99

No comments:

Post a Comment

...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?

Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.