April 04, 2008

This I-Man as well as the Jan.19th Vail version are the pinnacles for 2008. Both set openers but I enjoy this one more as it has a gorgeous path and stays true to it all the while adding some nice juju while the other gets aimless and veers off the road a tad creating sparks off the guardrail(yet still is unreal).

I-Man begins with a 3-4 minute intro jam. This is firmly in type 1 territory for most of it, and this is really more of an intro vamp than a full on jam. They skip the usual jam after the first chorus and just begin verse 2, which I’m fine with. The first jam begins after verse 2, and Marc has a neat little bassline right out of the gate, with Magner and Barber both playing extremely restrained. Magner eventually settles on a bouncy rhythm that he expands into a lead melody to balance out Barber’s accent playing. This is nothing too far outside of the box, but it’s generally solid. The second I-Man jam has a really solid build. Doesn’t feel like this really has a “theme” per se beyond build, build, build. The third jam is incredibly unique. Magner and Barber initially begin things with this airy soundscape and allow the jam to simply establish itself for a little bit. This has a Blissco feel to it, with heavy psychedelic overtones. They eventually drop to half-time, and the band continues to space out. This is really wonderful stuff, and it lasts the appropriate amount of time before switching to a darker feel. This has such a remarkable shift on its head from the gorgeous, blissed out jam which preceded it, and yet feels so natural. This gives way to Rock God Barber for a period, until Barber marks the transition back into the ending composition. Awesome, unique jam. Vacation is still somehow an 8-minute song with NO jam, and still just total garbage. Crickets begins with a 7-minute intro jam. This somehow manages to be a 7-minute jam which is basically them just going through the intro section in an extended way. I don’t find this interesting at all, though it’s noteworthy Brownstein plays the Towers of Dub bassline for most of this, as he occasionally did during this time period. The first jam in Crickets is aimless and inconsistent, and features an absolutely abysmal drop into the peak. The second jam is similarly aimless, and while the uptempo shift does actually bring a marginal amount of intrigue, it’s just not sufficient to be redeeming. The 42 jam is a fantastic trance odyssey spanning multiple different themes. Barber’s play here is remarkably patient and well thought out, and Magner is on fire throughout this jam. Brownstein’s play anchors the band and Allen’s tasteful array of e-drum noises are a perfect complement to round out the jam. This is one of the best 2.0 42’s that there are, or at least in the conversation. 02/15/09 is still the high water mark, but this is incredibly great, and is probably one of the least talked about versions in that conversation.

The Morph jam to begin the show is boring during the “funk” portion, but when they shift uptempo for the long techno Spaga intro, this is gold, Jerry. I believe this was one of – perhaps THE – first techno Spaga. Maybe I’m wrong about that. Anyway, the rest of this is awesome. First Spaga jam is mostly the monotonous DNB, but around the 19-minute mark, the band gets nice and spacey. Unfortunately this leads nowhere until they drop back into the middle of the song. Second jam is totally forgettable. Resurrection’s jam just does nothing for me at all. Kamaole is then “resurrected” after nearly half a decade of not being played, and frankly even though it’s a fairly simplistic Marc song, I unironically enjoy Kamaole. The Kamaole jam, unfortunately, is pretty short and straightforward.

Highlights: I-Man (1, 3**), 42**, Morph*