Round Room January 10, 2003 - The Oregonian By Staff Album Review - Round Room When members of a band known for stretching out stretch out even further into solo works -- as the Phish foursome did in 2000 -- the question when they reunite is what shape they'll shrink back into. Led by principal songwriter and guitarist Trey Anastasio, the always-elastic kings of jam spontaneously combusted in October in a fast four-day recording session that produced the surprisingly hackneyed "Round Room," which sounds melodically and lyrically akin to Little Feat sound-tracking the faeries of "Two Towers" under water. While the rush allowed for some of the band's most heroically complex elongations (the beatific intro to "Pebbles and Marbles," the rhythmically shifting time signatures of "Walls of the Cave," the intertwined vocal harmonies of "Seven Below"), it left little time for quality songwriting and singing. Like Great-Grandpa's stories, bassist Mike Gordon's tunes are sweetly whimsical but boring. And though there's a lo-fi funk to Anastasio's "Mexican Cousin" and "46 Days" that signifies something raucous is afoot, they sound like demos cut by Lowell George's doppelganger. Trey should give them back and find a focus worthy of "Round's" instrumental bliss. -- A.D. Amorosi The Philadelphia Inquirer Country LIVING OUT LOUD Aaron Lines Copyright © 2003 The Oregonian