The Garment District is the project of musician and songwriter Jennifer Baron, who has deep roots in independent music, including being a founding member of The Ladybug Transistor (Merge Records), and having worked with English musician Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Spectrum) and Jowe Head (Swell Maps, Television Personalities). The Garment District brings Baron’s extended musical circle to the fore by featuring Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor), Kyle Forester (Crystal Stilts), Shivika Asthana (Papas Fritas) and her cousin Lucy Blehar (vocals). Adding to the sonic depth are contributions from Jennifer’s close collective of musicians, including Dan Koshute, Corry Drake, Sean Finn and Alex Korshin. There’s an archival pleasure to be found in the music of The Garment District, which makes sense if you consider Baron’s background in museum education, independent crafts and photography. Their second full-length LP, Flowers Telegraphed to All Parts of the World, out on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records on September 22nd, was recorded in a friend’s home studio nestled in the labyrinthian hills of Western Pennsylvania during the time warp surrounding the pandemic. For composer and arranger Jennifer Baron (who plays numerous instruments on the album) working with her cousin Lucy Blehar, who supplies lead vocals, continues her family music-making heritage (she plays in The Ladybug Transistor with her brother Jeff).

What Jennifer says: “Left on Coast emerged as a demo I recorded at home, using my Rickenbacker 360 and Boss digital 8-track recorder. The first demos were really slow, trippy versions with layered electric guitars and a drum machine. It was recorded at the home-based studio run by my friend David Klug in Mount Washington. One of the things that helped me achieve the fuzz guitar sounds I was seeking for “Left on Coast” are the 1960s and 1970s guitar pedals I borrowed from my friend Gregg Kostelich, of the iconic Pittsburgh garage band, The Cynics, who runs Get Hip Records. An extremely rewarding aspect of Left on Coast was working with my cousin Lucy, who is a vocalist. Lyrically the song is loosely inspired by my love and admiration for the visionary photojournalism and creative process of W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978), who worked on colossal projects in Pittsburgh and New York City, two cities that have played major roles in my life.”

Her Mixtape: “Very often there is instrumental music on my turntable at home, from Library Music to free jazz to Jamaican Rocksteady, to albums by Yellow Magic Orchestra, Les Rallizes Dénudés, Manuel Göttsching, Delia Derbyshire, Jack Nitzche, and Broadcast and the Focus Group. I was excited to make a mixtape reflecting my love for instrumental compositions — including film and television soundtracks, interstitial and incidental music, and found sounds. My forthcoming album, Flowers Telegraphed To All Parts of the World features two instrumentals and my previous release, Luminous Toxin, is made up entirely of instrumentals. Part of why I am drawn to instrumental music is because it allows listeners to enter new worlds through non-verbal communication composed of pure sound and melody, and the interactions that happen between various instruments to form a composition.

Linđo Lindjo – Potkolo, 1948

Starting off with something from my Croatian heritage to honor my grandfather, great-aunt and great-uncles, who performed in tamburitza orchestra family bands in the Monongahela Valley towns Braddock and Rankin, and in Benwood, West Virginia, often for boarders who worked in area steel mills. This very old, traditional folk dance of the breathtaking Dubrovnik coastal region (the name means “let’s dance under the wheel”) is accompanied by the Croatian bagpipe called a diple. Absolutely hypnotic. I love how the drones of the instrument merge with the mesmerizing movements of the dancers.

Pete Drake – The Spook, 1962

Nashville-based steel guitar virtuoso, highly sought-after sideman and legendary record producer Pete Drake is on fire with his 1962 debut single! Innovator of the talk box (later used by Peter Frampton) — which created vocalizing sounds along with the steel guitar (sounds like a prototypical vocoder to me) — the visionary Country Music Hall of Famer was so ahead of his time. It’s like a beacon of the psychedelic era to come. Love the way the jazzy drums swing along with melodic warbled guitars, melancholic fuzz leads, rhythmic bluesy stabs and steady standup bass. It’s under 3 minutes and I crave more.

Peter Pan & the Good Fairies – Kaleidoscope, 1967

One of my absolute favorite deep dives from our 45 collection — with the cool Challenge Records sword and shield logo — this is 2-plus minutes of fuzz-drenched bliss, with shimmering psychedelic guitars, reverb-laden organ stabs and a classy rhythm section. A project of ubiquitous session drummer Jim Gordon – who played on recordings for everyone from The Beach Boys, The Byrds and Frank Zappa to George Harrison, Carole King and Harry Nilsson. The B-side, “Balloons,” is equally essential.

Tony Williams Lifetime with John McLaughlin – Emergency, 1969

Turn off the lights, turn up the volume and prepare to have your mind melted by this live New York City radio broadcast recorded in 1969. Larry Young (organ), John McLaughlin (guitar) and Tony Williams (drums) coalesce for a totally forward-thinking soul-altering exploration of free jazz, noise, progressive rock and avant-garde world-building. After this, go listen to Soft Machine’s 1968 self-titled album!

Michaelangelo – Take It Bach, 1971

After falling in love with this album, it blew my mind to discover that it was co-produced by Rachel Elkind and her partner, synthesizer guru Wendy Carlos. So it’s no surprise, given the title, that there’s sometimes a Switched-On Bach feel. It’s one of four soaring instrumentals on this wildly underrated album (zero record label support leading to lost gem status). The autoharp (used brilliantly by Texas psych wizards Cold Sun) of classically-trained pianist Angel Petersen is a cool pairing with the countrified electric guitar and sweeping cinematic melodies. Epitomizes so much of what I love about sunshine pop, acid folk and funky country-rock. My husband recently gifted me this LP, which he scored at our Jerry’s Records vinyl mecca here in Pittsburgh.

Les Rallizes Denudes – But I Was Different (live), mid-1970s

IYKYK. More like If You Knew You Knew. The ULTIMATE Japanese experimental rock troubadours, lovingly and finally getting the reissue treatment they deserve via Temporal Drift.

Simon Jones – Melanie And Me, 1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94-esS9zTKw

At first, you might think you’re listening to a live version of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” but then everything bursts into a loner psych anthem that sounds incredibly contemporary to me, like a precursor to bands I love such as Galaxie 500, despite its origins as an obscure 1975 soundtrack for an Australian film directed by Chris Fitchett.

Flamen Dialis – Dernière croisade, 1979

Lush vibraphone hits beckon us into this labyrinth of progressive rock born from the cosmic mind of French multi-instrumentalist Didier Le Gallic. Siren-like organ hits introduce a sense of sonic urgency, eeriness and impending doom propelled by intertwoven mellotron and Moog, electronic collage, fuzzed-out synths, meandering bass, wah-wah guitar, avant-garde percussion and rolling drums. I love theatrical 1970s horror film scores so it’s pure bliss to my ears.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius – Cafe Central, 1979

One of my favorite albums that I turn to for inspiration and a comforting sense of calm, jubilation and introspection. Any fan of the beloved German electronic musician and composer who co-founded pioneering groups Cluster and Harmonia — likewise for anyone who loves their German comrades Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Can — should delve into the truly remarkable life story of Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Yes, modern electronic music can make you cry.

Martin Rev – Mari, 1980

One of my favorite uses of a drum machine! Suicide’s Martin Rev needs no introduction and this instrumental leads off his solo debut album with a sense of ebullience that’s not always present in the NYC’s minimalist duo’s work. I’m addicted to these four-plus minutes of expansive chiming synth patterns paving the way for so much of late 20th-century New Wave, industrial, techno, and electronic genres. No words are needed in a song named for his wife, which reflects the wide range of music he’s into. Viva Martin Reverby!

Jacco Gardner – All Over, 2018

I pretty much love every note played by Dutch multi-instrumentalist Jacco Gardner. His meticulously crafted pop compositions — and baroque and psychedelia prowess — feed my own obsession with film and television soundtracks, especially of the 1960s-1980s. Recorded at Gardner’s Shadow Shoppe Studio in the village of Zwaag, the analog instrumentation, intricate production and other-worldly ambience deliver me straight to another dimension where I’m happy to linger.

Traffik Island – Charlie Is My Darling, 2020

Totally dig all of the projects helmed by the Naarm/Melbourne multi-instrumentalist Zak Olsen (Traffik Island, ORB, The Frowning Clouds). Any fan of incidental music can’t miss his sweet album of voice-less music, “Sweat Kollecta’s Peanut Butter Traffik Jam.” While listening, I’ve enjoyed identifying some of the cool samples. I try to check out as much music as I can from Flightless Records; so many of my favorite new bands are part of this thriving scene.

Paint – Flying Fox, 2020

This instrumental might be my favorite track on “Spiritual Vegas,” the 2020 solo album by Allah-Las songwriter and guitarist, Pedrum Siadatian, It swings, it shimmers, it meanders, it melts my heart.

Flowers Telegraphed To All Parts Of The World will be out on September 22nd, on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. Look HERE for more information on The Garment District.