Welcome to the 326th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the third of May. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the songs and dates of the two mystery clips. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!

Hint:

Answer: Congrats to @jimsleftear, who once again made fantastic use of his good ear in cracking this week's MJM and correctly identifying the 12/1/03 "Tweezer" and the 10/9/99 "Ghost" for his fourth win. As discussed in the comments section below, this week's hint was a picture of an Albanian Jam (you can tell by clicking the link because it has the word "Albania" in it), as a reference to the fact that this week's jams were Albanian Jams – both were played at Pepsi Arena (fka Knickerbocker Arena / cka Times Union Center) in Albany, NY, the site of the Fall Tour opener and a favorite of @wumbo, who once again designed and mixed this week's clips. Next week we'll step the difficulty up once more with a triple clipper for MJM327: after all, 3³ is 27. See you Tuesday!

@wforwumbo applies machine learning to binaural hearing theory, and is putting the finishing touches on his doctorate in architectural acoustics this summer. His research focuses on the effects that a room has on performed music and how we perceive sound in space – he does so by building computational models that simulate and extend human hearing. He is also a classically-trained musician and an electrical engineer with a keen interest in digital audio signal processing; he designs and implements filters and transforms to manipulate audio, which he brings to his studio production and mixing engineering work. His obsession with audio doesn’t end there though, as he has recently ventured into the tapers’ section to record live music. Thankfully for us at Phish.net HQ, @wforwumbo is a huge fan of Phish and Phish.net, and has begun contributing to the site, both working to expand and improve the Jam Charts and helping to craft (and remix!) Mystery Jam Monday puzzles. Today, he will kick off a new regular blog series, “From the Tapers’ Section,” wherein he will draw from several different parts of his massive toolkit to not only bring Phish fans brand new mixes of audience recordings from classic Phish shows, but he’ll also share both his deep technical knowledge and discerning musical perspectives of the shows and the recordings thereof. - @ucpete

Drawing from my experience as both a live taper and a studio production engineer, I frequently manipulate my back catalog of live Phish tapes to my personal preference on reference listening systems. I have spent lots of time working with studio tools; it’s a labor of love, always trying to craft and sculpt sound - to let the tape get out of the way between me and the music. I do want to make one thing explicitly clear here: I am not the definitive voice. I am not touting that these are the “correct” way to listen to shows. I’m not even claiming that these will be preferable to your current tape of a show. Because at the end of the day, the sole rule of “good” audio is that only YOU can decide what sounds best. In fact, that’s the most important bit of advice I give to everyone when they ask me about audio: trust your ears. My tastes may not be the same as yours, and that’s okay - there’s plenty of room for all of us in the fan base.

Now with that being said, one intent of this taping series is to encourage the distribution and usage of audience-recorded tapes (“AUDs”). Tape trading has an incredibly rich and storied history, and is a large part of why many of us are into Phish. One of my favorite endeavors in digging through my catalog of tapes is comparing two different recordings and correlating their strengths and weaknesses to my personal preferences. This furthers my taping and production work by thinking about how to capture and manipulate sound, including the layouts, techniques, and gear that I use. To me, it’s lots of fun to think about and understand the intricacies of a given microphone and preamp, the recording location inside of a venue, or what experience I want from a tape (immersion? stereo image? frequency balance? more Mike? etc.). This blog series is in part an attempt to share my notes and thoughts on specific tapes to highlight different aspects of a show that you might not have heard before.

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Beyond the Pond is a bi-weekly podcast in which Brian Brinkman (@sufferingjuke) and David Goldstein (@daveg924) use the music of Phish as a gateway to introduce the listener to many other bands, the vast majority of which are not jambands. An episode generally begins with a deep dive into a designated portion of Phish improvisation, and then can spin off to any variety of musical themes and other acts, the overarching purpose being introducing the listener to as many new and different bands as possible.

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Welcome to the 325th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the second of May. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the songs and dates of the two mystery clips. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!

Answer: Congrats to multiple Jam Charts contributor @HarborSeal, who pulled his third MJM win while reminding us he's one of the most interesting men in the world. This week he insta-identified the 12/7/99 "Halley's Comet," and after some poking around the setlists, realized that Jennifer Dances to the 7/27/14 "Tweezer." Thanks to @wumbo for his fine puzzle and finer mixing work – to hear more of and about his jawdropping audio production skills, check out the first post of our new series: "From the Tapers' Section." Stop by soon for MJM326, when the number of clips remains constant, but the difficulty takes the next step.

Beyond the Pond is a bi-weekly podcast in which Brian Brinkman (@sufferingjuke) and David Goldstein (@daveg924) use the music of Phish as a gateway to introduce the listener to many other bands, the vast majority of which are not jambands. An episode generally begins with a deep dive into a designated portion of Phish improvisation, and then can spin off to any variety of musical themes and other acts, the overarching purpose being introducing the listener to as many new and different bands as possible.

Read more...

Welcome to the 324th edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the first* and easiest of May. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of the mystery clip. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one answers correctly in the first 24 hours, I'll post a hint. After the hint, everyone gets one more guess before Wednesday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. Good luck!

*Reminder: For the first MJM of each month, only folks who have never won an MJM are allowed to answer before the hint. If you have never won an MJM, please answer as a blog comment below. If you have previously won an MJM, but you'd like to submit a guess beforethe hint, you may do so by PMing me; once the hint has been posted, everyone should answer on the blog. If that's confusing to you, check out the handy decision tree I threw together to help guide you. If you're not sure if you've won before, check in the MJM Results spreadsheet linked below.

Answer: Congrats to @patper on his first MJM win! As has become typical around these parts, it didn't take the winner too long to figure out this week's jam: the DEG-infused 5/9/92 "Tweezer," played 26 years ago today. MJM325 in five...

[Fyi. You do NOT have to be a student in order to register for this class. It's open to all. -charlie]

Now you can READ THE BOOK and take the field trip!

For the fifth summer in a row, Dr. Stephanie Jenkins will teach the “Philosophy School of Phish” course—more formally called the “Philosophy of Art and Music”—via Oregon State University’s Ecampus program. Using the band as a case study, the course focuses on themes about the nature and significance of art and music. As part of their required course work, students attend three Phish concerts—in person or via webcast—and conduct philosophical interviews with artists from the Phish community. Learning about theories of art and music experientially helps students actively engage with the philosophical content and learn more about the Phish community.

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This week we're thrilled to have author and podcaster Steven Hyden back on the show, this time to talk about his new book, Twilight of the Gods. There's a lot of Phish content and conversation. It comes out on May 8, but you can pre-order it now. We highly recommend this book. This is part 1 of our conversation with Steven, part 2 will come out in 2 weeks.

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Welcome to the 323rd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the final and most difficult puzzle of April. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of these three mystery clips, which are connected by a theme that needn't be part of the correct answer. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. After the hint, each person gets one more guess before the contest ends Wednesday, and the winner announced shortly thereafter. Good luck!

Answer: Congrats to @shelfofpregnanthens who so stupendously crushed what I thought to be a difficult MJM – thanks to @WayIFeel for the sweet puzzle, and thanks to @wforwumbo for making the recordings sound even sweeter. @shelfofpregnanthens knew right away that this MJM reeked of August '93, and made it look as easy as 1-2-3 in identifying the 8/11/93 "Stash," the 8/12/93 "Reba," and the 8/13/93 "Llama," three jams from three consecutive shows on one of Phishest earliest famous months. That's two wins for him now. Speaking of easy: check out MJM324 Monday!

Beyond the Pond is a bi-weekly podcast in which Brian Brinkman (@sufferingjuke) and David Goldstein (@daveg924) use the music of Phish as a gateway to introduce the listener to many other bands, the vast majority of which are not jambands. An episode generally begins with a deep dive into a designated portion of Phish improvisation, and then can spin off to any variety of musical themes and other acts, the overarching purpose being introducing the listener to as many new and different bands as possible.

Read more...

Welcome to the 322nd edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the penultimate April contest. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of these three mystery clips, which are connected by a theme that needn't be part of the correct answer. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. After the hint, each person gets one more guess before the contest ends Wednesday, and the winner announced shortly thereafter. Good luck!

Answer: Congrats to @ChemistryChris who synthesized his first MJM by quickly identifying this week's Japan 2000 theme (h/t to @wforwumbo for the puzzle and slick EQing work once again) in identifying the 6/10/00 "Down with Disease," the 6/15/00 "Ghost," and the 6/16/00 "Limb by Limb." Next week will be the most challenging of the month, where I have a feeling we'll crown another MJM Emeritus for MJM323.

On Tuesday, October 23, 1984, in the garage of a house on 69 Grant Street, the band performed what is believed to be their first gig (so billed as Phish). We know that “Makisupa Policeman” was played, but that’s about it. The setlist is incomplete. Hell, even the date—while possibly correct—might have been a few days earlier, or a couple of days later. Not that this much matters. What seems to be certain, however, is that “Makisupa Policeman” is the first known Phish composition publicly performed. And this is significant.

As Phish.net’s “Makisupa Policeman” song historian Jeremy Goodwin explains, the song’s rather elemental lyrics were penned by Tom Marshall in grammar school – circa 1969 – a fact which prompted Trey, during the Philly segment of the band’s 2003 Anniversary Tour, to cite “Makisupa” as Phish’s “original” song.

The surprising reality of a Phish song “written” in the halcyon heydays of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix has prompted Trey to dub “Makisupa” as Phish’s “60’s” song, though those familiar with the tune and its pseudo-reggae stylings are quick to point not to Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix, but, rather, to Bob Marley and Bunny Livingstion, musicians slowly giving rise to what is often considered the new reggae movement.

The origin of the distinctive word at the heart of the song – ostensibly an imaginary place name – comes, Goodwin notes, from the distant memories of Tom’s early childhood. He took to issuing a singular nickname to all of his older sister’s boyfriends, of whom he was in awe due to their perceived coolness (based largely on the music they listened to and the occasional guitar-strumming ability). The inscrutable nickname was “Macky.” He penned these words while writing a song with childhood chum Chris LaRiche: “Hey Macky Super Policeman.” Years later, Trey misheard the first two words as one, and “Makisupa” was coined. Although this tidbit – recounted many years after the fact – seems in fact to be a genuine recollection, one should take note that Tom has provided fallacious explanations for lyrics many times in the past, seemingly as a form of sport.

What can be documented, however, are those keywords that Trey has incorporated during live performances of the song. Today, thanks to the tireless volunteer efforts of Phish.net users Dave M. (@doglogin) and Jam Charts Guru @raidcehlalred, with the help of Phish.net tech whiz and content junkie Pete Skewes-Cox (@ucpete), we are pleased to announce precisely that: the first (to our knowledge) document containing every one of the so-called “keywords” (or perhaps, more accurately, “key phrases”). And what better day to announce the “Makisupa Policeman Keyword Chart” than on April 20^th?

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As a follow up to the previous news posted here on Phish.net, this week HF Pod interviews Jeff Goldberg, a professional audio technician, archivist, and engineer who recently remastered two Phish shows that were previously unreleased and unavailable to the community (4/8/90 and 4/8/92).

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Welcome to the 321st edition of Phish.Net's Mystery Jam Monday, the middle of five April contests. The winner will receive an MP3 download code courtesy of our friends at LivePhish.com / Nugs.Net. To win, be the first person to identify the song and date of these three mystery clips, which are connected by a theme that needn't be part of the correct answer. Each person gets one guess to start – if no one guesses correctly, I will post a hint on Tuesday around 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. After the hint, each person gets one more guess before the contest ends Wednesday, and the winner announced shortly thereafter. Good luck!

Hint: HERE

Answer: Congrats to @jimsleftear, who used the hint to easily track down this week's theme and jams that fit – the 6/18/10 "Tweezer," the 12/8/99 "Down with Disease," and the 10/21/95 "David Bowie," all played in shows during which the band played "Tweezer Reprise" twice. That's three wins for @jimsleftear – he's definitely got at least one good ear. Stay tuned for MJM322, when a couple folks strive for emeritus status while others play the spoiler.

Beyond the Pond is a bi-weekly podcast in which Brian Brinkman (@sufferingjuke) and David Goldstein (@daveg924) use the music of Phish as a gateway to introduce the listener to many other bands, the vast majority of which are not jambands. An episode generally begins with a deep dive into a designated portion of Phish improvisation, and then can spin off to any variety of musical themes and other acts, the overarching purpose being introducing the listener to as many new and different bands as possible.

Read more...