I love the naivete, excitement of discovery, and complete disregard for what is considered “cool” that is present in the original recordings of songs like “YEM”, “Lizards”, “Mockingbird” (pretty much all of “Gamehenge”), “Fluffhead”, “Reba” and “Squirming Coil”. I love the way those Zappa Hot Rats, Pink Floyd, early Yes and early Genesis influences come out. There’s a weird sort of mystical nerdiness to it all.

After Phish got all self-conscious w/ “Nectar”’s annoying patchwork of genres, I felt that much of the magic had disappeared, and despite spirited efforts here and there w/ “Breathes”, “Ghost” (”Guyute” is fucking awesome) and even “Round Room” (I think I’m one of the only people out there that really kinda liked the rawness, immediacy and soul-searching of that album), the magic never really came back. “Hoist”, “Farmhouse”, “Undermind”, and even much of “Breathes” were simply awful; they were trying to be “cool” – something they weren’t and will never be. I’m sorry Trey, but you will never write the “perfect pop song”; you were onto something way cooler when you penned “The Curtain” out in the woods…

This is why I like” Time Turns Elastic”. It’s pretty damn dorky, to the point of being almost ridiculous. But it also has a soul and beauty to it in that strange, old-Phishy way. There’s something kind of theatrical about the way it develops, too (the end part really reminds me of “Hair” for some reason), which only adds to the nerd factor… Shit, anything to move them away from the post-Grateful Dead-pseudo hippy-kind veggie burrito-hemp necklace-baseball cap-wearing frat boy-glow stick war bullshit that comprises the Phish scene. I’m betting that this song will grow on most of you in an unexpected way. The “epicness” of it will start to seem less contrived and more genuinely dorky, irreverent, and heartfelt.

Stay weird, Phish, even to the weirdos!

I love the naivete, excitement of discovery, and complete disregard for what is considered “cool” that is present in the original recordings of songs like “YEM”, “Lizards”, “Mockingbird” (pretty much all of “Gamehenge”), “Fluffhead”, “Reba” and “Squirming Coil”. I love the way those Zappa Hot Rats, Pink Floyd, early Yes and early Genesis influences come out. There’s a weird sort of mystical nerdiness to it all.
After Phish got all self-conscious w/ “Nectar”‘s annoying patchwork of genres, I felt that much of the magic had disappeared, and despite spirited efforts here and there w/ “Breathes”, “Ghost” (“Guyute” is fucking awesome) and even “Round Room” (I think I’m one of the only people out there that really kinda liked the rawness, immediacy and soul-searching of that album), the magic never really came back. “Hoist”, “Farmhouse”, “Undermind”, and even much of “Breathes” were simply awful; they were trying to be “cool” – something they weren’t and will never be. I’m sorry Trey, but you will never write the “perfect pop song”; you were onto something way cooler when you penned “The Curtain” out in the woods…
This is why I like” Time Turns Elastic”. It’s pretty damn dorky, to the point of being almost ridiculous. But it also has a soul and beauty to it in that strange, old-Phishy way. There’s something kind of theatrical about the way it develops, too (the end part really reminds me of “Hair” for some reason), which only adds to the nerd factor… Shit, anything to move them away from the post-Grateful Dead-pseudo hippy-kind veggie burrito-hemp necklace-baseball cap-wearing frat boy-glow stick war bullshit that comprises the Phish scene. I’m betting that this song will grow on most of you in an unexpected way. The “epicness” of it will start to seem less contrived and more genuinely dorky, irreverent, and heartfelt.
Stay weird, Phish, even to the weirdos!

Not sure if I like TTE yet, but it’s better than most of Round Room and Undermind…