SOUNDTRACK: PHISH-The Story of the Ghost (1998).
The Story of the Ghost is one of the first Phish albums that I was aware of when it came out. I remember buying it and liking it, especially the first few songs. This is not surprising as the first few songs are much more electric and funky. By the end of the album there’s a lot of mid tempo songs that feel like they’re somewhat incomplete—good ideas but the songs feel…unfinished?
“Ghost” has a funky guitar and drum section, it’s a song I’ve liked from the day I bought the disc. But the real hit was “Birds of a Feather,” which has an amazingly catchy chorus. This version (as opposed to the live one) is weird in that Trey is kind of whispering the vocals, but the guitar is ferocious.
“Meat” is a weird skittery song that sounds cavernous here. The weird processed vocals are certainly something that keeps this song like more of an oddity. “Guyute” sounds an awful lot like early Phish—like it has come from Gamehendge, it’s a nice return to old form. It’s a great song with a really lengthy instrumental section. This features one of Trey’s great extended pretty solos.
“Fikus” is a strange little song (2 minutes), with lots of percussion and a quiet bass line. “Shafty” has got some cool wah wah guitars, and is also only 2 minutes long, but it shows that there is a bunch of funk on the disc. “Limb by Limb” is a fun if simple song that seems sparse until the chorus kicks in. “Frankie Says” is a kind of circular song that is interesting but doesn’t really go anywhere. “Water in the Sky” is a short piece but it is full of ideas—percussion, slide guitar, and nice harmonies. “Roggae” is a fun little song with some fugue like vocals.
“Wading in the Velvet Sea’ is a very pretty song with very nice harmonies. “The Moma Dance” is a funky wah wah guitared track which really comes to life live, although I like the way they reprise “Ghost” at the end. The final track is called “End of Session,” it’s a very mellow little number (also less than 2 minutes) with organ and gentle guitars. There’s a small verse of harmonies as the albums drifts off.
This album is one of the band’s less popular recordings, but i think it’s quite good.
[READ: October 30, 2013] Lives of Notorious Cooks
Brendan Connell is back with a book which demonstrates that whatever subject he writes about, he delves in deeply and with great relish.
Connell’s new book is, as the title says, a series of brief lives of fictional cooks. There are 51 biographies in this book. From Connell’s previous works and from the title, I expected that these cooks might be somewhat less than savory characters. But Connell makes these chefs genuinely impressive—making delicious meals from both the finest ingredients or the lowest of items.
As with previous stories by Connell, the depth of his knowledge is impressive—he includes not only recipes but complete menus of feasts. And as usual, his word choices are wonderful—exuberant when necessary, obscure if useful and always spot on.
Although I am normally inclined to make a comment about each “story “ in a collection, this one really resists that. There are not enough distinguishing characteristics between cooks for me to write enough about each one (without rewriting the book). This is not in any way to say that each is not unique, but that they are all cooks, each specializing in a different food or style. But rather than from saying “Agis cooks fish” it’s better to take this book as a whole rather than in pieces. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
