July 13, 2007

{{ summer '07 come and go my oh my... }} I like how the pre-Trancegression party show is better than the actual Trancegression. (not a fully honest opinion...but close) Sound (nugs) 10 / 10

[C pile] OK to good:: Spy / 7 Nation Army / Spraypaint(2)

[B pile] Very Good to Excellent:: Crystal Ball(1,2) / Pillin' It / Lunar Pursuit / Spraypaint(1)

[A pile] Top Notch / Best of / Monumental:: King of the House Dog / SoJ~>Don / AC2B(1,2) / Morpheldorph

{I} <>When KotW halts to a power start for HDPF the energy in the place matches and we're off. The 1st jam is pretty good, nothing mindblowing but a basic approach. The second jam? Full marks. Like a good mental patient, the author is appreciative of the 3 square meals and a bed for the night. Thus we launch slowly, smelling the wine, letting it breathe, small sip, a gargle, a spit. Nothing needs to be done except to see what we can see. I adore the several steps leading this groove forward. From Barber's repeating rhythm to Magner's great big laser synths to Marc's thumping bass. Untz / psytrance / livetronica / DnB...it's all here....they are simply smelling the flowers waiting to see who initiates the highest amount of joy in the moment in this final jam. The faster we go, the rounder we get. Sounds like a 'Floes' entry by Mr. Mags but no, tempo and consistency is what they are after. They get it...in huge doses. Such a beautiful jam. This is definitely a repeater, always was. <> SoJ - Not sure there is a better version. starts just like 'Safety Dance' thank Buddha it's not jk. I find this tune(soj) one of the hardest to play on drums. So many stop-n-go's, different time sigs and 4 different tempos. But to Allen, this like playing 'Back In Black", in his sleep baby! I think the reason this is such a cool tune and played flawlessly here is the song's map. It's so different. Psychedelic, Fusion, Trance, Acid Jazzish. The styles always change at the perfect time, just before the jam goes too much into circles. Brilliant. The ending~>Don jam is tension Drums n Bass with swirling computer creatures coming out of Mags' laboratory. >>>> <> Mr. Don - like the epic versions from June 26 as well as Feb. 15 of this year, this one is a home run, especially coming out of that glistening 'SoJ' This 22 minute masterpiece to close this original, creative, monster set gets you into that bliss state on a few occasions. While Barber, Brownie and Allen the Alien get warmed up to what the plan is, Magner just lays down the simplest, kindest sounding high-pitched synth sounds....letting the others grow into what the possibilities can become, and they do (IMO) 2nd jam: more funky disco jams, awfully close to full Blissco. Listen to Allen's tom work here. The final ''to live that sunshine we know'' jam can make the blind see. And there's 8 minutes of it. At this point....we're in 2001. Same Sammy beat too minus the pad. btw, GREAT sound by NUGS here, bravo. What a Don! Can't say it enough, this last jam is all happy jack. They climb that emotional ladder but much slower than usual. Bravo boys.

Set 1:: 8.70 / 10

{II} - Is there anything better in this world than a slightly hungover Sunday morning, waking up in a full on 69? Here's hoping you have time to wizz first. <> This opening CB is nice on the ears but pretty standard as we arrive at the halfway point. You can tell AC2B miles ahead. I like the funky ending, Marc is loud and playing like Lesh a bit. Improvised melody more that structure and foundation. Nice n mellow dance music until >>>> <> the organ announces it. AC2B. Nothing is rushed tonight, the intros and outros all have time to develop nicely. This is one hell of a nice intro jam. Everyone is on their own island yet still all on the same ocean in sequence and on time. "well tomorrow is where I wanna go"... --Houses is Aceetobee start at 10 million but if you want a Zex Sea beach front property!? start saving those Canadian quarters.-- the nicest jam (IMO) starts at 7:11 Big Red doubles time and Barber gets real crunchy, the wah-wah in full effect when from the left, Mr. Mags plays some tasteful grand as they transition to >>> <> Pillin' It - whenever I hear those words I think of 05-21-07 and that version...jeez, what a smoker. Anyway. A cautionary tale. Did they abide? mostly :) The way Barber goes from left field jamming, slowly and perfectly sliding the solo towards the official beginning of 'PIH' is so masterful yet the norm for this freaker. someday I will learn what ''Mister living poppa'' means in this context. The final groove that eventually leads you to the 2nd part of AC2B is a little meandering. Very pretty tho' >>> <> AC2B(2) - The up up and away jam starts at around 2:15 in and Allen gets downright nasty. Once again channeling Keith Moon. Mags is playing the Crystal Ball keyboards chords for a while, cool. A new jam starts with Marc slamming and plucking his instrument like a madman but it's genius, as the others take the slow approach, a sort of sacrifice to make the other slower sounding members more poignant. Not sure if that's intentional but it does shine a deserving light onto what the other 3 are constructing. >>>> <> Crystal Ball(2) - Allen's finest CB jam evah!! This percussion-led ending goes way deeper and longer than expected. Wonderful ending to this 5 song segment. This gets properly trippy and mania fills the Fox. Once again, Allen is on another level. <> Spraypaint(1) - standard. tasty jam and good segue >>>> <> LP - same as it ever was. not a bad thing as I see this tune as having to be a carbon copy for it serves a bridge purpose of expression as it takes you from and towards where you want to go. <> Spraypaint(2) - necessary ending to a great show. [e] Morph! - The Biscuits rarely called it in during the magical epic time of 2007 through spring of 2010. i.e. this encore! Barber en fuego; it's what's for dinner.

Set 2:: 9.20 / 10

<<<< Important Information That May Apply To You Or One You love >>>> Do you often get a little too intense or filled with dread and a little paranoia when smoking the herb? Even low THC percentage stuff?

The “head high” you don’t like is mostly attributed to a different terpene called limonene. Try to avoid this terpene when you can and you should hopefully be finding strains better suited for what you’re looking for. There is a lot of mis/dis information about cannabis out there...don't believe the nonsense.

The indica / sativa distinction when it comes to effects is false. There is no difference, on average, between an indica strain and a sativa strain when it comes to how you’ll feel after smoking it. This is a myth that’s been going on for too long.

The reason dispensaries and dealers will tell you the opposite and continuously pander the idea that sativa strains are for daytime and indica for nighttime is due to a lack of education on their part. They don’t understand that the different species of cannabis don’t have drastically different chemical profiles from one another, that those chemical profiles can be as different from one indica strain to another as it would be from one indica strain to a sativa one, that the species only indicate growing patterns and not what kind of chemicals the plant will produce, and that the vast majority of strains are hybrids to begin with.

You should be looking for strains that are high in beta-myrcene, which is a terpene found in cannabis commonly attributed to the “couch lock” effect many ascribe to indica strains. This terpene is found in every single strain of cannabis in different amounts, so if you’re buying your cannabis from a dispensary, ask for the a terpene profile of a strain before you make a purchase or just ask the budtender to give you the strain with the highest myrcene.

Peace & Nugs, Stir Fry

House Dog begins with a KOTW fakeout. This House Dog is basically every other House Dog during this era. First jam is forgettable, contrived, and finds the band struggling to come up with something interesting in the 5/4 jam, while the second jam is fantastic, patient, and interesting. The jam out of Songs of Joy is up there with 06/26/07 as the best Songs of Joy ever played. Both this and the Mr. Don jam have great elements of Blissco. Wonderful stuff.

The Crystal Ball jam is pretty good, although this is a little too much of a long AC2B intro jam for me to really fall in love. It’s a neat little segue, but would have loved a longer period where they let Crystal Ball breathe. The AC2B jam has a great groove, but honestly this again feels a little too much like they’re riffing on AC2B rather than just exploring new territory. I think the most interesting part of this jam is the last 2-3 minutes before the switch into Pilin, but I’m not sure that’s enough to really warrant this as a highlight. Well played, but not quite there for me. The jam out of Pilin has some very neat stuff. Magner uses a vocal sample that is heavily effected with a beat repeater, and he later has a long, evolving, distorted synth that plays heavily into the cacophonous sound that plays well in the band’s DNB. I actually enjoy this a lot (although it feels like Barber is a bit out of sync with the others here for a good chunk of this jam). The final AC2B jam is a wonderful, airy little jam that features some great chord movement from everybody. I think Magner tries doing a little too much with the piano, but when he switches to the sine wave later in the jam they hit a great stride, right up until the ending out of nowhere. The final Crystal Ball jam is extended significantly beyond what they normally do. This turns into this chaotic cluster of sound. This is a highlight simply for how much they step outside their comfort zone as it relates to Crystal Ball. Spraypaint has a decent jam, but again the real meat is as the band nears the switch to Lunar. The last jam out of Lunar, however, is fantastic. The band locks into a great groove, and this is dark, digital dance music slowly evolving into the uplifting major key ending of Spraypaint. Well done, guys. One odd thing is that near the end of the Lunar track, they seem to tease going back into the Lunar composition before deciding against it. Not sure if Barber forgot they axed the second go round or what. Morph encore to end the show is forgettable.

Highlights: HDPF (2*), Songs of Joy**, Don, Pilin, Crystal Ball (2), AC2B (2*), Lunar**