Audiopile Review: Special one here for the Bardo Pond acolytes, their tremendous Volume 4 and 5 coming to vinyl for the first time, both initially released as CDr and pretty much only available direct from the band. For those just tuning in, their ongoing Volume series are comprised of freeform jams captured to tape during rehearsal sessions, and they can be overlooked or feel tossed off compared to their better known studio albums. But some of these are revelatory glimpses into the inner workings of the beloved cult band, charting their progression between “proper” releases. These two volumes capture the band in their post-Matador Records era—those string of records that run from Amanita to Dilate are surely some of their better loved albums—and their passage towards the towering Ticket Crystals, arguably the peak of the band’s powers. That ascension is all mapped out right here. The group’s full range is on display—the soaring psych-shimmer of opener “Take What You Need”; a meditative lysergic rumble explored on “K2”; the totally epic side-long grunge-y shoegaze of “Narmada”; and the desert-kraut sound-scrapings of “FUFO”, this is the Bardo Pond essence in full flight and in complete control of their holy sprawl. Essential Bardo Pond.

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A double LP package from Bardo Pond, combining two of their super rare jam volumes on vinyl for the first time. A further edition in this celebrated series, ‘Volume 4’ and ‘Volume 5’ feature more freeform improvisational pieces from the hypnotic Philadelphia outfit.
Capturing the raw essence of the band, whose fearless exploration blurs the lines between structure, chaos, melody and noise. Bardo Pond’s music traverses space rock, acid rock, post-rock, shoegaze, noise, Krautrock and psychedelia.
‘Volume 4’ hails from self-released sessions recorded in January 2002, its five tracks include the supremely tripped out heaviness of ‘K2’ and the balance-shifting ‘New Drunks (Revisited)’ with Isobel Sollenberger’s exquisite and, frankly, quite disturbing vocal. They’re shorter interrogations of sound by Bardo terms, almost succinct in their mesmerising riffage and off-kilter arrangements.
By contrast, ‘Volume 5’ consists of two lengthy mantras recorded between 2000 and 2004 and released as the tape spool spiralled out. ‘FUFO’ sounds like Cluster unravelling with Merzbow mixing, a post-industrial slew of hypnotic proportions, while ‘Monarch’ begins as a Current 93-like neo-folk mood piece before evolving into a wailing slice of drone-drenched Americana by way of a Velvets’ jam.
“We were pushing improvisations as far as we could. It was glorious having the studio. The more that our heads were spinning after a session, the better we knew that session would sound when we listened back. We were getting together two nights a week, usually three or four hours working on material and songs and the other half the time letting loose. Volumes 4 and 5 gather together some of these improvisations, and one early song that we felt like doing.” Adds Michael Gibbons of Bardo Pond.

“One of underground rock’s most extraordinary enigmas, a majestic command of sound.” The Quietus