StarsAndGarters
10-30-2009, 01:17 PM
Earlier this year, a friend of mine from work came in to work all psyched up because his favorite band in the world was getting back together to play some shows. That band was Phish.
He put together a mix. When I got into it he showed me where to find audience recordings online. Almost 70 show recordings and four albums bought later, I'm fully immersed and still nowhere near touching the bottom. Which is a pretty weird feeling after listening to them pretty much non-stop for months. Digging through the vast amount of music to be heard is a little daunting but it's an exciting challenge to compare different iterations of Tweezer or Harry Hood and connect the dots. In a way, I think it's the same kind of continuity crack that people that like Geoff Johns comics get off on (and yeah, that's me too).
I think a big part of why I've really gone crazy for their music is that I was raised on classic rock with a heavy emphasis on jamming and improvisation with Cream, Mountain, and Jimi. Trey, Mike, Page and Fish are four top-notch musicians, and on top of being able to play difficult compositions like Fluffhead or The Divided Sky, their extended jams are pretty brilliant. I'm used to 18 minute Toads and half hour Nantucket Sleighrides, so 20 minute versions of You Enjoy Myself are right up my alley.
Are they a bit lacking in the lyrics department? Absolutely. Are vacuum cleaner solos ridiculous? Of course. Are they overblown noodlers that can't write a concise pop song? Unrepentantly. But they're just the kind of fun I was looking for. And it's certainly perfect timing for me, with them touring, a new album out and the band on the eve of their latest festival.
Not sure if there's anybody else here that likes them, but I've had this post rattling around in my head for a while and figured this was a place to put it.
He put together a mix. When I got into it he showed me where to find audience recordings online. Almost 70 show recordings and four albums bought later, I'm fully immersed and still nowhere near touching the bottom. Which is a pretty weird feeling after listening to them pretty much non-stop for months. Digging through the vast amount of music to be heard is a little daunting but it's an exciting challenge to compare different iterations of Tweezer or Harry Hood and connect the dots. In a way, I think it's the same kind of continuity crack that people that like Geoff Johns comics get off on (and yeah, that's me too).
I think a big part of why I've really gone crazy for their music is that I was raised on classic rock with a heavy emphasis on jamming and improvisation with Cream, Mountain, and Jimi. Trey, Mike, Page and Fish are four top-notch musicians, and on top of being able to play difficult compositions like Fluffhead or The Divided Sky, their extended jams are pretty brilliant. I'm used to 18 minute Toads and half hour Nantucket Sleighrides, so 20 minute versions of You Enjoy Myself are right up my alley.
Are they a bit lacking in the lyrics department? Absolutely. Are vacuum cleaner solos ridiculous? Of course. Are they overblown noodlers that can't write a concise pop song? Unrepentantly. But they're just the kind of fun I was looking for. And it's certainly perfect timing for me, with them touring, a new album out and the band on the eve of their latest festival.
Not sure if there's anybody else here that likes them, but I've had this post rattling around in my head for a while and figured this was a place to put it.