Broad Street Review

Philly's home for arts, culture, and conversation

Aaron Pond

Contributor

BSR Contributor Since May 10, 2019

Aaron Pond (he/they pronouns) is a musician, birder, and writer living in Philadelphia. Raised in South Florida and educated at New College of Florida, he likes to make the rules as he goes.

Aaron Pond is a musician, birder, and writer living in Philadelphia. He performs on street corners, tea shops, and from the branches of trees. He studied music and economics at New College of Florida but feels like he learned the most from a lil blue heron that would frequent Sarasota Bay. You can find him at avant-garde concerts all over Philly.

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Laraaji laughs in his own world of sound. (Image courtesy of Bowerbird.)

Bowerbird’s Liminal States series presents Laraaji

A musical bedtime

Bowerbird presents multi-instrumentalist Laraaji in its Liminal States series, streaming concerts with an unlikely goal: to put the listener to sleep. Aaron Pond reviews.

Feb 16, 2021 Reviews 3 minute read

An album that absorbs you. (Image courtesy of No Rent Records.)

Philly's No Rent Records presents new albums from Kyle Press and Boy Dirt Car

DIY music for the home and the heart

Quarantined at home but craving the one-of-a-kind music of Philadelphia’s illustrious DIY scene? Aaron Pond is, too, with Kyle Press’s ‘Overtones, Drones, and Saxophones’ and Boy Dirt Car’s ‘Venice Beach.’

Mar 23, 2020 Articles 3 minute read

A new score for ‘Faust’ fails to characterize sexual coercion as the evil it is. (Image via Wikimedia Commons.)

Not So Silent Cinema and the Bismuth Quartet present Murnau’s ‘Faust’

Fresh eyes on 'Faust'

Mephisto’s battle for a good man’s soul still compels today, but a new Not So Silent Cinema score for Murnau’s ‘Faust,’ by Brendan Cooney and members of the Bismuth Quartet, highlights an enduring trauma. Aaron Pond reviews.

Mar 03, 2020 Articles 3 minute read

Hitting all the wrong notes in just the right way: Janaka Stuckey performs his ‘Ascend Ascend.’ (Photo by Eric Frommer.)

Atlas Obscura presents Janaka Stuckey’s ‘Ascend Ascend’

The edgelord poet

Atlas Obscura presents a mildly amusing performance of Janaka Stuckey’s necrophilous ritual poetry. Aaron Pond Reviews.

Jan 20, 2020 Essays 3 minute read

The world is not always what you were taught, and that's just fine. (Photo by Aaron Pond.)

On facing the music: A post-educational diversity statement

The meritocratic mythos

Music-maker Aaron Pond tried to fit in with students of the "masters," but learned he was expendable and illegitimate. So he found his own way. What’s yours?

Dec 30, 2019 Essays 5 minute read

The Crossing’s Christmas-time show is less festive than you might expect. (Image courtesy of The Crossing.)

The Annenberg Center and The Crossing present ‘The Crossing @ Christmas’

Death, devastation, and birds

‘The Crossing @ Christmas’ came to Rittenhouse Square for an evening of death, devastation, and birds. Aaron Pond reviews.

Dec 22, 2019 Articles 3 minute read

These scavenged forms are astonishingly well-balanced: Neil Feather invents his own orchestra. (Photo courtesy of Bowerbird.)

Bowerbird presents ‘Neil Feather: Sound Mechanic’

Musical machinations

Neil Feather’s wildly unique instruments surprise, delight, and make mischief in pieces including composer Rosie Langabeer’s latest work-in-progress, ‘IDIOSYNCROPHILIA.’ Aaron Pond reviews.

Nov 19, 2019 Articles 4 minute read

A flaming star in the sky of music: Moor Mother. (Image courtesy of the artist.)

Ars Nova presents Moor Mother and Roscoe Mitchell

A pair of multiplicities

Ars Nova shatters the fabric of reality with a duet by Moor Mother and Roscoe Mitchell, part of its October Revolution of Jazz & Contemporary Music program. Aaron Pond reviews.

Oct 07, 2019 Articles 3 minute read

The best of drag and opera: John Jarboe and Stephanie Blythe (as Blythely Oratonio) at Late Night Snacks. (Photo by Johanna Austin; austinart.org.)

Philly Fringe 2019: Blythely Oratonio and company at Late Night Snacks

Opera, drag, and pure electricity

The Fringe Festival’s Late Night Snacks presents the future of Drag Operatics in a South Philly auto-repair shop. Aaron Pond reviews.

Sep 17, 2019 Essays 3 minute read

Challenging the theater-industrial complex…in pasta. (Image courtesy of Eibhleann Clyne.)

Free Fringe Philly: Eibhleann Clyne presents ‘In Pasta’

This show is a snack

With the Free Fringe's 'In Pasta,' a heroic everywoman faces her imposter syndrome. Aaron Pond reviews.

Sep 10, 2019 Articles 2 minute read

Close-up of a small kalimba on a white background. It's a wooden handheld instrument with metal tines played by your thumbs

In the city of Philadelphia, to exist is to make music

Musical humans

Music is about watching the baton, following the notes, and controlling your sounds—a furtive tune in your own headphones, judged worthy by somebody else. Or is music something different? Aaron Pond considers.

Aug 20, 2019 Essays 6 minute read

Soft, bright, and ready to explore: Florist bandleader Emily Sprague. (Photo by Carley Solether.)

PhilaMoCA presents Florist and Ami Dang

Mellow dynamic

The Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art presented an evening of utter chillness with performances by Florist and Ami Dang. Aaron Pond Reviews.

Aug 19, 2019 Articles 3 minute read

A potent iconographic vision: Blitz Bazawule’s ‘The Burial of Kojo.’ (Image courtesy of BlackStar Film Festival.)

BlackStar Film Festival presents Blitz Bazawule’s ‘The Burial of Kojo’

Death and transcendence

Blackstar Film Festival presented the Philly premiere of director Blitz Bazawule’s first feature-length film, ‘The Burial of Kojo.’ Aaron Pond reviews.

Aug 06, 2019 Articles 3 minute read

Herbie Hancock was a great opening to a concert at the Met Philadelphia, but the rest of the show didn’t fare so well. (Image courtesy of the artist.)

The Met Philadelphia presents Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington

How do you love me?

Kamasi Washington and Herbie Hancock star in a marathon of cheese and ill-taste at the Met Philadelphia. Aaron Pond reviews.

Aug 06, 2019 Articles 4 minute read

They were on a bus: Ursula Rucker and Madame Data. (Image courtesy of Bowerbird.)

The Double Decker Music Series presents Madam Data and Ursula Rucker

Transfigured night

Bowerbird’s Double Decker Music Series transformed the cityscape into an unparalleled concert experience, welcoming Ursula Rucker and Madam Data. Aaron Pond reviews.

Jul 16, 2019 Articles 4 minute read

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