Phish - Farmhouse May 15, 2000 - Michigan Daily By Chris Kula Album Review - Farmhouse Farmhouse, Phish's first studio release since the fall of 1998, kicked off the summer record season back in May, and even with a full four months to absorb the new album, I'm still a little mixed on it. The disc starts beautifully with the reworked title track (the subtle vocal reprise at the end is one of the album's hidden gems), and the four/five/six block of the country-fried boogie "Get Back on the Train," the poppy "Heavy Things" and the horn-inflected "Gotta Jiboo" is excellent. The guest spot by banjoist Bela Fleck and dobro guru Jerry Douglas on "The Inlaw Josie Wales" is also notable. But after the first six tracks, instead of continuing on with a coherent vision ala 1996's majestic Billy Breathes, Farmhouse sort of tails off into a rough-hewn patchwork of unrelated songs. And that's not to say that tracks like the light ballad "Dirt" and the trance-dance "First Tube" aren't good tunes: they're well-played and well-produced, they're just not well-placed on the album. Groove hard through those first six tracks, and then throw in the live tapefrom 12-6-97 at the Palace. Grade: B-