Phish Monday July 3, 2000 - California Aggie By Jeff Speckels Album Review - Farmhouse Rating: A- Phish is renowned for their live performances. In concert, each Phish song expands, bubbling over with musical ideas and passionate exploration. As a result, many of Phish's proper album songs serve as jumping off points rather than reflections on any finished statements. Ever since the release of 1994's Hoist, Phish's studio albums have become more concise and radio friendly, allowing more and more people to enter the fold as Phish fanatics. Each of the songs on their new album, Farmhouse, is aimed at bringing more folks into the Phish family, while simultaneously pleasing the converted. Farmhouse was recorded - fittingly - at guitarist Trey Anastasio's new barn/studio in Vermont over the past winter. More laid back than most of their previous albums, Farmhouse still maintains their rock sensibilities and their affection for goofy wordplay. Wearing their Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, and Frank Zappa influences on their sleeves, Phish give reverence on "Gotta Jibboo," the smirking cousin of 1998's "The Moma Dance," and the title track with its "everything is gonna be alright" refrain. Other standout cuts include the delicate instrumental, "The Inlaw Josie Wales," and the rolling propulsion of the terrific "Back On The Train." The most Phish-like moments come on the bouncing "Twist" and the gradually flowering "Piper," which sounds like a tag at the end of a 20-minute jam. Farmhouse, like most of Phish's recent studio albums, should be taken as a set of starting points that the band is set to explore over the summer in front of their faithful cadre of concert attendees. It is an album that grows warmer with repeated listens and should satiate the hungry Phish fan and the new recruit alike.