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Bardo Pond + Tom Carter, 4/23/03
Three Lobed
While both Bardo Pond and Tom Carter should be names that everyone familiar to The Brainshould recognize, perhaps it's a bit of a shock to see the two of themlisted together. Although Bardo Pond and Charalambides contributedtracks to the seminal Harmony of the Spheres compilationreleased in the late 1990s on Drunken Fish, this is the first time thatthe two groups have collaborated together, and the result is an hour ofpsychedelic improvisations whose whole is greater than the sum of itsparts. Throughout the disc, Carter's guitar weaves in and out of BardoPond's music, adding his patent e-bowed and reverberated sound to thetextures created by the band. Carter's guitar doesn't stand outabruptly against the other sonic elements as much as it adds anadditional dimension to the multi-layered sounds and textures thatBardo Pond creates. Of the disc's five tracks—which are simply labeledby their length—only one is shorter than ten minutes, with two tracksclocking in near the 20-minute marker. This gives the improvisationsample room for development, with ideas being fully fleshed out and allpossibilities explored. Fans of the two groups shouldn't bedisappointed by this release, as both Bardo Pond and Carter retaintheir unique sounds while creating a release that has a singularcharacter.
While both Bardo Pond and Tom Carter should be names that everyone familiar to The Brainshould recognize, perhaps it's a bit of a shock to see the two of themlisted together. Although Bardo Pond and Charalambides contributedtracks to the seminal Harmony of the Spheres compilationreleased in the late 1990s on Drunken Fish, this is the first time thatthe two groups have collaborated together, and the result is an hour ofpsychedelic improvisations whose whole is greater than the sum of itsparts. Throughout the disc, Carter's guitar weaves in and out of BardoPond's music, adding his patent e-bowed and reverberated sound to thetextures created by the band. Carter's guitar doesn't stand outabruptly against the other sonic elements as much as it adds anadditional dimension to the multi-layered sounds and textures thatBardo Pond creates. Of the disc's five tracks—which are simply labeledby their length—only one is shorter than ten minutes, with two tracksclocking in near the 20-minute marker. This gives the improvisationsample room for development, with ideas being fully fleshed out and allpossibilities explored. Fans of the two groups shouldn't bedisappointed by this release, as both Bardo Pond and Carter retaintheir unique sounds while creating a release that has a singularcharacter.
