Customer Reviews

Dilate

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

bardo pond are a deceptively low-key sextet of philly musicians trafficking in an admittedly druggy but never hippified psychedelia...they are perhaps the best psych band working right now, and have proven themselves one of the best bands in the US in any genre...

coming off a string of fantastic albums ("amanita", "lapsed", and "set and setting"), the hard-working bardo has released "dilate"...

my first impressions are not as uniformly positive as i had hoped, considering bardo's consistently inventive, always thrilling and unique past work..."amanita" is simply one of finest guitar based blues-psych releases ever, gloriously composed and paced and with almost no missteps over an entire double album..."lapsed" went in a far heavier direction, and was also startling in its consistency and quality, a true relief from the wimpy and/or slim-witted state of rock n roll, indie or otherwise..."set and setting" was yet another new direction for the pond, utilizing new instruments and scaling back the guitar torrent to mezmerizing effect...

one thing i adore about those records is their uncanny finesse as far as overall composition of the album, as well as having an absurd number of great songs on each...perhaps due to their occasional extreme noisiness, or being thought of as a drug band, the pond is unjustly ignored when people speak of the best in american music...but they deserve to be thought of as such, because with almost no compromise and with artistic abandon, they have amassed a terrific discography in the past few years...

"dilate" has some stunning moments, but overall it lacks the near-perfect pacing that made their previous work so compelling...once again, they are trying new things...lyrics(!) are included for the first time, although i don't see the point, really...isobel's voice is brought to the fore on tracks like "sunrise", and it sure is lovely...

"despite the roar" and "favorite uncle" are surprisingly quiet for bardo, and offer the prettiest, most mellow tracks they've recorded since 'tapir song'...over delicate acoustic picking by the superb gibbons bros., isobel coos about something or other and the result is soothing, minus the usual menace implied in earlier works..."hum" is also a lovely track...

"lb." is a feral, blinding jam reminiscent of "again" from "set and setting", and features a love/luststruck ramble from isobel, who wants very much to GET IT ON. the guitars blend into a hissing, scowling, buzzing maelstrom of trippy blues...amazing. opener "two planes" is also good, with its sonar pingy sounds causing instant discombobulation for the listener...the pond's gift for hazy, druggy, dark and melancholy instrumentals is unmatched...

so, while the whole record didn't gel as well as past efforts, the pond must be applauded for continuing to be themselves and pushing their own boundaries (while malkmus and friends cop out by writing songs about yul brynner)...bardo are devoted to their music, and the devotion shows on each release...

some superb moments, but not as essential as "amanita", "lapsed", "set and setting", or even "bufo alvarius"...but get it and enjoy if yer into uncompromising, exciting music...

I don't think it's fair to file Bardo Pond under Psychedelphia, a neo-psychedelic pop genre originated out of Philadelphia. Sure, the band uses many drug references and imageries in their music (especially in the titles of songs and cover arts). There is a hint of psychedelic in the air, but upon careful listening, Bardo Pond's music reveals a much wider range of emotions. Songs on this record recalls nothing of the flowery and druggy psychedelic sounds. Instead, a gripping mix of intense guitar feedbacks and drones slowly builds up, in a carefully controlled but confident pace, to one emotional high after another. Dark and hypnotic, Isobel Sollenberger's almost sensual voice snowballs the sonic energy into something that's volatile and dangerously emotional. "Dilate" calls to mind the latter-day Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo's "And Then Nothing Turns Itself Inside Out", and Turing Machine, as opposed to some archetypical trippy Grateful Dead-esque music. Highly recommended!

Possibly THE most underrated and unknown band in music today. Tags such as "psychedelic", "space rock", etc. certainly are applicable, but first and foremost the Pond are ROCKINROLL. It is truly criminal that so few people are in the know about this band of artists. Bardo Pond have been kicking it for well over a decade. Prior to their earliest releases on small independent labels, they self-released several cassettes and continue this tradition with a slew of more current CD-R releases and small-run pressings both as Bardo Pond and under offshoot-band canopies such as Prairie Dog Flesh and Third Troll. Their collaborative work with the great and enigmatic Roy Montgomery under the guise of Hash Jar Tempo is also not to be missed by anyone who enjoys guitars so sonically wrecked that they will transport you out of your body. What I'm saying here is, this ain't some band that's gonna put out three soundalike albums then disappear-- they've got their hearts and souls invested in this music, and it shows through their prolific yet high-quality output, tireless touring schedule, and the fine art the band creates themselves to adorn their album covers and so on.
Each record expands on the last as Pond continue to widen their palette. I have spent a lot of time with this record (get the double vinyl LP version if you can for the essential bonus track "Summerflux")and I can tell you, it will enmesh your brains. From the heavenly choir sounds of the opening track to the absolute smoking meltdown of "lb.", there is nothing disappointing about "Dilate." It is blissful.

Philidelphia's Bardo Pond has long been recognized as one of the most important groups in space rock circles and with good reason. With each new release Bardo Pond creates dense layers of guitar feedback and noise over seemingly surreal vocals, creating a sound that defies most logical explanation. The only flaw is that after a while the bombast of noise can start to wear the listeners patience thin. Just how much noise can be made on one single disc? That being said, when Bardo gets it right they nail it. Tracks such as "rummination" (from Amamnita) and "flux" (from Lapsed), transport the listener to another dimemsion. So why is this album any different? With this release, the groups' 6th album, they take everything that made moments on their previous records great and expanded on them. They combine the hazy tones of Amanita with the bombast of Set & Setting to create their best album to date. Antoher reason this record stands out is the addition of more mellow instrumentaion. Acoustic guitars and other instruments are scattered thoughout the record adding atmosphere to Bardo's already surreal sound. Although this may discomfort some long time followers who believe that the main focus of space rock is to see how many distortion pedals a band can hit in one song, the change is a welcome addition and does not take away from the reocords overall "rock" sound. Bardo Pond has always been a band driven by the making of sounds and using those sounds to create an atmosphere of pure psychedelic bliss. On this record,their vision is fully realized and the results are astonishing.

'Dilate' is the sound of art-rock retreating into space and burning up on re-entry. Riffs build into distorted fireballs; Farnsworth's drums tap like debris skipping across the atmosphere; vocalist Isobel Sollenberger laments from inside oblivion. "Swig" recalls prog-rock's foray into ethnic influence, an intermission between the low-key arrangements of "My Favorite Uncle" and "Despite the Roar"'s tensely erratic fervor. But sadly, muddy production sweeps out Sollenberger's verse repeatedly on a number of tracks, proving the 6-year Philly quintet still hasn't adapted their occasional improv for the unforgiving studio walls. Pond virgins should try 'Lapsed' before considering this one.

No heavy, elongated beads of moisture could saturate fertile ground in quite the way that the first few pealing notes were able to introduce "Two Planes", the opening track from 2001's "Dilate", and one that signaled a basic shift in (and also from) the emphasis that very heavy, almost molassive-like distortion first surfacing during "Lapsed" would continue to play in the evolution of the band's sound.

And on "Two Planes" the Brothers Gibbons dialed down the level of distortion here to a much more tuneful level, not unlike the way a person placing a finish on a layer of wood might exchange the most heavily-gauged sandpaper for one that's much more finely grained. "Dilate" begins the process of mining this sound, which would later become more extended and refined throughout "On the Ellipse", but here is most noticeable on this first cut, intersected both by the lysergic, drops-of-nectar pitch-bending guitar work of the other Gibbons Brother and Isobel Sollenberger's viola.

"Two Planes" is one of three extended tracks on this release, the others being "Inside" and "Ganges". "Inside" opens with (and establishes) a lengthy, loping guitar rhythm that contains some of Isobel's most clearly sung, decipherable lyrics to that date, tuneful distortion tunneling through the back end of the song, to accompany a heavily amplified, heavily modulated, wah-wah driven solo line that brings the song to an explosive climax. "Ganges", the instrumental that closes "Dilate" is as sinuous,lengthy, relentless, and contemplative in nature as the river that share the track's name, containing some of the most heavily-warped riffing they have ever recorded, guitars alternately gurgling and carving a crystalline wake throughout the course of the song.

"Dilate" is a little less cohesive than any other of the 'Pond's releases, with only two other tracks sharing the same basic structure as the three lengthy ones. "Despite the Roar" moves with a deliberative pace, but a heavy reliance on slowly-wrought pitch-bending throughout and tuneful distortion used to increase the tempo toward the end to close it out aggressively. "Hum" another instrumental track, is a transitional piece combining these elements in a more textural fashion to serve both as a fine stand-alone piece and as a bridge into "Ganges".

But the remaining tracks aren't as seamlessly integrated, primarily because they are mapping out other sonic territory in somewhat of an experimental direction. "LB", as thunderous and assaultive as any standout track from a proto heavy-metal band, was definitely a strong cut..but would have sounded more appropriate with the material on "Set and Setting", their previous full-length release of new material, gelling perfectly with it in my opinion. On "Dilate" it's still a fantastic cut, but a little jarring given the band's successful attempt on the rest of the CD to dial back the level of distortion. "Swig" is an intriguing piece featuring Isobel's flute superimposing itself over acoustic guitars in a song that revolves around an eastern modality, a wonderfully meditative, pastoral piece, but anyone listening to Bardo Pond doesn't usually identify their music as being replete with rustic influence. "Favorite Uncle" blends acoustic and electic guitar together to in an attempt to create a sense of dynamic tension but never achieves the sense of torrential release that "Every Man" from "On the Ellipse" illustrates so well; it remains subdued throughout the length of the track. It's not a failed track; it's just another one that doesn't mesh well with the others. Both "Sunrise" and "Aphasia" are nearly forgettable; the former for its almost exclusively acoustic setting, the latter for its amorphousness.

Never heard them, or ever even heard of them before? "Dilate", for all of its lack of truly magnetized focus, is still one of Bardo Pond's most likable recordings, and an important step in their evolution as one of the few bands creating psychedelic music truly worthy of the term "lysergic". Whether you're a first-time listener, a budding fan who hasn't gotten around to purchasing the CD yet, or a crabby purist avoiding this because it doesn't agree with the direction you felt the band should have taken, "Dilate" is worth grabbing.

Some have said that 'Dilate' is perhaps Bardo Pond's most experimental CD, so far. Great 2001 release, as it's the Philly 'noisy psych drone' band's sixth effort. Tracks I dug the absolute most here were "Sunrise", the Middle Eastern-inspired "Swig" as well as the CD's two stunning epics,clocking in at eleven minutes,plus each "Inside" and "Ganges". As for myself,I more or less have to be IN the mood to listen to this sort of music. VERY worth while indeed,Line-up:Isobel Sollenberger-flute,violin&vocals,John Gibbons-guitar&synth,Michael Gibbons-guitar,Clint Takeda-bass and Ed Farnsworth-drums.Should appeal,very much so to fans of Kinski,Asteroid #4,Hash Jar Tempo and Flying Saucer Attack.

2 1/2

With the exception of a few great, murkily documented guitar ideas and some occasionally great shading, these druggy drones rarely go past self-serving, with occasional genre flirtations and much inner Kim Gordon channeling dragging Dilate towards the indulgent. Pity, since the band specializes in going down exotically-tinged k-holes of sound with much conviction.

The first track ("Two Planes") is the best Bardo Pond track I've ever heard. Newcomers to the band should start with the Lapsed album, however those with any prior exposure lacking this album must get it for the opening slice of perfection that is Two Planes. The rest of the album doesn't quite hold up to that standard but so what.

Very nice stuff. Quite beautiful in a noisy kind of way. The music tends to keep you feeling like you just finished off a 20 sack of kind herb. A nice ride.