The world of Philadelphia group and American underground psych veterans Bardo Pond is as much about art as it is music. Their “office” at Lemur House provides evidence of not just a collaborative space, but also their artwork and video projections, some of which have occupied space at Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art. Both art and music share a deep immersion, evidenced by their lengthy improvised jams. They were once described by The Wire as the “missing link between the 1960s dark side of The Stooges and The Velvet Underground and today’s stoners and droners.”
In 2010, they released their self-titled eighth album on CD via Fire Records. A psych offering which in Fire’s press was described as the groove being “like a recurring dream, a highly potent squall that had been honed, tempered, polished and caressed. Like that mysterious vision you half remember when you’re awoken unceremoniously.”
Fire are revisiting the release to give it the vinyl treatment. The album will be released on silver vinyl sporting a dark version of the original artwork. Take a listen to the acid folk sound of ‘Sleeping’
And contrast it with “Just Once” below.
“By 2010, Bardo Pond were claustrophobic, creating a stuttering raga interlocked with a compulsive modal sound; something that’s fully exemplified by ‘Cracker Wrist’ which sounds like something that’s intentionally always just about to happen/and/or spin back in time. By the time you get there you’re already reeling from the 20 minute+ ‘Undone’ a seemingly endless spiral; an earworm that, like the whole album stays with you… on and on and on.
“By ‘Cracker Wrist’ you’re over 40 minutes in and resistance is futile. You’re living with this album, its tentacles are no longer drawing blood.
“So, what if Pitchfork reckons they’re “playing fuzzed out stoner dreams” that’s where they’re at. Like a mushroom trip it’s wholesome, it sees the world through Paisley shades and knows all of those obscure Terry Riley albums and LaMonte Young pieces that were never finished.” Fire Records
Bardo Pond is released 18th January 2019
Pre-Order: https://fire-records.lnk.to/bardopondst