A Song For Friday: Earth Flower
The trio of Ruth Garbus, Sam Gendel, and Phil Melanson makes a quiet noise
“In 2019 Ruth Garbus took mushrooms which told her to record an album with Sam Gendel and Phil Melanson. Ruth lives in Brattleboro, VT, Sam lives in LA, and Phil lives in Toronto.” So goes the Bandcamp bio of this ad hoc trio - and once you listen, it will all make sense. The name they’ve taken on his perfect, too, a natural fit with the woozy, organic vibe of these spare, electro-acoustic psychedelic chamber-folk songs. The overall sense is of an off-world sound-generating device crashed to earth, becoming overgrown with moss and transformed by dirt and roots.
The overall soundscape is electronic and filled with intuitive, left-field touches, including Gendel’s breathy sax and Melanson’s inventive percussion, with koan-like lyrics wending their way through it all on the wings of Garbus’ affectless soprano. It could be just the thing you need as we crack the back of March. I know it is for me. Listen to Song Of Rest and take succor from how it revels in the odd attraction of becoming inanimate.
Over a carefully plucked guitar and atmospheric electronics, Garbus sings:
I want to be
A well-made wooden box
Or some kind of beautiful chest
All bronco(?) and brown
Sealed not with glue
But with the warmth and
The fineness of its joints
How everything fits together
Really lovely, slightly loopy stuff that resonates in my head and heart alongside such gently wacky records as Mossing Around by Ethan Woods or Little Body In Orbit by his associate, Alice T-M. I like this little universe of arty singing and songwriting and am glad to add Earth Flower to its number.
From the archives:
Record Roundup: First Quarter Report, Pt. 3
Best Of 2022: Jazz, Latin & Global