Nostalgia 77-The Garden

Nostalgia 77-The Garden

Upon first hearing The Garden, one may not feel inclined to acknowledge it as a "producer's" record. It feels quite different from Lamdin's 2004 scratch-inflicted debut Songs for My Funeral. The presence of metronome-perfect sequencing techniques (if they're even there at all) is incredibly subtle and often entirely unnoticeable. Clearly, Lamdin was not the lone creative force behind this effort. Rather than overwhelming production techniques, the buffet of musicianship present on The Garden makes the record. Horns, upright bass, live[?] drum set, keys, and electric guitar supply an ideal stripped down yet incredibly full sound.

The vacillation of The Garden can be somewhat disorienting, as one minute you'd swear you were hearing something off the latest off Ninja Tune, and a moment later, you'd be better off assuming it was vintage Blue Note. Its overall theme seems to shift slightly from piece to piece. Some songs are anchored in jazz-funk and fusion, some in Afrobeat, some in sample-derived hip-hop, and even a few in avant free jazz (minus the frenzied percussion). And though the musicianship throughout the album remains constant, no two songs sound particularly alike in style.

The Garden is 100% instrumental (vocal-free) with one exception: The White Stripes cover "Seven Nation Army" featuring vocals from blue-eyed UK soulstress Alice Russell. Ha! And you thought Joss Stone's "Fell in Love With a Boy" was the last of it! 'Fraid not. In any case, Lamdin's take on Jack and Meg is perhaps more tolerable than the latter mentioned. However, it does seem a tad out of place here since, after all, it's the only vocal track on the record and just so happens to be decidedly gimmicky.

Ben Lamdin’s creations range from heavy funk, to hip-hop based beats mixed with dusty old jazz, obscuro funk and psych bits and pieces.

Nostalgia 77 aka Ben Lamdin first burst onto the scene with his heavy, new funk based sound in 2002. In 2004 he moved away from the distinctive raw funk of his previous singles and he branched out to explore a more downtempo and jazz infused style. Nostalgia’s sound moved to hip-hop based beats fused with dusty old jazz; obscuro funk and psych bits and pieces, repolishing and rearranging them for modern day headphone junkies.



Tracklist:
1. Cheney Lane 4:40
2. Changes 5:56
3. Green Blades of Grass 3:30
4. The Hunger 7:29
5. You and Me 4:36
6. After Ararat 4:51
7. Freedom 5:17
8. Seven Nation Army 4:22
9. The Garden 3:19