"Avant Gardener" is a song by the Australian musician Courtney Barnett, released as her debut single and a single from her 2013 extended play How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose, and later included on the 2013 compilation The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas.
Background and release "Avant Gardener" has been seen as having Bob Dylan and the Byrds influences. The song itself tells a story of a woman who decides to get outside and do some weeding, but has a anaphylaxis induced panic attack soon after a conversation with a neighbour. The song had a music video released which showed a tennis match being played with a nonchalant umpire reading a book on Butch Cassidy and misses a tight line call, eventually leading to an on court fist fight.
Critical reception In a review of the single for Pitchfork, Mike Powell summarized it to be about "the story of a girl dragging her underemployed ass out of bed late on a Monday morning to try her hand at gardening-- at which point she suffers a panic attack. The Day critic Stephen Chupaska wrote that "Over a mild psychedelic groove and a delivery that is equal parts Liz Phar and Craig Finn, Barnett pulls out language cocktails[.]" claiming the title the "best song title of the year." Arnold Pan of PopMatters called it a "free-form, free-associating trip, capturing an eventfully boring day in Barnett’s so-called life that begins with her sleeping in on a Monday morning and ends with her in anaphylactic shock in an ambulance."
Personnel According to the CD single:
Courtney Barnett – guitar, vocals Bones Sloane – high harmony vocals Jen Cloher – middle harmony vocals Dan Luscombe – guitar, low harmony vocals Alex Hamilton – guitar Pete Convery – bass Dave Mudle – drums
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