December 31, 2017

Caves has a bunch of videogame samples in it. I don’t typically care about the Caves “jam,” but this is so neat that I’m labeling it as a highlight. I really enjoy a lot of what they’re doing in the Basis intro. There’s nothing too fancy here, but it’s a solid, and decently long Basis intro. They extend the middle section into a really neat Blissco jam that I like a lot. Has a very warm feel to it, and Magner does some exceptional work here. The segue into The Moon is so flawless and fluid, and I just love it. The Helix jam jumps instantly into the Bionic Helix. It’s so weird to me that they would just randomly bust this out. The jam out of Bionic Helix is okay. This feels a little bit like treading water to me. There’s nothing bad going on here, but it doesn’t feel all that interesting, either. They have a multi-chord progression going, which is always nice, but that’s about it. Just nice, nothing more. The Ladies peak is, again, just okay. The jam out of Ladies has Allen dropping the e-kick right away, and the band fleshes out a dissonant theme that is vaguely evocative of Sweating Bullets in a weird way. The 42 peak is (yet again) just okay.

Barber begins the second set with some mildly humorous banter about the fact that those watching the livestream wouldn’t have had the countdown occurring actually at midnight. The Overworld Theme is a neat piece of music, but I would love it if they had played the main music to Super Mario Bros. 2, which is a much cooler piece of music. The jam out of Overworld is pretty basic from Brownstein and Barber, but Magner is messing around (again) with videogame samples. Again, this is neat just for the novelty of it. I will say, however, that Brownstein tips the hand to the AC2B segue about 5 minutes too early. Patience, Marc. The rest of this jam leaves me wanting more. The Basis jam is a solid dance jam. Nothing outside the box, but pretty much my baseline (no pun intended) expectation for a good Basis jam. The Tetris jam is cool. Jam out is meh. The first few minutes of Ape don’t do a whole lot for me. However, they eventually switch to half-time, and I think this gets much more interesting at that point. Not interesting enough, mind you, for me to want to re-listen to it, but a tick better than the monotony prior. Second AC2B jam is just okay as well. The whole second set, honestly, is basically “solid, but not remarkable.”

The first set begins with Lai > Underworld > Lai > Underworld > Lai. Some neat gimmicks here, but no neat jams. The Dribble jam immediately develops a slow four-on-the-floor beat that leads very naturally into 7-11. The jam here doesn’t do a whole lot, and mostly feels like filler. The 7-11 trance jam is very nice. Magner uses this eerie synth that sits on the top end and creates a really mysterious vibe. Barber and Brownstein are both locked into a very nice groove. This leads pretty naturally to the Basis ending. Both this and the Strobelights jam are pretty typical Biscuits. There’s nothing outstanding here, but it’s very solid. Frog Legs is standard.

Highlights: Caves, Basis (Intro, 2*, 3), Overworld, 7-11, Strobelights