WIN Records
Release Date: 1997
As in life, the best music often takes work and concentration. The Uphill Gardeners certainly don't make things easy on the listener. No quickly identifiable melodies. No sugar-coated guitar hooks. Hell, even their anti-packaging scheme -- clear jewel box and one piece of white paper bearing little more than song titles -- takes getting used to. But put in the work and this instrumental trio will take you places pop music just doesn't go.
If you are a fan of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (and anyone who isn't is no friend of mine), then you'll go gaga for the Gardeners. The flow of the songs, and the fantastic percussion in particular, are highly reminiscent of Davis' early 70s experimental electronic journeys. But it's the 90s now, and peaceful, idealistic hopes have long given way to a darker realism. Where Miles got psychedelic and introspective, the Uphill Gardeners get gritty and abrasive. Occasionally it's almost unlistenable, as on the five minutes of migraine-inducing keyboard feedback in "Negative Grimace." But follow that stretch of brain-bruising around the bend and you're sure to find a new groove. On tracks like "Dreaming of a White" and "Baxter's Slope Bracket" it's a driving, angular precision in the Slintian mathematical vein. On "Old Plastic," it's a lo-fi, grainy take on techno repetition. But no matter what flavor these grooves come in, the tension and ultimate release they create is magnificent.
-- Jon Carson
carson@outersound.com
