Brett Gladstone brings us a great article that contains a well-done interview with former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio. In discussing everything from the drug use that ultimately torpedoed the Phish juggernaut to the difficulties in dealing with the fan backlash the followed Trey’s announcement that Phish was no more, Trey has finally come clean.

By the time Phish played its final show at Coventry, they had, like The Grateful Dead, become something more than a band – they were a lifestyle. And for thousands of disillusioned, pseudo-bohemian youths, they were a traveling home, as well as a bottomless vehicle for interpretation. The latter – propagated by fans armed with minute statistics about Phish’s musical habits – sharpened as the band’s live performances dulled and their albums veered from the majestic intricacy, atonality and extensive jamming of Anastasio’s early compositions.

“Groups,” Greil Marcus wrote in “Mystery Train,” are “reflections of community, and the problem with community is that you have to live in it.” Phish made their early music at a literal distance, walled up in the backwoods, only to find their world unexpectedly close in upon itself. The fans’ problems became their own, particularly Anastasio’s.

It’s always been my personal musical opinion that *SOMETHING* happened after Phish’s killer 4-show run in April of 1998 (known as The Island Tour, comprised of two gigs on Long Island and two in Rhode Island). The reckless precision, instrumental highwire acts and a sensibility of “clever” that never took itself too seriously begain to dissolve in sloppy, unfocused playing and aimless jams that often degenerated into a formless goo (misnamed by many fans as “ambient jamming”). As the fan “drugs of choice” shifted from pot and psychedelics to nitrous and Ecstacy, the overall scene turned darker. Parasites descended onto the scene, and the Phish organization got bigger and bigger in an effort to retain some semblance of order while the band struggled to cope with the responsibility. Reading Anastasio’s recounting of that time, it seems that those pressures brought other personal demons to the band’s inner circle, and Phish became exactly what they never wanted to be–Phish, Inc. This was a scenario all too familiar in the waning days of the Grateful Dead….the organization became so bloated and filled with hangers-on that they band was forced to tour beyond their wishes in order to support the machine.

Something had to give, and it did.

Personally, I applaud Trey’s decision to break up the band….if he couldn’t bridge the gap between where Phish was and where he wanted them to go and the fallout from that struggle was harmful to band and fans alike, then his decision was the only right thing to do.

I’m grateful for the music and good times, lifetime friends made, a multitude of ideas that have catalysed my career, and for inspiring future generations of risk-taking bands who want to do it their own way. I hope the rich legacy of the live Phish vault continues to be mined for gems. And even though I’m personally not knocked out by the music Trey is making as a solo act, I hope he’s finding it rewarding and he certainly deserves as much…and he doesn’t owe anybody anything.

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Phish has announced the official release of their show from Madison Square Garden on December 31, 1995. I’m very stoked about this….12/31/95 has been at the top of my wish list for official release.

12/31/95 was one of several crucial peaks that Phish hit over their years, and many (probably myself included) consider this particular peak a notch above the rest. Don’t get me wrong…their other peaks were certainly worthy of nothing but gushing praise (plenty of August 93, Nov 94 Fall 97 & the Island Tour for example) but 12/31/95 rode the perfect plane between flawlessly executed composed sections nailed with dead-on precision, and reckless experimental abandon that explored moments of trancendence that were questioning and profound at the same time. “Tentative” was an adjective absent from Phish’s vernacular in December 1995. Their playing revealed a sense of urgency (not to be confused with hurried which has a different qualitative energy) and deftness of touch that changed into something slightly looser after this show.

So more than just being a totally over-the-top performance, I believe this show has historical significance and it marks both a completion and a beginning for the band. There have been ok-sounding audience recordings made from the taper’s section in circulation, and a couple of the tracks also circulate in FM quality having been broadcast on Kevin Shapiro’s “From the Archives” shows that were played during past festivals. That said, many of the audience recordings December 95 tend to be somewhat boomy and lacking in crisp detail. This is due to Phish sound czar Paul Languedoc working with a new sound system better capable of providing the sonic assault needed in the size of the arenas the band was now playing in. This unintentionally put a bit too much emphasis on Trey’s vocals, made Mike’s bass sound muddy and indistinct and left the quieter playing of Trey and Page lost in the mix. So much of the magic that is Phish is in the nuances….there are nimble bass lines and subtle electric piano fills that even the best audience recordings fail to capture. If this show is given the full multi-track treatment with a killer mix, it will truly be heard for the first time in all its glory.

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En route from San Diego to the Newark airport this past Friday night, my iPod helped create one of the most intense music listening experiences I’ve ever had (and those who’ve heard me pontificate on my first Phish concert know exactly how high a bar I’m reaching with that statement).

Having finished the latest (and truly brilliant) Harry Potter novel and the current issue of Wired, I found myself without additional reading material. I did see a copy of a local newspaper that someone had left in the seat pocket in front of me and noticed that the weather headline was a reminder that the Perseid Meteor Shower was in full swing. So, I opened the window shade and looked out the window.

It was like a Roger Dean painting come to life.

Above me, I could see shooting stars (meteors) about every 5 seconds…some so bright you almost had to squint. Clearly visible on the horizon were Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) which I have never seen before and were absolutely breathtaking. Below us were thunderheads, with very distinct forks of lightining arching between them nearly constantly. I reached for my iPod, put together a quick "On-The-Go" playlist in seconds and for the next couple of hours I sat glued to the plane window with a blanket over my head and shoulders (to block out the ambient light of the cabin and glare of laptops surrounding me) and the volume way up. The view was spectacular….I will never forget it. And the playlist I had chosen as my soundtrack was perfect…have you ever had the experience where what you are seeing and what you are hearing are so perfectly in synch that its hard to believe one wasn’t influencing the other? It was almost like the music was "playing" the lightning, or that a shooting star was timing itself to a peak in the music. It was one of those rare audio/visual experiences that was completely immersive.

The whole experience was really a bit beyond my descriptive power, but the point is that this experience would not have been possible with a portable CD player, cassette walkman or any type of radio station. The capacity to carry so much music and the brilliant interface of the iPod allowed me quickly and easily to set up a listening experience that I will *NEVER* forget. So three cheers for my iPod for helping to create a truly stellar experience…

Here’s the playlist for those interested (hipsters beware…this playlist may give you hives):

Camel "Lunar Sea"
Steve Hillage "Solar Musick Suite"
Khan "Space Shanty"
Jean Luc Ponty "Cosmic Messenger"
Yes "Close to the Edge"
Happy the Man "Starborne"
King Crimson "Asbury Park"
Ozric Tentacles "Sunscape"
Grateful Dead "Dark Star" (live version from 4/8/72)
Hidria Spacefolk "Pangaia"
Terje Rypdal "Odyssey" (Live 1975)

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"prog rock is again being hailed for restoring art to modern rock, allowing innovative musicianship to be revered instead of reviled."

Renée Graham of The Boston Globe takes a look at the perceived prog rock revival in this article. Perhaps a return to prog rock as a legitimately respected and commercially viable musical genre would help curb the piracy problem….who wants to wait to download a 25 minute drum solo from a P2P network? It’s quicker to drive to Best Buy….

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"It’s wildly, glorious excessive, indulging the prog-rock impulses that are simply too ecstatic for rock to leave behind." — John Pareles @ the New York Times offers his take on the new Mars Volta album.

"…the result is a homogeneous shitheap of stream-of-consciousness turgidity." Sam Ubl over at Pitchfork has a slightly different viewpoint than John Pareles on the new Mars Volta album.

"Focus groups are toilet paper: They’re only used to cover your ass. You can get
a focus group to tell you anything you want. When we do focus groups, tastings
really, we have two choices: Does it taste good, or does it taste like crap?
Yummy or crappy? Good or bad? It’s not rocket science. And you get really good
information. You have to be careful to make a distinction between getting the
answers you want and honest answers." –the CEO of Jones Soda has a few pearls of marketing wisdom for Fast Company.

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My colleagues who don’t appreciate my prog rock proclivities are advised to stop reading this post now and go back to fawning over the Bright Eyes album. This post is of interest to those colleagues who’ve requested to see a bit more about the music near and dear to my heart, and also for those friends and freaky acquaintances who still have tattered Roger Dean posters on their walls and a well-thumbed copy of "The Hobbit" by the bedside…

Rhino will release the long awaited 3 CD box set of previously unreleased live material from Yes on May 10th. Here’s the tracklisting, along with the date and location of the recording:

Disc 1

1. Then John Peel’s Sunday Show (3/12/70) 5:16
2. For Everyone John Peel’s Sunday Show (3/12/70) 4:35
3. Astral Traveller Konserthuset, Gothenberg, Sweden (1/24/71) 7:27
4. Everydays Konserthuset, Gothenberg, Sweden (1/24/71) 11:05
5. Yours Is No Disgrace Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 11:50
6. I’ve Seen All Good People Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 8:22
7. America Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 16:20
8. It’s Love Crystal Palace Bowl, London (7/31/71) 10:35

Disc 2

1. Apocalypse Cobo Hall, Detroit (8/17/76) 3:04
2. Siberian Khatru Cobo Hall, Detroit (8/17/76) 10:11
3. Sound Chaser Cobo Hall, Detroit (8/17/76) 11:18
4. Sweet Dreams Queen’s Park Rangers Football Ground, London (5/10/75) 6:20
5. Future Times/Rejoice Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA (10/8/78) 7:04
6. Circus Of Heaven Forum, Inglewood, CA (10/5/78) 4:54
7. The
   Big Medley (Time And A Word/Long Distance Runaround/Survival/The
   Fish/Perpetual Change/Soon) Forum, Inglewood, CA (10/5/78) 25:51
8. Hello Chicago International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL (6/9/79) 2:11
9. Roundabout International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL (6/10/79) 8:40

Disc 3

1. Heart Of The Sunrise Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA (10/8/78) 11:30
2. Awaken International Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL (6/10/79) 18:13
3. Go Through This Madison Square Garden, NY (9/6/80) 4:12
4. We Can Fly From Here Madison Square Garden, NY (9/6/80) 7:01
5. Tempus Fugit Madison Square Garden, NY (9/6/80) 5:26
6. Rhythm Of Love Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 7:00
7. Hold On Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 7:20
8. Shoot High, Aim Low Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 8:40
9. Make It Easy/Owner Of A Lonely Heart Houston Summit, TX (2/19/88) 6:32

As a longtime fan and collector of unofficial live Yes recordings, this collection is the kind of thing I’ve been hoping to see released. Let’s just hope it sells enough to keep Rhino motivated to mine the vaults….

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A tip of the hat to the just released Hatwise Choice compilation which is a stellar collection of previously unreleased rare and live tracks by Canterbury legends Hatfield & the North.

Hatfield & the North recorded 2 superb albums for Virgin in their 3 years as a band and toured Europe relentlessly. With elements of pop, jazz and the absurdist humor that was a hallmark of the 60s/70s Canterbury scene, Hatfield & the North was prog rock that didn’t take itself too seriously. Despite the intricate passages and complex arrangements, they managed to avoid the overly-long solos and grandiosity that gave prog rock a bad name. And unlike many of their prog rock bretheren (who couldn’t swing if they were in a hammock), the Hatfields were able to balance their instrumental verbosity with jazzy grooves that were very infectious.

And now 30 years later, the band themselves has released this compilation, with tracks selected by the band members themselves, wonderful packaging and fascinating liner notes. For a premium, you can purchase a version autographed by the band. This release is highly recommended.

Hatfield & the North are but one of thousands of bands from the last 30 years who flew under the popular music radar but developed a fanbase that continues to show interest. The ability to press a small run of discs targeted to hardcore fans and create a simple mechanism through the net to sell them is a growing segment of the industry that artists and labels should be watching, emulating and improving upon. So much tape is sitting around deteriorating when it could be generating income for artists and labels while making a fanbase very, very happy.

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Looks like archive.org got the greenlight to begin hosting live shows from Phil Lesh & Friends in lossless FLAC and SHN formats as well as MP3 and Ogg.

For those who have been out of touch with the activities of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, bassist Phil Lesh began playing a few one-off shows with some of his favorite musicians in early 1998. These early Phil & Friends shows had some great moments (I encourage you to download the soundboard of the 8/8/98 show which some call the best performance of Grateful Dead music since Jerry Garcia’s death) but 1999 was really the year that Phil & Friends found their muse. Phil underwent a liver transplant in December 1998, and his first public shows in 1999 were in April at the Warfield Theater where he joined forces with guitarist Trey Anasatio & keyboardist Page McConnell (both of the band Phish), guitarist Steve Kimock and drummer John Molo for 3 nights that remain favorites of many Dead and Phish fans. All three of these shows are available for free download in *STELLAR* sound quality (pristine digital soundboards) and all are essential listening.

Phil’s would go on to change his friends over the course of 1999, with a rotating cast of musicians that included Hot Tuna’s Jorma Kaukonen (guitar), String Cheese Incident’s Kyle Hollingsworth (keys) and Michael Kang (electric mandolin and violin), moe.’s Al Schiner (guitar), and Warren Haynes (guitar). Phil made it a policy of not announcing which Friends would be playing at which shows which made for a series of surprises and a great run of summer shows, particularly the 8/17-8/22 run. The 3 shows in early October 10/7-10/9 were among the best of the year and are also worth hearing.

After this set of shows, guitarist Steve Kimock left (Kimock had been the one constant in every Phil & Friends shows) and Phil reinvented the group in 2000. He played at his own 60th birthday party in a Phil & Friends lineup that included guitarist Robben Ford and then in the fall emerged with a lineup that remained consistent for the next 3 years. That lineup included Rob Barracco (keys), Warren Haynes (guitar), Jimmy Herring (guitar) and drummer John Molo. This quintent was a force to be reckoned with….almost like the genetic fusion of the Grateful Dead circa 1974 with Return to Forever. Stellar improv played with a musical verbosity that the Dead never engaged in (perhaps "indulged in" is a better choice of words). Many of these shows were released through the Internet by Phil himself who had them mixed from the soundboard and put on a series of FTP servers. Many of the shows this lineup played are worth having (11/30/03 and the 9/25-9/27/03 run in particular) and it look like more shows are being queued up for inclusion in the archive.

Back in the old days, analog cassettes of live Grateful Dead shows were traded through the mail. Soundboard recordings were few and far between, and quality audience recordings were difficult to come by. Analog generations as cassettes were dubbed over and over again diluted the quality pool even further. Things have come a long way…..

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I highly recommend downloading this live recording of the Hellborg, Lane and Sipe Trio. Bassist Jonas Hellborg, guitarist Shawn Lane, and Drummer Jeff Sipe (aka Apt. Q258) first started playing together in 1995. They toured pretty relentlessly through June of 1997 before splitting. They have released four albums as a trio, all of which are live. They allowed the taping of their live shows (often giving soundboard patches) and encouraged the sharing of those shows through tape trading. This free download is one of those live recordings,
and one of their last as a band.

Bassist Jonas Hellborg had cut his teeth with guitarist John McLaughlin, serving as the bassist for McLaughlin’s 80s formation of Mahavishnu. Sipe had played drums for Zappa/Fusion/Sun Ra influenced Aquarium Rescue Unit under the leadership of Col. Bruce Hampton. Sipe also played drums with neo-bluegrass jamband Leftover Salmon. Both are truly amazing players, but it’s the guitar that is the heart and soul of this trio.

Shawn Lane was one of the most moving, profound andextraordinary musicians I’ve ever heard, with a technique that bordered on genius. So much of his music so powerful yet it has remained criminally underheard. Sadly, Shawn Lane died on September 26, 2003 at the age of 40. His official website can be found here.

I’m perpetually fascinated by the experience of how music, musicians and audience find one another. The inertia of the one-to-one and one-to-many relationships is accelerated, focused and refined, with patterns and "webs of trust" becoming more prominent and intuitive to navigate. This ability to discover and hear music through the Internet is a remarkable system with a
lot of moving parts that’s occasionally taken for granted, sometimes taken advantage of and mis-utilized, but often very rewarding. Hear for yourself….

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Take a guitarist with sick fusion chops who cut his teeth in the Zambi meets Zappa madness of the Aquarium Rescue Unit (under the mentorship of Col. Bruce Hampton), put him next to former Dixie Dregs keyboard whiz T Lavitz, add the muscular funk drumming of Little Feat’s Richie Hayward and top it off with the highwire bass precision of Adam Nitti and you’ve got the Justice League of America.  This one-off quartet toured only once for two weeks in January 2000, thrilling audiences in hippie bars on the east coast with choice instrumental covers of Grateful Dead (Dark Star & Morning Dew), Little Feat (Times Loves a Hero), The Meters (Cissy Strut) and more.  2 performances from Wetlands (R.I.P.) in New York City have just come into circulation and both are very much worth your time and bandwidth.  These are very crisp soundboards, and fans of any of the aforementioned bands (and fusion fans in general) will be very pleased by what they here.  You can download both for free:

Justice League 1/18/2000
Justice League 1/19/2000

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