BARDO POND: TICKET CRYSTALS (2006)
1) Destroying Angel; 2) Isle;
3) Lost Word; 4) Cry Baby Cry; 5) Fc II; 6) Moonshine; 7) Endurance; 8) Montana
Sacra II.
Most of the reviews of this album that I have
seen went the predictable way about it — pretending to forget about everything
that Bardo Pond did since Amanita,
and comparing it directly with their earliest records. Because this at least gives
you an opportunity to fill the space up with something, e. g. «it is interesting to note that the heavy
psychedelic guitars take a step back in order to make more room for Isobel
Sollenberger's flute», even though the flute presence here is not really any
more overwhelming than it was on their previous two records. But we do have to find progress in everything that
we listen to, right?..
Well, forget it. The only thing there is on Ticket Crystals that constitutes a
genuine surprise is a cover of the Beatles' ʽCry Baby Cryʼ — apparently, recorded
for a John Lennon tribute album (commemorating the 25th anniversary of the
murder) and placed here for fear of being wasted. It is actually quite a
decent, minimalistic cover for the first three minutes: acoustic guitar, percussion,
and vocals that are very loyal to the original phrasing and intonation. Then,
once the main body is done, the number finally turns into real Bardo Pond, as
waves of feedback finally hit the shore, and that which was pretty singing just
a few moments ago is now blurred mumbling — «The Beatles according to Bardo
Pond» indeed.
Everything else remains steadfast and true. The
funereal atmosphere of Ellipse is lightened
up a bit, rolled back to earlier standards: the acoustic chords and ambient
flutes of ʽIsleʼ are a little melancholic, but «relaxing» rather than «depressing»
(and feature unusually «clean» vocals from Isobel, so that not only can one
finally decipher a few of the words she is singing — not that there is any need
to — but also understand that getting in key is a really difficult job for her, even if she has a nice folksy soprano
tone). The heavy fuzz-and-grumble is back with a vengeance on ʽDestroying Angelʼ
and ʽFc IIʼ. And the band seems to have developed a real taste for backward
vocals — ʽMoonshineʼ and ʽLost Wordʼ, in particular, play around with tape
direction as if it were 1966 all over again.
That said, on any evaluation scale that takes
Bardo Pond for a curve rather than straight line, Ticket Crystals is a bit of a disappointment. The heavy stuff is
not nearly as heavy as it used to be, and the light stuff is not nearly as
moody. It's not that they aren't doing anything «new», it's just that doing the
«old» no longer seems to arm them with excitement. Some of these drones, particularly
the closing ʽMontana Sacra IIʼ, already seem to confuse «atmosphere» with «sheer
tedium». For the newly grown fan, unaware of Amanita, this can still be enchanting; but I see no reason for the
seasoned veteran to award Ticket
Crystals any more points than one would, for instance, award to the Rolling
Stones' Black And Blue over Let It Bleed. Essentially, this is the
sound of a mood-oriented band past its moody prime, tenaciously clinging to the
old formula, but hardly deriving any further happiness from it — even for their
own selves, let alone the listeners. Hence, I do hereby give the album a thumbs down,
despite a Bardo Pond-perfect running length of seventy-seven minutes... wasted length, because the mind, already
addicted to Amanita-level
psychedelia, needs seriously stronger stuff than this to start reeling.
Check "Ticket Crystals" (MP3) on Amazon
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