The Rorschach Garden
"Tales Of A Fragile Mind"

Label: Bazooka Joe (2014)

2014 brings forth the new harvest from The Rorschach Garden. 'Tales From A Fragile Mind' is a definite case of an aptly chosen title and a return to the core values and themes of trg. Think the trademark lovingly assembled analogue beats and melodies, think the marginal pop appeal oscillating between joy and melancholy, think the lyrics about lost and found loves and social oppression. And this time: also think munich machine style computer disco sounds as a leitmotif of this album. no genres, no conventions, just an expression of individuality through heartfelt music - 13 tales of a fragile mind, plus a remix by like-minded Canadian artist Displacer. It has been over three years since the last TRG album, and while the previous releases had always seen an increasing number of guest vocalists and collaborators, the 13 original tracks on 'Tales Of A Fragile Mind' are the offspring of Philipp Münch’s creativity alone.
The lyrics are more revealing than ever, dealing with the challenges of love and relationships ('control', 'nothing matters'), rejection of individuality ('stay in line'), autobiographic remorse ('my major mistake') and sleazy fantasies ('faith and obedience'). Of course there are a number of classic TRG pop songs with a slightly dark appeal ('experiments with me', 'that fading line', 'simple minded'), but also a fair share of novelty tunes: the opener 'fun tastica' sports a bouncing sub-house beat and tweaking synth sounds and 'distant disco' is driven by a patrick cowley style hi-nrg bass lead, while 'a little piece of moog' is a psychedelic space electro fantasy. The uptempo 'visions without a meaning' even boasts moroder style melody fragments, before 'we’re all gonna die' brings 'tales of a fragile mind' to a seemingly desolate end. Then there’s an encore: the Displacer remix of the last track, a perfect example of how to completely alter your subject matter, he turns the originally quiet and downbeat tune into a beautiful widescreen, cinematic wall of sound. 'Tales Of A Fragile Mind' is an album in it’s classic sense, it tells a story that you can relate to, but it also has a number of strong tracks that stand on their own. A challenge to the mind, a rush to the feet, defying expectations and categories, this is just short of an hour worth of quality electronic entertainment.

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