OFF: Bardo Pond

[Keith Henderson]

Paul remains curious about...
>
>(I asked if any of the following bands were worth investigating:)
>
>>>        Bardo Pond

<stuff deleted>

>Oh, and whilst I'm here, does anyone have any thoughts on Skullflower?  My
>local shop currently has _This is Skullflower_ reduced on sale.  Is this
>worth picking up?

I dunno about this disc, but I do have one disc of theirs...I think it's
called Transformer (or something similar...I can't recall if that's it or
that I'm just confused by the Lou Reed album of the same name).  I haven't
listened to it much, as it's not really my kind of stuff...I liken it to the
little bit of Spaceman 3 that I've heard (which isn't really my kind of
stuff either).  Particularly in the 'droning' aspect...Skullflower uses
multiple layers of distorted guitar, without much other instrumentation
(other than drums).  Seldom do they have much of a melodic line, and they
put out quite a lot of noise at times.

But you also asked about Faust (right?)...which I recommend whole-heartedly.
I have gotten four of their discs...So far, IV, Tapes, and 71 minutes of...
All have moments of absolute brilliance.  I'd say So Far and IV are my picks
of the lot.  IV  (Caroline) and 71 minutes of... (Cuneiform?) are available
(or at least *were*) in the US...So Far is a Japan-only release I think
(perhaps Germany as well?).  They are highly experimental at times, showing
some similarities to Can and other contemporary German groups.  There is a
bit of repetition in their use of a common rhythm/melody amongst different
albums...sort of like doing variations on their earlier themes.  They're
always different enough to categorise as 'creating something new from
something old' (a la HW's 'remakes' on Electric Tepee and It's the Biz) as
opposed to running out of ideas.  The guitar sound is often heavily
distorted, but it's not of the heavy, Bob Mould-style, but more of a rather
thin and bright tone, if you know what I mean.

Hope this helps....Keith H. (FAA)

ObCD's:  Agitation Free - all three