Phish - Farmhouse May 18, 2000 - Student.com By Kristi Kates Album Review - Farmhouse Farmhouse, Phish's eleventh album, gives Trey Anastasio and friends a chance at wider acceptance. It's all about vibe for Vermont hometown heroes Phish. Hot on the heels of yet another long touring season (the band grossed over $27 million in road cash in 1999), vocalist Trey Anastasio and crew were ready to record again last October. But Phish certainly wasn't looking forward to the constraints of studio recording. Enter Anastasio's refurbished 150-year old barn near Burlington — the "farmhouse" in the title of Phish's latest album. Surrounded by familiarity, friends, and probably some Ben & Jerry's Phish food, a more focused recording environment would've been hard to find. Focused is a good word for Farmhouse. Confident, cohesive, and positive, the disc opens up with the invitational line "Welcome, this is a farmhouse." Things go uphill from there. The title track "Farmhouse," with its personal appreciation of all things suburban and organic ("I never ever saw the Northern Lights / I never really heard of cluster flies"), is an immediately likeable track, even if you're not a rabid Phish phan. "Twist" is curvy indeed, opening with a vocalization of a bass line that almost sounds like a husky-voiced Dave Matthews. The chorus is practically a campfire round, with a trilogy of copycat, call-and-response vocal lines. Then, interestingly, the song begins to fade out, leaving Anastasio to sing part of the refrain a capella over unintelligible background noise. It's as if he's strolling about a party with a good buzz on, casually singing to himself. Songs like "Bug" and "Back on the Train" channel Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, while the catchy "Heavy Things," Farmhouse's lead single, is already getting airplay for its toe-tapping, poppy sensibility and chugging drum track. "Gotta Jibboo" is similar, with its silly and bouncy "Iko Iko" feel. "Dirt," another standout number, begins with echoey whistling and weaves Anastasio's vocals with beautifully orchestrated strings, pensive lyrics, and call-and-response backing vocals. "I'd like to live beneath the dirt," he sings, "where I'd be free from push and shove / like all those swarming up above." There's a nifty variety of tunes on Farmhouse, each with its own uniqueness. Cheers from a live audience open "Piper," a full-force Phish jam that keeps the melody intact through its celebratory piano and cacophony of different sounds. "Sleep" features acoustic guitar grounded by beautiful Simon and Garfunkel-esque vocals, while the funky "Sand" begins with electronic babbles and odd vocalizations that quickly give way to Anastasio's studio-tweaked, dried-out (dare we say sandy?) sounding vocals. Two instrumentals complete Farmhouse: the lovely, if oddly-named, "The Inlaw Josie Wales," which features Bela Fleck on banjo; and the album's closing track, the nearly seven-minute-long "First Tube," which features unexpected timing choices and holds a vague resemblence to the James Bond theme. Although it's as infectious and groove-oriented as Phish's earlier records, Farmhouse is quite a catch. Co-produced by Anastasio and Bryce Goggin (Spacehog, Pavement), Farmhouse's arrangements are concise and crafty, and the songs are catchy and cool, with echoes of not only the Grateful Dead, but also Widespread Panic and Miles Davis. It's nice to see Phish pushing its musical limits and raising its own bar of accomplishment without pushing aside their legions of loyal fans. You've gotta respect the band for not only its collective craft, talent and experimentation, but also its willingness to reach out and attract a wider audience.