8/25/00 - Friday, Camp Bisco II

https://archive.org/details/db2000-08-25RM.flac

Image: Brownie, Barber and Magner on stage at Camp Bisco II

The opening Mulberry’s Dream is the first since May, and the first to be performed with the full band since 1999. It had been performed twice in 2000, and both versions featured drawn-out type two first jams. Not so here; the first jam is about as straightforward as it gets. The second jam likewise does not stray very far from the song structure, but it has a kind of indescribable ethereal quality to it that places it among my favorite versions. Every so often I will hear a Biscuits jam that strikes me so poignantly that I will almost be ready to swear that I had already heard it before, long ago at some pivotal crossroads in my life, and had long since forgotten it. The haunting opening notes of Barber’s solo in this Mulberry’s, when I first heard them, inspired that reaction in me, and they still move me to this day. The way Barber revisits those notes throughout the jam, until it reaches its fiery conclusion at 10:35, is simply perfect to me. A personal favorite Mulberry’s, and an excellent opener for Camp Bisco. The Biscuits follow with a techno version of I-Man. This version does not have the same power and majesty of the last version, 12/4/99; instead, the band focuses on crafting a spacey atmosphere. There are decently drawn out mid-verse jams (like a minute each), and the first main jam seems to be almost a continuation of the last mid-verse jam. It’s pretty mellow and spacey, and lands an extremely relaxed transition into Hot Air Balloon, which is a standard version. House Dog, which begins with its standard drum and guitar pattern, soon dissolves into blissful ambience, with only Sammy keeping the song tied to its structure. Magner incorporates a lot of droning synth effects, and Barber latches onto a simple and effective riff which he filters through a couple different effects, including the distinctive fall 00 style muted distortion. The jam gradually builds and leaves this mellow space pretty quickly, but all in all one of the most experimental House Dog first jams so far. The second jam starts off mellow, and takes a little while to develop, but around 22:30 Magner begins to develop a catchy riff that gives the rest of the jam focus, and which the band works into a pretty sinister theme that builds to a solid ending. House Dog has a short “outro” jam that is basically a DJ segue into Radiator. After a pretty standard first jam, the main jam in Radiator is another mellow bliss jam. It never strays too far from Radiator, but it’s pleasant. The Biscuits’ debut of Shelby Rose follows, and, like the Electron debut from a week earlier, it is fantastic. Sammy begins the jam alternating between a measure of a steady beat based off the composed riff that begins the jam section and a measure of madcap jungle style breakbeats. Eventually the jam descends into pure DnB. Magner, once again, sticks to the ambient synths, gradually incorporating a few of the minimalist effects that would come to define the fall 2000 sound. Barber’s touch is feather-light; every so often he will come in with a distinct repeated riff, but for the most part he stays in the background. As with the Electron version, the jam kind of breaks down and resolves into the same composed riffs from the beginning of the jam section, at which point a distinctive key change can be observed, and Barber takes over. He builds the jam to a quick uncomposed peak (the distinctive composed Shelby peak was still several months away).

Set two opens with Svenghali, the first version with the full band since New Year’s Eve. It provides the band another opportunity to show off their drum n bass chops. This jam features a bit more Barber involvement than did the Shelby Rose. Around 9:45 the rhythm shifts to a more standard groove, and after some professor-controlled chaos, the rest of the band builds on a bliss theme that leads back into the end of Bernstein & Chasnoff. B&C is followed by another Brownie song, Morph Dusseldorf, and the beginning of the third Disco Biscuits palindrome. The Morph jam very quickly moves into Story territory before it can go anywhere interesting. The Story jam, in contrast, is fantastic. It’s a darkly atmospheric and moody jam that evolves into a grim trance theme, picking up tempo and heading into drum n bass territory as the track changes. The transition into the end of Ape is spectacular. Ape is inverted, and the jam out of it is played jungle style, rather than the dub style in which it was usually played in 1999 and earlier. By the eight minute mark the band settles into a more regular groove, and gradually leaves the tense theme behind for the triumphant Story ending. Immediately after Story Sammy delivers a short drum solo. I expected this to evolve pretty briskly into a Morph ending, but the jam remained relatively type two for the first few minutes, dancing around Morph territory before finally committing to it. A considerably more interesting Morph ending than I had expected from the setlist and time stamps. The set closes with the second and final debut of the night, Hope, a Barber original. The tempo is much slower than later versions, but it is otherwise basically identical to the song we know today—at least in composition. The jam section is distinctly different from the modern versions (which are usually performed jamless). The jam is gorgeous, full of life and vibrancy. It moves through a mellow passage, replete with little teases that hearken back to the song’s composition, that gradually becomes more tense and determined as it moves towards the conclusion. The jam section of Hope is notably different from many of Barber’s other songs. It is not rigidly demarcated by a peak riff, as so many of his older songs are, and the style of jamming is reminiscent of the best that Phish or the Grateful Dead have to offer. It was played in this distinct style for the remainder of 2000 and almost all of 2001. After Hope, the band leaves the stage and comes back to play an encore. The M.E.M.P.H.I.S. played here, at least the first jam, is reminiscent of some of the later 1999 versions; it briefly flirts with a more sinister theme, but overall it is a monolithic, Barber dominated trance rock jam. The outro jam is pleasant and mellow at first, but, in keeping with the overall theme of the show, Sammy soon develops a jungle breakbeat. Around the sixteen minute mark this theme breaks down and the band rapidly shifts to a vaguely dubby rock theme. It breaks down to almost nothing at the track change, and then builds back up into an I-Man middle jam. The jam maintains a blissful tone throughout, and covers a lot of ground that is almost never covered in a M.E.M.P.H.I.S. outro; however, none of the themes in the jam are fully realized, and the stylistic changes seem forced rather than organic. The I-Man jam is a perfect contrast to this: although it detours away from typical triumphant I-Man fare through a sinister theme, it never fully breaks from I-Man territory. However, it is a fully realized and developed exploration of an I-Man theme, and it culminates in an excellent ending.

Foreshadowing the trajectory of the fall tour, the first night of Camp Bisco, and also Marc Brownstein’s first full two-set show back with the Disco Biscuits, is a night of long, spaced out jams, sinister themes, musical risk-taking, new music, and lots and lots of drum n bass. There are a few next-level jams, as well as a few moments where the band sounds lost, and overall the show is very solid. Highlights below:

Highlights:

Shelby Rose

The two debuts are by far the strongest points of the show, and the Shelby debut slightly edges out the other. In a show that is replete with the jungle jams, the Shelby manages to stand out as being particularly sinister and having a particularly satisfying release.

Hope

The other debut, Hope is a welcome break from all the jungle present in the show. This version only hints at the potential that would be realized in the later versions form the year, but, like with Shelby Rose, one could easily make the case that Hope was a heavy hitter from the get go.

Story > Ape (><) > Story

The centerpiece, and musical highlight, of the second set palindrome. The transitions from trance to jungle and back are masterfully executed. This segment is also one of the first uses of Aquatic Ape in a big segment, and the beginning of its golden age as a heavy hitter.

Mulberry’s

A personal favorite version of mine. Barber’s solo is straight from the gods.

House Dog

Both jams are above average. The second is probably more enjoyable overall, but the first, which moves through a brief passage of spaced out type two, is probably more interesting.

Stray Observations:

This show features the Biscuits’ debut of Shelby Rose and Hope, plus the full-band debut of Story of the World. Additionally, Radiator, Bernstein & Chasnoff, Morph Dusseldorf and Aquatic Ape are all played for the first time since 1999.

This is the first Shelby Rose to feature the alternate “and I suppose I can tell Shelby Rose” first chorus that would appear in every version for the rest of the year.

Prior to set two, Brownie plugs the Bisco Lives CD, which featured the Sven > Boop (><) > Sven from 12/31/99, as well as the “Bionic Helix.” Not to be confused with the song of the same name which began appearing in setlists sporadically in 2017-2018, the Bionic Helix was an experimental piece of music that was arguably the genesis for They Missed The Perfume.

This is the first ever inverted Aquatic Ape, the fourth song in the catalog to be inverted.

The Morph ending is notated as having teases of Bolero by Ravel, but I am not familiar with that piece and can’t say definitively.

—Mr. Zan