Michael Bardon – The Gift Of Silence

Discus

Martin Archer from Discus mentions that there are very few solo bass albums being released these days; but thankfully Michael Bardon, erstwhile member of Shatner’s Bassoon, has chosen to correct that. Over ten wildly varied pieces on The Gift Of Silence, he pushes both the bass and cello and our understanding of what sounds can be wrenched from them to their limits.

The deep drone and high overtones of opener “Realignment” sound not unlike what we might expect, a doomed fighter plane struggling over a rugged but lonely landscape. That sense of being alone and far from help is tangible, and the minute changes in the timbre and tone keep us abreast of the passing of time. “Pitter Patter” is the ultimate in contrast, a fleeting tapping on the strings somehow bringing to mind the sound of pan pipes. It is an unreal noise and hard to believe that it is coming from the strings of such a large instrument.

Michael tends to use effects pedals to wreak havoc on the original sounds, and at points the cello seems almost like a panicked clarinet being blown, then drawn out and deflated. It is more of a sound sculpture, with the frantic sawing evoking both frustration and desire.

The pluck and drone, the descent into silence and the re-emergence transformed all appear here, with the plangent tones like time ticking away. Little figures dance around the edges of the structures as clusters of notes appear ,and then we can just allow the decay to unfold. Unspecified patterns of rhythms turn into a frantic churn, splitting at the seams, bows bursting and strings flaying in sympathy. It sounds destructive and crazed, while the Wagnerian drama of “Partched”, with its deep chords and the flutter of rain, moves slowly, the strange chords making a sound like a harmonium at points.

The juxtaposition from track to track of wild explosion and frantic uproar to a more rhythmic wash with touches of harmonics is really very cool, and “CTS” then evokes that sense of headlong running, an attempt to escape, no goal in mind, just fleeing. In the background the tiny details stand out and make for an extraordinarily complete whole. From headlong flight to a slow deep crawl, each piece is a self-contained, almost isolated experiment in manipulation and ambience, all tied together by the sonority and and sense of wild solitude.

You just don’t know what to expect and that is the joy of moving through these pieces. The album ends with the drifting “Doom II”, part ambient wash, part distended whale song. It moves into slumbering dragon’s breath and all the drama that that might entail as you sense the creature awakening; and before you know it, you are overcome — and then silence prevails.

Michael Bardon has been hugely successful in pushing the bass to the forefront and then turning it into an incredibly varied tone-producing, atmospheric device. Rhythm and structure are tackled and then let loose on The Gift Of Silence, and the resulting action opens a whole new world. Excellent.

-Mr Olivetti-