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Words: Benji Feldheim

Medeski Martin and Wood have never done things simple.

The New York City trio have spent the last 18 years annihilating all the rules they learned growing up playing jazz and classical while recording and performing. Past shows see-sawed between mid tempo, raucous and dirty funk to shrieking, crashing and amorphous soundscapes that often left people slackjawed and staring. Neither side ever really took over at their concerts. MMW’s shows were in a constant state of flux.

[Photo by Xopher Smith]

Then they had this Radiolarians idea: write real basic roots for songs, tour, then record. Repeat twice. Now at the end of this experiment, the band just released the Evolutionary Set, a box set with all three Radiolarians albums, a remix disc, a live disc and a DVD directed by Martin. With this sizeable influx of new material to work with, the trio still played zealous and risky at their recent Chicago appearance, even while sticking to the new songs. Trying to figure out what songs the band was playing at past shows could be an exercise in desperate futility, as their sounds would snake like mercury in a blurred combination of composed and improvised music. But somehow MMW found a way to play more loosely, more at ease, maybe a little freer…while staying close to what they wrote.

With any experiment comes the afterbirth: the criticism. More specifically, critics that gave up on them throughout this recent chapter in their music by applying the jam band label. It’s not a curse word, but throwing that title on because they frequent the festival circuit and have a handful of dreaded folks at their shows paints the trio into an inaccurately narrow corner. These days, the band is not only working with their brazen disregard for melody found on The Dropper, but also with the simple fun of their children’s music record Let’s Go Everywhere. At their recent stop in Chicago, MMW showed their own commitment to even growing out of themselves and what has characterized their shows for many years by adding simplicity and more structured songs to their repertoire.

READ ON for more of Benji’s thoughts on MMW…

The Coen brothers fantastic flick O Brother, Where Art Thou? (CMT, Wednesday at 9PM) isn’t about music per se, but the soundtrack is a major part of the movie’s appeal.

Most of the HT Staff dealt with Severe Post-Tour Hangover Syndrome (SPTHS) this week after the end of Phish’s Fall Tour last Saturday night. We dealt with SPTHS the only

It’s time for the finale of our week-long look at Phish Fall Tour statistics. Each day this week we’ve been sharing a new installment of our geekiest column, The Number Line, where we analyze the setlists from Phish’s recently completed Fall Tour. On Monday we examined the Fall Tour one-timers, on Tuesday we looked at the songs played on the tour by studio album, on Wednesday we detailed the covers Phish performed and yesterday we shined a light on the originals. Today, we’ve got a mixed bag…

[Photo by Pietro Truba]

46 – Songs with one word titles
31 – Minutes between last song title tweeted by @Phish and tweet about that night’s LivePhish recording being available (quickest of tour)
29 – Most letters in a song title (Stealing Time, BBFCFM)
25 – Most Songs Played in a Show (11/29 – Maine)
18 – Least Songs Played in A Show (11/25 – Philly 2)
13 – Number of different songs that opened the second set (no song opened the 2nd set more than once)
11 – Different Sources of Audience Recordings of the Charlottesville show (most of any show) available for download on bt.etree.org [via db.etree.org Source List]
8 – Most words in a song title (MMGAMOIO)

READ ON for more Phish Fall Tour stats…

Phish could be America’s most tolerant band, and if they’re not, I’d love to see the act that can top their patience. After all they’ve been through over the course of 26 years, that they can still laugh at the occasionally obnoxious antics of those who pay to see them is a testament to their fortitude.

[Photos by Esther Rodgers]

The quartet’s tour-closing show at the glistening new John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville featured, along with plenty of high-octane music, guitarist Trey Anastasio getting pelted with a glowstick and a naked person disrupting the show – things that would likely provoke a petulant frenzy from many artists of similar stature. Ever vigilant of the crowd’s mental temperature, even in a cavernous arena, the band turned the latter incident into another of their career’s many idiosyncratic touchstones, taking someone else’s very brief (and subsequently painful) moment in the limelight and shaping it into crowd-pleasing revelry.

Vermont’s most famous band ever displays the hardiness inherent in those who inhabit the frozen expanse of their home state, and they’ve applied a strong work ethic while knocking off the clumps of rust and ruin that followed their 2004 “breakup.” In 2009, Phish have steadily gotten their groove back. It’s been a slow process, like a springtime thaw, but the latter part of the Fall 2009 tour was awash in the sound and spectacle of a band finally starting to resemble their former, fantastic selves. After a three-night stand at Madison Square Garden, the band opted to close the two-and-a-half week tour in the relatively tiny town of Charlottesville, VA, near the town of Crozet, where their management company and merchandising outfit are headquartered.

READ ON for more from Bryan on the Charlottesville show…

The second season of the Elvis Costello-hosted Spectacle debuted this past Wednesday night on Sundance featuring special guests Bono and The Edge of U2. If you missed the debut, you

Ticket broker StubHub published their Concert Ticket Annual Report today and Phish is all over it. I recently started a Facebook fan page for my other blog, YEMblog, and I