by Ned RaggettThe debut effort by San Francisco's Carta, led by guitarist Kyle Monday (writer or co-writer of all the songs, and the only original bandmember left at the time of its release), finds the group well established in working in the realm of contemplative atmospherics. This isn't to say The Glass Bottom Boat is diaphanous new age or the like; rather, like many fine bands before it -- Joy Division, Low, Mogwai among others -- Carta seeks to use rock band instrumentation to emphasize reflective mood rather than simply traditional performance. Unlike many other predominantly instrumental rock acts of recent years, though, Carta are blessedly free of the go-nowhere dullardry that ended up giving post-rock a bad name -- the group's songs are all miniature portraits that benefit from careful variation within a generally propulsive structure. Credit goes to Sonny Culbertson's drumming for keeping it moving very well, while the combination ...