Album Review: Salvia Plath - The Bardo Story

When a musician refers to themself as a “musical project”, alarm bells should be ringing. And if that doesn't have you concerned, a pseudonym like Salvia Plath really should. Formerly Run DMT (the only thing worse than an easy pun is an easy drug pun, and he's managed to do it twice!), Baltimore-based sound artist Michael Collins makes his LP debut under this new moniker with The Bardo Story.

The first thing that comes to mind when hearing The Bardo Story is, just how many times has Collins listened to Sgt. Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour? But to call it a cheap copy of The Beatles would be too harsh. There are also times when it sounds like a cheap copy of Bowie, or the soundtrack to a cheap copy of a Wes Anderson movie. By describing Salvia Plath as a “musical project”, Collins is making a statement that this is something different, something experimental, something outside of the norm. So it's a bit of a shock to hear an album that's so middle of the road. Even worse, the most derivative tracks on The Bardo Story are also its strongest. When emulating the greats, Salvia Plath actually offers up some really enjoyable rip-offs. When going for weird and experimental, it just comes off as lazy and tossed off.

Salvia Plath's The Bardo Story is a little folky, a little psychedelic, a little of all sorts of things. But in the end, it's not a lot of very much.