easycure

I fully endorse the comment from Psychopompe. In fact, I won't comment on the album because I clearly just don't like them; if I haven't managed to like any of their three albums, there's something to be said. The suspicion that they are deeply "overrated" remains, nonetheless.

I haven't listened to Ticket Crystals, to tell you the truth.. generally the best of Bardo Pond is considered Bufo Alvarius, which is the first.. I think that the farther you go, the less interesting stuff you find (even though after listening to Bufo Alvarius I confirm that I like this one more).. so I guess that the production prior to Ticket Crystals is generally better.

Festwca, you're not wrong about the trips. In fact, if you look at the review, I mainly refer to the long tracks from the late '70s.. but it's exactly the point you made about MBV that reflects my viewpoint: they "do" trips, and they manage to say everything in three minutes in most cases.. those are the trips I prefer :-) ..MBV are proof that you can achieve the trip (also) with less than 40 total minutes of an album.
Hey Alessio! I'm checking the messages.

x Salmacis: "I think you understand little (also) about music" well, suit yourself, I'll leave you to your (ethereal) certainties that (even more) concern me less than zero, having not moved me even half a content-related criticism... goodbye!

X Festwca: 1) they also have older references, but they don't seem very old to me, certainly not in the sounds. The only long track by MBV is the one they close concerts with (you made me realize? I don't remember) which in the album version is much shorter.. for the rest, the only piece that reaches six and a half minutes is "Soon"... this is to say that I really like the trip, but I'm not into somewhat exhibitionistic wanking :-) ..as for the "intent," it means essentially "what the band wants to express" or "where the band wants to go with it" ..now it seems to me that, in terms of sensations/perceptions, Bardo Pond and stoner are even drastically different. 3) the mention of 15 years was just to say that surely Mogwai haven't been that innovative, and that a certain type of music has had a historical significance, an old significance of 15 years. Therefore, I find today's thousands of Mogwai epigones unnecessary. 4) already answered :-) I do love the trip, and I like many things by Bardo Pond anyway, otherwise I wouldn't have given them 4 ;-) bye!

I downloaded Bufo Alvarius (Amen too, maybe I can handle it while driving) :-) ..thanks again to everyone for the comments, critical or less critical.

Dear Festwca, I'll try to respond to you point by point: 1) Yes, I was probably referring to "amen." Now, since it's included in Bufo Alvarius, I couldn't bear not being able to listen to an entire record. However, since I can't stand spending over 20 minutes scrolling through distortion after distortion, I confirm that I probably won’t listen to it. Or maybe I’ll look for a version without it. After all, the fact that you, who have listened to it, confirm adjectives like "verbose" and "tedious" doesn’t encourage me to change my mind :-) Point 2) What do My Bloody Valentine have to do with this??? Come on, are you joking? Loveless is just around the corner, always and forever.. how can you identify Bardo Pond solely in the Noise genre? Don’t you hear the tremendous diversity of intent in their use of guitars and distortion? Here, there’s the exact same concept of ecstatic trip found in the MBV; there’s a notion of psychedelia that has clearly passed through the filter of shoegaze, from the first to the last note. I see much, much less resonance with stoner, which doesn’t share the same intent. Point 3) What do Mogwai have to do with Bardo Pond?? Everything, that’s how much. The approach of Mogwai in 80% of their songs is practically encapsulated in a piece like "Limerick," in terms of crescendo, sounds, and drumming. It seems to me that everything is connected. Also, I note that both bands share at least to the same extent the enormous shoegaze influence. Point 4) Very true, the concept of a long track is quite relative. For me, a track can start being defined as long from around 8 minutes onward. Obviously, since it's a relative concept, it’s not always the case. More generally, a piece that masturbates for ten minutes repeating the same riff and playing with it in almost purely dynamic terms (huge and fundamental resonance between Bardo Pond and Mogwai) is definitely a "long piece," mainly because it unfolds an idea over a stretch of time in which that same idea has already been abundantly absorbed by the listener. Cheers!

X Salmacis: I'm not a little fatigued by you, not exactly and not precisely "the reader," as can be seen quite clearly from the comments above and from many of the comments in the other 40 reviews I've written. Moreover, nobody has questioned that Lester Bangs wrote better than me, certainly not me (read the comment above more carefully). Also, no one has gotten angry (or perhaps you are starting to get angry?), as far as I'm concerned, I started my response by even conceding your point (read it more carefully), far be it from me to be angry. Thirdly, I certainly have room for improvement, but I prefer to improve in knowing what I'm talking about rather than in how I talk about it, and from that point of view (which is my point of view), with the utmost respect you have not succeeded in piquing my particular interest with your criticism, frankly speaking.

I can fully agree with you, but I disagree with the reasoning behind your critique (there you go, enjoy this lovely repetition): it seems to me that we’re not in a literary contest, and I don’t think anyone here is a professional critic; moreover, if you had ever read Lester Bangs, you would know that beautiful style has rarely found justification in a certain type of critique; far from wanting to confine myself to a genre (of which I wouldn’t even be worthy), your point is one that holds no merit, neither in this context nor regarding the subject being discussed; it's pointless and quite presumptuous as well. Besides, when I write, I always focus on substance, I really couldn't care less about form; those who want to understand (and it seems there are some who “wanted” to understand here on this page) will understand. I write spontaneously, because spending a whole day pondering records doesn’t seem necessary to me. If you consider it fundamental, that’s your business; don’t expect to turn it into an issue of objective reasons. So, your advice means little to me: I’ve been writing here for 4 years whenever and however I want, and for some, it has even been interesting to read me; hence, your observations lack sense. Thanks to everyone for the comments!

give me the Jazzmaster, absolutely... :-) that's a guitar with wild highs