Extended Play - December 15 Set

[Extended Play]

Last week seemed to go well, so I guess i'll do it again, huh? This week, we're dropping down to two artists instead of last week's high of four.

First up tonight is King Crimson's latest studio release, Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With. This 30+ minute EP prepares the way for the forthcoming studio album The Power To Believe. The two reviews of TPTB that have surfaced so far are extremely positive, hailing it as Crimson's most definitive work since Discipline. The jury's still out on that one, as . . . well, we won't see it until February. Until then, HWWYHTBHW is probably a good indicator of what we'll see on the new album.

The entire work is stitched together by a series of harmonics processed vocals in a series of poems. I've heard comparrison's to Tool's Anema in that regard, and that's probably going in the right direction. This gives the whole work a very natural flow, taking its time to build up to a series of very different pieces, all culminating in a live recording of Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part 4) from Nashville on the Nuovo Metal tour. i just hope the new album deliveres on the hype. until then, I'm pretty satisfied with this one. Also, I cut the last few minutes of the chopped up album preview. It's nice to hear, but it's basically just a bonus track. If you like this enough to want to hear it, you probably already have it or should go find it.

Last up tonight, and definitely the centerpiece (although you wouldn't know it from the previous two paragraphs) is Phish, live at The Marquee in New York City on December, 28 1990. This is an early Phish show, but definitely not from the early years. Having just previously released Lawn Boy, Phish were touring in support of the album.

Although it's hardly a perfectly polished performance, they still shine through with a kicking first set. Later in the second set they're joined by John Popper who accompanies them through the last three songs of the set. The last set also includes a few covers: No Good Trying, Hold Your Head Up, and Highway To Hell. This isn't a typically Aural Moon show, as Phish lean further towards the rock end of the spectrum but the progressive nature of their music still shines through on songs like The Divided Sky, Reba, and The Squirming Coil. I'll let the music speak for itself here. If you want the setlist, you can check the URL below.

http://www.phish.net/setlists/1990.html