April 11, 2008

"As big as my ass but two times the fun"

I can't believe how good the 'Vassillios ~> Spaga' is. That 'KSands' jam and subsequently into ~> '7-11 jam' ~> 'Betty'(psytrance>tension jam) ~> is pretty damn elite.

Mags & Barber shine in this very original show. [The City]

This is a matrix recording of a different style no matter the source i.e. Nugs / Disclogic / Sunset records etc... Sounds easily like a 60%sbd-40%aud with the mics in front of the boards and not onstage. Lots of chatter. A couple dozen (at least) of the '08 boards are sketchy. You get used to it by the end of the encore :) Regardless, musically....

I give it 4 puddles of Owsley's finest out of 5.

51% smartass / 49% dumbass.

The show begins with a 21-minute Caterpillar. On paper, that sounds incredible, but to be honest this didn’t really scratch my itch the way I would expect it to. Magner’s all over this jam, but it feels a little bit like Barber can’t quite decide what he wants to do. They basically play a 5-minute long type 1 ending jam as a lead in to the peak, which doesn’t necessarily do it for me (other than being well-played). I’ve seen some call this the best Caterpillar ever. I don’t agree. The jam out of Kamaole begins with a jambandy jam, but around the track transition to 7-11, they develop this downtempo, digital jam that features a bunch of psychedelic stuff from Magner. Magner is the definitive MVP of this jam, though Barber’s textural playing certainly takes things to another level. I feel like this jam is overshadowed by the madness of VasSpaga later in the show, but this is absolutely phenomenal in its own way, and if you like digital, downtempo Biscuits, this is absolutely for you. The jam out of 7-11 into Boop is, predictably, high-intensity trance, but there is some great thematic work from Barber and Magner here. I felt like this was cut short by an awkward drop into Boop, but this was solid for what it was. The jam out of Boop middle is some jam-funky stuff that doesn’t do a whole lot before melting into The City. The jam out of The City and into the ending of Kamaole is fairly straightforward and really doesn’t move the needle much for me. If you’re into jambandier jams by the Biscuits, you’ll like this.

The jam out of Vassillios. Wow. It’s tough to say more than has already been said. This is very widely believed to be one of the best jams the band has ever produced, and with good reason. The jam begins at about the 8-minute mark in Vassillios, and the first minute is largely forgettable. However, after this treading water period, Barber starts playing in a Phrygian key and the band crafts a mysterious sounding jam. They slowly shift to a lighter sound, but the jam is really taken to the next level at around the 11-minute mark when Magner brings in a long, sweeping synth. Barber plays off this with a playful little riff, and at about 11:44, Magner brings in the main synth sound which people remember from this jam, the pure square wave. This provides such a wonderful texture, and the band embarks on a glorious piece of Blissco that features some wonderful communication between the entirety of the band. This leads so naturally into the techno Spaga intro, and Magner is really the all-star here, with basically every note he plays being absolutely perfect. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. The Spaga jam begins with a high-energy DNB jam with some slow chords from Barber. This eventually opens up to an airy DNB jam with Magner on the pan flute. This is really sublime stuff and a pretty unique sound for the band. Magner teases “Baby You're a Rich Man” at one point. After a while with this Blissco jam, they shift darker and more ominous and suddenly are in an uptempo trance jam. Barber is absolutely on fire in this jam, and has some remarkably fast pick work here. Eventually the band drops to half-time and dubs out a psychedelic jam. This is really cool sounding, unfortunately it doesn’t last that long before they flip back to the trance jam for the lead-in to Waves. Would have loved them to stretch out the dub jam further, but what can you do? The jam out of Waves quickly leads into a happy-go-lucky dance jam into the ending of Confrontation. This is nothing outside of the box, but it’s really well-played and fun regardless. I think this could have become really cool if it had a little bit more time before turning into Confrontation ending. The jam out of Confrontation is some filthy, dark, digital trance jamming. This is very cool. This is a straight-up duntzgeon jam, and Barber’s effected guitar tone works perfectly here. Awesome stuff. This isn’t quite as “next level” as the rest of the stuff in this set, but it’s incredibly good for what it is, with an awesome segue into Caves. The jam out of Caves is fine, but it’s just far too short to have anything noteworthy going on before dropping into Spaga. There’s an incredibly short, token second Spaga jam that barely constitutes a jam. Sound One encore is jamless.

Remarkably awesome show all-around, with a lot of interesting stuff going on. A must listen for any fan.

Highlights: Kamaole**, Boop, The City, Vassillios**, Spaga**, Confrontation*