This archival release, captured live in Philadelphia, is a valuable companion piece to the previous Bardo Pond and Tom Carter session, 4/23/03, which was originally released on CD nine years ago, and is receiving a vinyl reissue this week. It is a joy to hear another side of Carter and Bardo Pond playing together, this time in a live setting.
Bardo Pond's mile-wide discography is a fan's dream (or a bit of a nightmare—depending on prices and availability), overflowing with live recordings, side projects, one-offs, compilation tracks, and other miscellanea. As such, the band has never shied away from collaboration. Their history with experimental guitarist Tom Carter can be traced back to 1997's Harmony of the Spheres, an essential document of '90s psychedelia, which aligned the Bardos with a handful of like-minded explorers, including Carter's primary musical outlet, Charalambides. A few years down the line, Carter—who was then living in Austin, Texas, but in the midst of a string of Philadelphia shows—stopped by the Bardos' studio space, the Lemur House, where he and the band proceeded to grind out an album's worth of improvisational psych-rock, released as 4/23/03 the following year.
Recorded two days after the Lemur House studio sessions (hence the title), 4/25/03 is just now seeing the light of day. While not a 100% essential purchase for casual fans of either Bardo Pond or Carter's work with Charalambides, this disc functions as a fine supplement to its elder cousin. Carter's chemistry with the five-piece band is apparent; in fact, he gels so perfectly that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish his playing from that of the Bardos' guitarists, John and Michael Gibbons—both a compliment and a curse. The closest parallel in the Bardos' discography is their mid-'90s collaborative work with Roy Montgomery, which resulted in two albums under the name Hash Jar Tempo. Which lineup you prefer is most likely a matter of whether you enjoy Carter or Montgomery's guitar style more. (Really, though, there's no need to take sides—I'll enjoy both, thanks.)
4/25/03 was recorded live by psych/drone/metal connoisseur Scott Slimm at Philadelphia's Tritone Bar. Both pieces—the main set, and the encore performance—are untitled. The first stretches well over 40 minutes, and takes its time finding a groove. This is by no means a bad thing, as both the Bardos and Tom Carter are adept at pacing in their improvised work, allowing the music to ebb and flow, evolving slowly without rushed changes in mood. With Carter present, the mix is a lot thicker with guitars than the marvelous Bardo live document 4.3.06, put to tape by Slimm three years later for his now-defunct (and sorely missed) Archive label.
The main set begins with Carter's sparse guitar lines, then carefully folds in two more guitars as well as bass, electronics, and drums, building to a miniature crescendo by 12 minutes. Then, just as naturally, the layers of noise peel away, and the heady jam devolves into drone and muted feedback by its halfway point. Bardo vocalist Isobel Sollenberger's wispy, stoned vocals make an appearance as the music subsides; when she begins her flute incantations at the 30-minute mark, the band takes it as a cue to pick up steam (and volume). Carter's guitar stylings blur into a mess of swirling, frenzied strumming, with the band around him locked in a rhythmic groove, blanketed with distortion. After a few minutes in top gear, the musicians downshift and allow the music to fade back again. As the volume drops, a couple premature shouts and cheers sneak out from the crowd—"WOO!"—their enthusiasm palpable.
The encore performance is distinctly more laid-back and peaceful, forgoing the monstrous peaks and valleys of its predecessor. It also clocks in at a more manageable 20 minutes. This is a smart combination of mood and length—an effective chaser to the roller-coaster the crowd just endured, which sounds exhilarating, but was likely a bit exhausting in a live setting. For the encore, the Bardos and Carter maintain a steady, relaxed tempo and allow Sollenberger's flute séance to take center stage, weaving through the empty spaces like a snake in the grass. The tonal variety between the two pieces is distinct, and accentuates one of the great things about Bardo Pond and Tom Carter: their masterful range of sounds, both apart and together, is among the widest in modern psychedelic music.
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