Phish
Round Room
(Elektra Records)
By: Jeff Leisawitz - ModernRock.com
After many years and endless miles on the road, Vermont’s finest jam band declared that they were taking a hiatus. The members of Phish chilled out, worked on other projects and spent quality time with their personal music collections.
Two years later the guys reconvened to write and rehearse for an album they were planning to record in the spring of 2003. After two weeks of rehearsals they decided it would be a good idea to spin up the tape recorder to capture the songs before they broke for the holidays.
But something magical happened in singer/ guitarist Trey Anastasio’s barn studio. The wonder, fascination and magic of the new songs sounded so good they decided to skip the proper recording and release the rehearsal tapes as a brand new album called Round Room.
As any Phish fan knows, these guys shine when they’re going freeform. On songs like “Pebbles and Marbles,” “Walls of the Cave,” “Seven Below,” and others, Phish just rocket straight into jamland. And, of course, these are some of the disc’s finest moments.
Like many songs here, the album’s title track also beams with a strange bop. This quirkiness is not a big surprise to anyone familiar with the band’s music. “My room is round when I lay down/ When I wake up it’s square/ When I go outside it’s on a spiral set of stairs.”
Phish also pays homage to tequila, their favorite alcoholic import, on “Mexican Cousin.” Trey plays with words on “Mock Song.” And the boys revisit the country tinged sound of the Grateful Dead on “All of these Dreams.”
Of course, the musicianship on Round Room is a strong testament to the power of the jam. While Phish fans are surely psyched for this new studio album (which is basically a live album without an audience), the word is still out on whether the band will tour in 2003. For now, just crank it up and visualize yourself in the barn.
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