Soundcheck: Time Turns Elastic

As with many things in my life, I was late to the party when it came to Phish – both appreciating their music and seeing them in concert.  The only time I have been fortunate enough to see them live was towards the end of their return from their 2000 hiatus.  Little did I know that when I saw them play in Charlotte in July 2004 it would be one of their last shows before their Coventry festival, which would be their last live performance as Phish until their 2009 reunion weekend.

Since that time I’ve always been a big fan of frontman and guitar virtuoso Trey Anastasio and have amassed nearly all of his solo works starting with 2002′s self titled album.  One thing the Anastasio has never been afraid of is bucking convention.  From psychodelic to jazz fusion to alternative rock, he isn’t afraid to cross genres and experiment with his sound.  Therefore it should be no surprise that he stays true to form with his June 2009 release ‘Time Turns Elastic’.

In ‘Time Turns Elastic’ Anastasio and Don Hart of Orchestra Nashville turn out a long form classical composition.  It was first performed live in September 2008 with Anastasio on electric guitar and vocals and Hart conducting the 60 member Orchestra Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium.  The thirty minute piece was originally conceived as a future Phish song, however with the help of Hart it was transformed into an orchestral work with two movements, the second of which has since been rearranged for a four piece band.  In May 2009 Phish released their thirteen minute plus version of ‘Time Turns Elastic’ as the first single off their upcoming album.

I took my lazy Sunday morning after the fourth of July to give both Trey’s full classical composition and Phish’s interpretation a listen.  As a work of classical music I found the full piece interesting and really liked how Anastasio delicately laced the guitar work in with the orchestra dynamic.  It was at times subtle and unobtrusive, yet had moments to shine.  The Phish rearrangement is more my speed because of my predilection for music with heavy percussion and Jon Fishman‘s rhythmic drumming does not disappoint.

I wasn’t able to find a decent video of the classical performance, but here is a clip from Phish’s show at Fenway Park.  The video’s not the best, but it had the best sound quality of others I had seen:

Who should be on the next Soundcheck? Leave a comment or drop me an email at pj@realmendriveminivans.com so I can work on it for a future article.  Also, if you’re new here, consider joining Dad-Blogs and grabbing the RSS feed so you can get this and all of the other awesome columns delivered fresh directly to you.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the ride