Carta - The Glass Bottom Boat
[Resonant]

It’s a shame that just when I get the opportunity to review Carta’s majestic debut, “The Glass Bottom Boat”, their record label Resonant decides to call it a day. Still, the nine instrumentals and one vocal based track featured here have brought some much needed colour and warmth to these cold, unfeeling winter months.

The brainchild of San Franciscan guitarist Kyle Monday, who has called upon his close knit community of musician friends to record a vision that has been in the works since 2002. Members of Charles Atlas and Subtle feature prominently, as Monday directs his troupe through a series of trance-like grooves.

There is a panoramic quality to Carta’s musicianship with a perfect balance found between the guitars, piano, percussion and the string and brass instrumentation. No musician takes centre stage; each member has a part to play in the overall picture. The elliptical guitar part on “Legomenon”, for example, forms part of the rhythm whereas other bands prefer to place the guitar centre stage. The old adage, there is no I in team comes to mind, as this sentiment echoes loudly within Carta’s rich, almost impregnable tapestry of sound.

The interplay between the trio of guitarists on both “Kavan” and “If Not for You Then Not for Me” sets the mood for much of the album. All three are content to play delicate, subtle chord sequences, complimenting one another rather than fighting to be heard. Often times, each part is layered intriguingly, creating arrangements that are alluringly off-kilter and sit slightly to the left of standard rock progressions. Such reciprocity is the thread that holds Carta’s wandering compositions together.

Of particular interest are the songs that start sparsely but end up in more aggressive areas towards their end. The brooding “South Circular” is a prime example, as is the fluid “Perdido”, with the band displaying a telepathic understanding of each others movements. You can imagine Carta performing these live, all it needs is a slight nod from Monday and the band shift tempo unanimously with the greatest of ease. Building a chilled atmosphere over several minutes, Carta depart to a more energetic momentum on the former as guitars gain urgency with light distortion in tandem with the incrementally aggressive percussion. “Olivia”, meanwhile, is notable for the way it sounds as if it was deliberately recorded just out of earshot, the muffled percussion and spectral guitar textures complimenting the album’s intriguing artwork that seems to display a distant, forgotten land.

The magical title track is undoubtedly the highlight (though other reviews wrongly point out it disrupts the flow of the album). It shows that Carta are not perennially concerned with instrumentals and are comfortable in any number of guises. Starting with a gorgeous pattern of clockwork-like guitar notes sweetened by aching cello, Sarah Bell’s beautiful, elfin vocals are simply breath-taking and must come with a guarantee to send shivers running towards the small of your back. It is all geared towards a grand finale, as all members of the band come together culminating into an almost shoegaze style encore.

Bereft of the torrents of distortion most instrumental acts like to use, gimmicky solo parts or over-blown, theatrical vocals, Carta’s compositions are classy and elegant. Many bands hide their limitations under clouds of effects. But then few bands can play like Carta; their progressive, predominantly instrumental music is effortlessly a cut above the rest.

Track Listing:

1. Kavan
2. South Circular
3. Larva
4. Burning Bridges
5. Simultane
6. If Not For You Then Not For Me
7. Oliva
8. The Glass Bottom Boat
9. Legomenon
10. Perdido