Cypher Documents I
Bardo Pond have been around for donkeys years, sometimes I forget that, so it seems fitting that rather than merely have a single album of odds and sods that they should have a whole series instead. 'Cypher Documents I' is the first in a series and collects a few tracks that were apparently issued on their website in 1999-2000, only to be removed soon after. Also there's a track from a compilation that disappeared so quickly after it was issued some of the contributing artists never got to see a copy, and a full version of 'In the Sky' (and when I say full, I really mean it, this is a 32 minute monster of a track). So it's hardly a slouch of a compilation then collecting up some truly interesting stoner rock gems from the band's mid period in-between the release of the chugging 'Set and Setting' and the dreamy 'Dilate', catching them on typically good form. I mean, to my mind the band simply don't 'do' bad records, so even though 'Cypher Documents I' might be something of a rough collection, it's still better than most bands' full albums, with the kind of low end rumble and fuzzy psychedelia people so often shoot at but rarely achieve. By the time the 'From the Sky' draws to a close after half an hour of fuzzed out guitars and pummelling drumming it's hard to understand why the band aren't far bigger than they are right now. Awesome.
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Bardo Pond have been around for donkeys years, sometimes I forget that, so it seems fitting that rather than merely have a single album of odds and sods that they should have a whole series instead. 'Cypher Documents I' is the first in a series and collects a few tracks that were apparently issued on their website in 1999-2000, only to be removed soon after. Also there's a track from a compilation that disappeared so quickly after it was issued some of the contributing artists never got to see a copy, and a full version of 'In the Sky' (and when I say full, I really mean it, this is a 32 minute monster of a track). So it's hardly a slouch of a compilation then collecting up some truly interesting stoner rock gems from the band's mid period in-between the release of the chugging 'Set and Setting' and the dreamy 'Dilate', catching them on typically good form. I mean, to my mind the band simply don't 'do' bad records, so even though 'Cypher Documents I' might be something of a rough collection, it's still better than most bands' full albums, with the kind of low end rumble and fuzzy psychedelia people so often shoot at but rarely achieve. By the time the 'From the Sky' draws to a close after half an hour of fuzzed out guitars and pummelling drumming it's hard to understand why the band aren't far bigger than they are right now. Awesome.
Bardo Pond have been around for donkeys years, sometimes I forget that, so it seems fitting that rather than merely have a single album of odds and sods that they should have a whole series instead. 'Cypher Documents I' is the first in a series and collects a few tracks that were apparently issued on their website in 1999-2000, only to be removed soon after. Also there's a track from a compilation that disappeared so quickly after it was issued some of the contributing artists never got to see a copy, and a full version of 'In the Sky' (and when I say full, I really mean it, this is a 32 minute monster of a track). So it's hardly a slouch of a compilation then collecting up some truly interesting stoner rock gems from the band's mid period in-between the release of the chugging 'Set and Setting' and the dreamy 'Dilate', catching them on typically good form. I mean, to my mind the band simply don't 'do' bad records, so even though 'Cypher Documents I' might be something of a rough collection, it's still better than most bands' full albums, with the kind of low end rumble and fuzzy psychedelia people so often shoot at but rarely achieve. By the time the 'From the Sky' draws to a close after half an hour of fuzzed out guitars and pummelling drumming it's hard to understand why the band aren't far bigger than they are right now. Awesome.