The Catalog
Click an album to explore its songs. Click a song for lyrics, inspiration and to submit your version.
Full songs. Complete lyrics. Maximum content. For those still finding the frequency — we have done the heavy lifting. You are welcome.
11 Songs · Album 1 · For BeginnersLess content. More space. For intermediate receivers. Your instincts fill the rest. Available exclusively on 8-track tape.
10 Songs · Album 2 · 8-Track Only · For Intermediate ReceiversA triple album greatest hits collection. Almost nothing. Pure vibration. Built from fan submissions. If you don't know, we're not going to tell you.
Album 3 · For The Advanced · Fan Submissions OnlySix songs. One machine. Recorded live, whether anyone was ready or not. The cover is black for a reason.
6 Songs · Album 4 · Completely UnpluggedThe reunion album. Also known as The More Fertilizer Album. Never, until the number was right.
Album 5 · The Reunion Album · Tracklist PendingThe self-titled album. Recorded before everything else. Currently tied up in litigation. Status: unreleased.
The Self-Titled Album · Status: SealedIf you've found this you're the kind of person this whole thing was made for.
Here's the truth.
I think art is important. I think music is important. I think the people who have the gift to bring vision and inspiration to life are extraordinary and deserve to be celebrated.
I also think we take it too seriously sometimes. We forget that creativity is supposed to be fun.
Japanese Tea Garden is my attempt to hold both of those things simultaneously. The absurdity and the sincerity. The joke and the meaning underneath it.
Mark Hannah was real. The heart attack was real. The cone zone was real. The silliness is real. The love underneath all of it is real.
If you got here without me having to explain it — welcome. You were always supposed to find this.
— James McAlister
Founding Member, Japanese Tea Garden