[iphone photo by acidjack]
Bardo Pond belongs to a select group of contemporary bands that are beyond categorization. Arguably their nearest contemporaries are Godspeed, but even that is an imperfect comparison. Bardo performs sweeping guitar based soundscapes, but within a song structure. At Death By Audio last weekend, the band performed a representative hour-long set to a modest but enthusiastic crowd. Along with 285 Kent, DBA has become a primary Brooklyn DIY venue with an upgraded sound system and excellent staff. The atmosphere was perfect for the Bardo show, as the relaxed approach and positive energy in the venue seemed to motivate the band. In fact, lead singer/flutist Isobel Sollenberger thanked the venue several times throughout the show. The highlight of the set was the finale, a thirteen minute version of “The Stars Behind”, which seems to encapsulate all that makes Bardo so compelling — melodic guitar intro, sweet vocals, and a slow-building powerful crescendo that crashes into an electronic outro. Its streaming below.
acidjack and I recorded this set by attaching a pair of DPA 4061 omnidirectional microphones to the low ceiling about ten feet in front of the stage, and mixed with a fine soundboard feed. The results are outstanding. Enjoy!
Stream “The Stars Behind”:
[audio:http://www.nyctaper.com/B2011Bardo0210/10.%20The%20Stars%20Behind.mp3]
This recording is now available to download in FLAC and MP3 at Archive.org [HERE].
Bardo Pond
2011-11-19
Death By Audio
Brooklyn, NY USA
Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix
Soundboard + DPA 4061s > Edirol R-44 (Oade Concert Mod) > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wav files > Soundforge (level adjustments, mixdown, set fades) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)
Recorded and Produced
by nyctaper and acidjack 2011-11-27
Setlist:
[Total Time 1:11:01]
01 [soundcheck jam]
02 Limerick
03 Just Once
04 Rumination
05 Tommy Gun Angel
06 Cracker Wrist
07 Isle
08 Fur
09 Don’t Know About You
10 The Stars Behind
If you download this recording from NYCTaper, we expect that you will PLEASE SUPPORT Bardo Pond, visit their website, and purchase Bardo Pond from Fire Records here or their earlier releases from their Merch store [HERE].
Great mixdown and review! Nice work!
this band does not get enough credit. thank you for recording this, i’m really pissed i couldn’t make it.
This sounds great. Thanks so much! Did you guys also get Steve Gunn and Eleven Twenty-Nine?
Yes, still working on those. I need photos of Steve’s set as we didn’t take any…