Hash Jar Tempo

In case you hadn't figured it out yourself, Hash Jar Tempo takes its name from the 70s Kraut rock group Ash Ra Temple. Pretty funny, huh? This pretty much sums up the band: take that Kraut sound and bring it to the future under the guise of epic-length drone, and you have Hash Jar Tempo. Despite the Hash part of the name, the music is not necessarily drug-influenced, but rather, just like with those old Germans, "the drug was the music." In other words, Hash Jar Tempo is less about seeing where altered states can take you, and more about creating those altered states.

Hash Jar Tempo is a side project uniting New Zealand drone superstar Roy Montgomery and Philadelphians Bardo Pond. Well Oiled, their 1997 debut, documents a one day jam session of the five musicians from 1995. Much like a live album (although definitely not recorded live), the listener gets everything in these 78+ minutes, from the moments that click sublimely to the moments that kind of drag along and go nowhere. This does not really distract from enjoyment of the album, however, because the music is so thick, with three guitarists all whirling about at once (Montgomery providing the extra ax to Bardo's usual two), it ends up working best as incidental music, something great to put on and forget about, letting it envelop you as go about the day-to-day.

Outnumbered 4-to-1, Montgomery's main influence on Bardo Pond seems to be keeping the sound clean, as Hash Jar Tempo is less murky and sludgy than most Bardo Pond material. The guitars still pound and scream, but the sound is a bit more refined. Bottom line: fans of Bardo Pond need the two Hash Jar Tempo albums. You are totally missing out if you don't buy them.

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