Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx 'The Garden' 2008 edition

Yet again another very entertaining & simply bloody excellent review in every way. Thanks RadioBeach!

What do we know about 'Fog'?

Granted its all the things Garry said and more - its postively Eastern .
Is there even the remotest hint of anything to do with Dead can Dance/John Bonnar?

I think I like it, but its certainly curve ball...

AND

I'm formulating a new opinion that perhaps A Woman On A Stairway might be the best song John has ever written.
I remember we discussed this on the 'hidden and other tracks thread' and I expressed my love of it then, but the version on here is absolutely staggering

Yes, 'A Woman On A Stairway' is staggering.
I would go along with it being at least the best of 'TGS' extra tracks. Not sure its hes best song ever. Probably should have been in its rightful place on the original vinyl album though.

IT'S HERE!!! I won't get to listen to it now till tomorrow morning but looking forward to it loads!!

Yep, I feel also I should try to do them all some justice, afterall, back in the day I looked forward expectantly to each release, and bearing in mind that they all generate a spectrum of opinion, some more than others I want to have an honest reaction towards what I'm hearing, if possible



Arrgh, the agony!

yes, but it's me commenting on Not being able to listen to The Garden

RadioBeach, can I call you Garry? I had to stop reading your exciting review after a few lines, as I am so eager about hearing this 2CD release, and no, this is not an album I need to hear 'cold', in fact it's too hot, too damn hot! and I've got to stay true to the course and work my way through the other '2' first, be good and not be tempted to sneak away for a bit of 'Gardening'

like you, it's my favourite Foxx album ever, and firmly in my top ten fav' albums ever of all artist's, (if I kept such a list of course )

OK, so I changed my mind. It's a day off doing some editorial work. Maybe later.
Second time through Disc 2 of The Garden at the moment.

It's brilliant.

The following has just burst forth from my pen. Not sure you'd call it a review as such, but what it is what it is...

It's time to walk again

The Garden (disc 2) by birdsong

At the end of The Garden there's a crumbling wall. Look carefully among the ivy when the evening sunlight falls and you will see a gate. Partially decayed and fragile, almost completely overgrown with brambles, but quite distinctly there. How come you haven't noticed this before?
Push gently at the splintered wood and the gate opens, swinging suddenly away from you and into the darkness beyond.
Stepping through the air is moist and heavy. A carpet of fallen leaves from many autumns lies thick on the uneven ground, and you stumble through into that which lies beyond. A place of remembered beauty called Disc 2.

No one has been here for years, and the shafts of twilight remain unbroken like film beams, falling on clusters of roots and tangled vegetation, among which are the softened edges of crumbling gravestones. There is strange birdsong, and the occasional rustle of a terrified mammal. You gently brush a cobweb from an inscription, and read the name of a lover you once knew. A hidden music begins to play, drums roll, and a voice curiously familiar, sings of uncertain avenues, dissolved streets and ghostly perfume. Upwards to roses. Rich strings. And higher - synths and dissonant guitars. There are layers upon layers of texture and memory here in this jungle, this other place. A man could get lost.
Standing in the stillness, listening to the whispered conversation of old friends on a sudden passing breeze, you become aware of an oriental woman forming away to your left beside a huge tropical flower stem. She is wearing a simple white dress, wet with rain, and in a moment it becomes vaguely apparent that she is standing in the mist of a vast, silent fountain. A rhythm track kicks in from nowhere. 'Dance with Me', she says, holding out her smiling hands in a gesture of longing. Gently, she moves, shimmering, becoming more solid as she moves towards you out of the hazy light.
She laughs, and her voice is a piano. You dance, spinning slowly at first, then faster, and you laugh too. Aloud. Round and round, kicking up the leaves. Now spinning. You've been here before, but things were different then. This is the one time when everything feels right - dreamy and cool. There is more definition in some of the edges, and less in others. You remember the sweetness of the dark fruit on some of the trees, and the bitterness of older berries.

Your pirouette quickens and you fall, tripping again over another of those fallen headstones. A torn veil of youth slips from the branch on which it has been caught for years, dissolving into the dust of thousands of pages that rot among the leaves on the ground. The woman's shadow passes over you and its suddenly warm. You roll gently onto your back, resting your head against the stone - and sleep. And quietly, back on the other side of the wall, the sunset fades.

This is The Garden in full bloom. Sunlight, stardust and silver.
You are there.

Don't these artsy fartsy reviews get on yer tits?

Pretentious,moi?
The remasters are tops man.

There... that covers it.

Agreed.

The remastering brings out the brass section on 'A Long Time' quite nicely and its good to see that (at last) Duncan Bridgeman gets credited with that

Arrgh, the agony!

yes, it's me still commenting on Not getting around to listen to The Garden.

Great that its setting off some train of thought and inspiration for you while listening to the CD, I’ve also found the original album to be a very escapist experience myself once?, twice?, oh ok, hundred's of times in the past

But I still can’t go along that haunted path yet, no gardening for me, I’ve got to work my way through the tangled undergrowth of IMW before I can get towards it