The general Black Tape ethic - dark mood music informed by orchestral and synthesized atmospherics - has often drawn comparison to This Mortal Coil, but Garden is the album which most resembles the efforts by the noted UK studio project.
As This Mortal Coil did with the 4AD label roster, here Black Tape draws in a wide number of Projekt labelmates, including Padraic Ogl of Thanatos, Mike Vanportfleet of Lycia and Ryan Lum of Love Spirals Downwards.
Here also Black Tape resembles TMC by doing reinterpretive cover versions, in this case a not-bad take on Laurie Anderson's "Gravity's Angel," with vocals by Susan Jennings, the album's cover model and general inspiration (Rosenthal detailed their relationship in a separate self-published book that if nothing else demonstrates that his straight prose can be as extreme in its emotional detail as his songs).
As a whole, Garden is something of a catchall effort; it doesn't quite achieve the unity earlier Black Tape albums have, and the various performances almost feel more like a compilation at points than a unified product.
This said, Herrera and new singer Lucian Casselman (possessed of a warm set of pipes, possibly the best female singer Rosenthal has yet worked with) acquit themselves well, while Rosenthal's ear for lengthy electronic performance pieces still holds up.
Of the guest performances, Ogl's spare take on the title track is especially worth noticing.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Left UnsaidStephen Nester, Sam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 17 MB |
| 2 | The Broken GlassSam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 18 MB |
| 3 | We Exist, EntwinedSam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 05:17 | 12 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | Overwhelmed, Beneath MeSusan Jennings, Sam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 03:20 | 7 MB | 13 MB |
| 5 | This Lush Garden WithinPadraic Ogl, Sam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 01:49 | 4 MB | 8 MB |
| 6 | The Christ in the DesertSam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 06:29 | 14 MB | 24 MB |
| 7 | The Turbulence and the TormentSam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 05:44 | 13 MB | 21 MB |
| 8 | The Flow of Our SpiritSam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 16 MB |
| 9 | Into the GardenSam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 19 MB |
| 10 | Gravity's AngelLaurie Anderson | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 01:50 | 4 MB | 7 MB |
| 11 | On Broken Shells of Crystal DreamsSam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 06:40 | 15 MB | 24 MB |
| 12 | Our Future ImaginedSusan Jennings, Sam Rosenthal | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 14 MB |
| 13 | Decomposed By The Fire Of The Firmament | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 22 MB |
| 54 mins | 125 MB | |||||
| 54 mins | 234 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurie Anderson | Composer |
| 2 | Black Tape for a Blue Girl | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Oscar Herrera | Guitar, Tambourine, Vocals |
| 4 | Susan Jennings | Composer, Vocals |
| 5 | Ryan Lum | Guitar |
| 6 | Stephen Nester | Composer, Piano |
| 7 | Padraic Ogl | Composer, Guitar, Vocals |
| 8 | Sam Rosenthal | Composer, Design, Electronics, Photography, Vocals |
| 9 | Mike Van Portfleet | Guitar |
Black Tape for a Blue Girl
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |