The Garbage and the Flowers - Stoned Rehearsal LP - Quemada Records
Well, the title says it all but I can fill you in on the details. The Garbage and the Flowers are a New Zealand/Australia band whose approach to music is so laid back that it sometimes feels like a small miracle that their recordings ever even see the light of day. After two decades of existence they have left a sparse trail; beyond a double LP, only two 7"s, a tape and a handful of compilation appearances. They seem to enjoy drifting along the margins, beloved by the lucky few who happen upon their music, which itself drifts along, sometimes noisily but usually, lately quite hushed, always on the verge of coming together or falling apart, but amazingly, beautifully, doing neither.
Stoned Rehearsal dates to 2007. It was first released by the band, then re-released by Near Tapes, small editions in both cases. In terms of mood, it's very much in line with the Alamo Rose 7" that came out Skull Tones a few years back(and actually has stoned versions of the two songs on that record), which is to say quietly anthemic, full of off-kilter guitars and wobbly harmonies. And really, this record is what it says it is -- the band meanders around the songs, starting and stopping, flubbing guitar lines, the dogs start barking, lyrics are forgotten, chords discussed. It's like a normal Garbage and the Flowers recording except more so. But the songs, despite being all wrong, so utterly, totally, completely wrong, are great. Bracingly tender, quietly cacophonous. An oddity and a classic. Comes with a lyric sheet!

$14, email eggyrecords@gmail.com to order it.