Description

Originally released on CD in 2004, this new edition of 4/23/03 is now pressed on two slabs of American vinyl pressed by United Record Pressing and housed within a handsome two color silkscreened gatefold jacket bearing artwork replicating that from the albums CD incarnation.

The album, from an edition of approximately 700 copies worldwide, presents the entire contents of the original CD version plus a new additional track from the original recording sessions.

All copies of the 4/23/03 2xLP are accompanied by the hour long 4/25/03 CD presenting a blistering collaborative live set from Bardo Pond and Tom Carter recorded at Philadelphias Tritone two days following the albums studio sessions and gloriously exploring like-minded sonic territory.

The package is also accompanied by a download coupon redeemable for DRM-free MP3s of the album.

At first glance, the 2003 collaborative LP between Bardo Pond and Charalambides Tom Carter seems a bit nondescript. Its title is the date of the session and songs are named by their durations. The music sounds like another day at the Bardo Pond office known as the Lemur House, the Philadelphia space where this and nearly all of the bands other records have been made. But once you intently listen to these slowburning, sky-reaching jams youll start to realize that maybe that is exactly the point. Carter fits his guitar pieces into the Bardo Pond puzzle so naturally that this truly is one of the great Lemur House séances. You get the sense that everyone involved realized that connection from the very first note and nobody wanted to get in the way of the magic they had all locked into. Names and titles would just distract; let people sink into these deep clouds with nothing but their open ears.

Almost nine years later, theres still a lot of depths for listeners to plumb on 4/23/03. And even though this session still sounds completely natural and up to Bardo Ponds high standards, theres something different about what happened during the week of Carters 2003 visit to Philadelphia. Whatever ghost
it is these guys were able to conjure, it stuck; all the music they made together has a stirring, ineffable vibe that never fades. You can hear it throughout the albums entirety, including the bonus track to this reissue the misty, quaking 8:28 and especially in the CD of live material taken from the Tritone just two days later. By then, the Bardo Carter mind-meld was so strong that 40 minutes of uninterrupted
jamming could just fly by.

The great work both parties have done in the decade since indicates its high time for Mr. Carter to check back in at the Lemur House to revisit this collaborative spirit. Until then, diving farther into this ever-expanding edition 4/23/03 should last you just fine. -Marc Masters-