I feel like I need to make all sorts of excuses for posting something related to the Grateful Dead as they seem to be the one band permanently barred from hipster/music snob appreciation. I don't think you're even allowed to like them ironically. I never thought they were the greatest band on the planet, but they're not the worst, either. LiveDead is a magnificent album, American Beauty is a ramshackle gem, and other than those two I'm pretty "meh".
This, however, is a magic mushroom of a different color. John Oswald (a way early proponent of the mashup) took twenty years worth of live recordings of the Dead's signature song Dark Star, fed them into his computer, twisted, sliced, folded, and did all sorts of unnatural things to them, and spit out a two hour version that was simultaneously something created by the Dead, but unlike anything they had ever played. Guitar solos from the 60s float atop drums from the 80s. A Chorus of a hundred Garcias are layered into infinity. At other times his voice starts a line, only to stretch out a single note until it melts into the sonic tapestry. It's deep and spacey and, in places, transcendently beautiful. At various times I'm reminded of Hovercraft, Yume Bitsu, Emeralds, and any number of recent, underground, psychedelic tape releases. If you enjoy any combination of turning off your mind, relaxing, or floating downstream, it's worth a listen.
Transitive Axis
Mirror Ashes
Listen to Grayfolded online
John Oswald online
This, however, is a magic mushroom of a different color. John Oswald (a way early proponent of the mashup) took twenty years worth of live recordings of the Dead's signature song Dark Star, fed them into his computer, twisted, sliced, folded, and did all sorts of unnatural things to them, and spit out a two hour version that was simultaneously something created by the Dead, but unlike anything they had ever played. Guitar solos from the 60s float atop drums from the 80s. A Chorus of a hundred Garcias are layered into infinity. At other times his voice starts a line, only to stretch out a single note until it melts into the sonic tapestry. It's deep and spacey and, in places, transcendently beautiful. At various times I'm reminded of Hovercraft, Yume Bitsu, Emeralds, and any number of recent, underground, psychedelic tape releases. If you enjoy any combination of turning off your mind, relaxing, or floating downstream, it's worth a listen.
Transitive Axis
Mirror Ashes
Listen to Grayfolded online
John Oswald online
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1 Blurt:
thank you
Blurt!