Bardo Pond - Set and Setting
(Matador)
Philadelphia's Bardo Pond are the only loud rock band that I love to fall
asleep to. The wall of sound, slow chord changes, rumbling bass, and
unintelligible whisperings that make up their standard song combine to
create the biggest, hardest hitting drone in music. This album isn't much
of a departure from their previous releases on Matador, Drunken Fish, and
Compulsiv, though there are a few differences that set this apart from their
previous works. The riffs are thicker--almost Black Sabbath-esque on the
opening track "Walking Stick Man"--which also has a great sounding drugged-out
harmonica which comes in and out throughout the song. The vocals on the
album sound as though they were mixed higher, but Isobel may simply be
singing more coherently nowadays. But I doubt that.
Bardo Pond have two drummers. One who records with them (Joe Culver), and
one who goes on tour with them (Ed Farnsworth) while Joe goes to
school. However, this album has a couple of songs with Ed playing drums.
Therein lies the main though subtle difference between this and their
previous albums. Set and Setting smoothly transitions between the two sides
of Bardo Pond - live and studio. With a loose almost improvised feel and
steady shifts between enormously distorted walls of sound smothering a
bluesy rock song to a soft feedback melody accompanied by a simple chord
structure and a wispy flute, Set and Setting provides the listener with a
wider range, yet more focused picture, of what Bardo Pond sets out to
accomplish.
|
