The Floral Clocks - Richard von Sturmer and Gabriel White Photo: Parbhu Makan/The Floral Clocks
William Dart: "Auckland's Albert Park once had a fully operational floral clock and I used to pass it daily walking down the hill from Princes Street. I always marveled at the illusory lightness of what must have been a substantial piece of machinery. And there's a similar lightness to the music of The Floral Clocks."
The Floral Clocks is an Auckland duo - Richard von Sturmer, the wordsmith, and Gabriel White, the music man - active since 2014.
Photo: The Floral Clocks
A Beautiful Shade of Blue is their second album and it comes in a handsome A5-sized booklet with photos by von Sturmer. It's an almost startling advance on the earlier Desert Fire, which had a rough, home-hewn quality. Gabriel White has upgraded his guitar and the set benefits from being mixed at Depot Sound in Devonport.
Von Sturmer is a perfectionist with his words, a jeweller in syllables, consonants and vowels. White's music is beautifully layered, allowing space for the little dissonances he so obviously likes.
Music Details
'Song title' (Composer) – Performers
Album title
(Label)
'Wail' (White et al) – Spacesuit
Spacesuit
(Private)
'Kiwi Keith' (The Plague) – The Plague
Infectious EP
(The Plague)
'Floral Clocks' (White/von Sturmer) – The Floral Clocks
Desert Fire
(The Floral Clocks)
'A Flock of Seagulls' (White/von Sturmer) – The Floral Clocks
Desert Fire
(The Floral Clocks)
'Olin Hotel' (White/von Sturmer) – The Floral Clocks
Desert Fire
(The Floral Clocks)
'The Tide Goes Out' (White/von Sturmer) – The Floral Clocks
A Beautiful Shade of Blue
(The Floral Clocks)
'Red Capsule' (White/von Sturmer) – The Floral Clocks
A Beautiful Shade of Blue
(The Floral Clocks)
'Nevada Dada' (White/von Sturmer) – The Floral Clocks
A Beautiful Shade of Blue
(The Floral Clocks)
'Around the Margins' (White/von Sturmer) – The Floral Clocks
A Beautiful Shade of Blue
(The Floral Clocks)
