Archives

Categories

About

The MataBlog is edited by Matador Records’ co-moaner Gerard Cosloy and individual entries are the work of whoever’s name is next to them. If you enjoyed something in the MataBlog, thank you very much! If there was something you found particularly troubling, please be advised that a) maybe you should read it again and b) the contents of this blog do not necessarily represent the opinions of Matador Records, Beggars Group, the combined staff of either company, nor the Matador artist roster. Opinions are like friends — hardly anyone has one worth listening to.

Available Today : Bardo Pond - 'Amanita' - 25th Anniversary Edition

December 10th, 2021 at 10:45 am by The Management









stream / order "Amanita"
stream/download "Shadow Puppet"

"Shadow Puppet"
Video created by Michael Speed
art by Bardo Pond and Michael Gibbons



"Limerick"
Directed by Michael Gibbons



(photo by Taylor Crothers)

Today, December 10 Matador Records commemorates the 25th anniversary of the the pioneering Philadelphia quintet Bardo Pond's long out-of-print second album and label debut, 'Amanita', with a newly remastered 2xLP reissue.

Formed in 1991, Bardo Pond have spent some thirty years mapping guitar music’s outer limits – dialing into extremes of noise, chaos, and harmony in free-form compositions that now unfurl across 12 full-length records and a near-limitless body of EPs, cassettes, and CD-Rs.

Recorded by the lineup of John Gibbons (guitar), Michael Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (voice, flute), Clint Takeda (bass), and Joe Culver (drums), Amanita is the place where the band’s collective spontaneous creativity blazed into maturity.

“Amanita was a manifesto of everything we were trying to do,” says Michael Gibbons. It was really a template for everything we did later. We were a real unit – just so creative, just making up riffs. There were songs, but they were still rooted in our free-improv base. We had a beauty, but we also had a really strong impulse to be dissonant.”

Even within the heady subcultural micro-verse of ’90s underground zoner-music, the Fishtown-basement-dwelling quintet’s vision of “psychedelia” was singular in its heaviness. “We weren’t interested in the cliched idea of what that term meant,” says Gibbons. "We were very interested in the psychedelic experience as it being a bridge to rebirth.”

“What’s the chemical your brain releases when you’re overwhelmed? Endorphins. That’s what we were trying to get to when we played these parts."

'Amanita''s music is emblematic of that sensibility – 82-minutes of confusion and transcendence.

The remainder of the band’s Matador catalog – 'Lapsed' (1997), 'Set and Setting' (1999), and 'Dilate' (2001) – will see reissue next year alongside a 2xLP rarities compilation.

Bardo Pond – now John and Michael Gibbons, Isobell Sollenberger, and Jason Kourkounis – remains active, maintaining a prolific output and performing regularly.

'Amanita' Tracklist
01 Limerick
02 Sentence
03 Tantric Porno
04 Wank
05 The High Frequency
06 Sometimes Words
07 Clean Sweep *
08 Yellow Turban
09 Rumination
10 Be A Fish
11 Tapir Song
12 Brambles *
13 RM

* Previously vinyl only, these tracks are available on streaming services for the first time today.

Bardo Pond Online :
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Bardo Pond website

Coming October 8 : 25th Anniversary Remastered Edition Of Bardo Pond's 'Amanita'

March 31st, 2021 at 10:00 am by The Management





stream / preorder "Amanita"
stream/download "Shadow Puppet"

"Shadow Puppet"
Video created by Michael Speed
art by Bardo Pond and Michael Gibbons



"Limerick"
Directed by Michael Gibbons



(photo by Taylor Crothers)


Formed in 1991, Philadelphia’s Bardo Pond have spent some thirty years mapping guitar music’s outer limits – dialing into extremes of noise, chaos, and harmony in free-form compositions that now unfurl across 12 full-length records and a near-limitless body of EPs, cassettes, and CD-Rs. 

On October 8th, Matador Records will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the quintet’s long out-of-print second album and label debut, 'Amanita', with a newly remastered 2xLP reissue.

Recorded by the lineup of John Gibbons (guitar), Michael Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (voice, flute), Clint Takeda (bass), and Joe Culver (drums), Amanita is the place where the band’s collective spontaneous creativity blazed into maturity. 

“Amanita was a manifesto of everything we were trying to do,” says Michael Gibbons. It was really a template for everything we did later. We were a real unit – just so creative, just making up riffs. There were songs, but they were still rooted in our free-improv base. We had a beauty, but we also had a really strong impulse to be dissonant.”

Even within the heady subcultural micro-verse of ’90s underground zoner-music, the Fishtown-basement-dwelling quintet’s vision of “psychedelia” was singular in its heaviness. “We weren’t interested in the cliched idea of what that term meant,” says Gibbons. "We were very interested in the psychedelic experience as it being a bridge to rebirth.” 

“What’s the chemical your brain releases when you’re overwhelmed? Endorphins. That’s what we were trying to get to when we played these parts." 

Amanita's music is emblematic of that sensibility – 82-minutes of confusion and transcendence. 

The remainder of the band’s Matador catalog – 'Lapsed' (1997), 'Set and Setting' (1999), and 'Dilate' (2001) – will see reissue later this year alongside a 2xLP rarities compilation.

Bardo Pond – now John and Michael Gibbons, Isobell Sollenberger, and Jason Kourkounis – remains active, maintaining a prolific output and performing regularly.

'Amanita' Tracklist
01 Limerick
02 Sentence
03 Tantric Porno
04 Wank
05 The High Frequency
06 Sometimes Words
07 Clean Sweep *
08 Yellow Turban
09 Rumination
10 Be A Fish
11 Tapir Song
12 Brambles *
13 RM

* Previously vinyl only, these tracks will be available on streaming/digital download on the album release date.







Bardo Pond Online :
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Bardo Pond website


ARCHIVES

CATEGORIES

ABOUT

The MataBlog is edited by Matador Records’ co-moaner Gerard Cosloy and individual entries are the work of whoever’s name is next to them. If you enjoyed something in the MataBlog, thank you very much! If there was something you found particularly troubling, please be advised that a) maybe you should read it again and b) the contents of this blog do not necessarily represent the opinions of Matador Records, Beggars Group, the combined staff of either company, nor the Matador artist roster. Opinions are like friends — hardly anyone has one worth listening to.

Sign up for Matador updates