Gardener

Screaming Trees bassist Van Conner and Seaweed vocalist Aaron Stauffer formed Gardener on the heels of their respective bands' demise, though the two artists had been friends since the 1980s. Their long-anticipated collaboration doesn't seem to offer any unsolvable mysteries or immediate brilliance upon first listen -- not that there need be any, for it offers a veritable feast of Middle Eastern guitar and sitar-flavored '60s Psychedelia in the vein of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit." Filtered through Indie Rock (think Pavement's "Summer Babe"), that's nothing to shake a stick at. Still, things get a lot more interesting after the first few listens; it's only after the dry introductory period that Gardener's classic sound begins to take on a timeless, intangible quality not soon forgotten.