Voraciously Alternate Wednesday Playlist

So I listened to set II of 2/20/93 yesterday, the centerpiece of the "Phish At The Roxy" eight-disc release. And I was transported back, not to the show I didn't attend, but to the hubbub about that show on my first Home On The Web, rec.music.phish.

Of course, most of the things that make that set so remarkable appeal pretty exclusively to nerds who obsessed over every set list, in-joke, song tease, and recitation of Kung. I absolutely don't blame the majority of humans who have nothing but baffled disdain for the music of this band and the people who enjoy it. But for the happily afflicted, this set remains a delicious Rosetta Stone of improvisational breakneck chop suey.

Back in those neolithic days of the Internets, sharing music meant checking in on USENET and organizing or joining a tape tree. Or arranging a generous blanks and postage deal. Or using rec.music.phish to identify like-minded local individuals and hosting taping parties. It was a golden age of income for the Maxell Corporation and a nascent offering from the US Postal Service called Priority Mail.

And the kids of today wantonly slosh dozens of gigabytes of HD-quality concert video up and down the pipes, complaining bitterly when an audio spectral analysis reveals someone performed some minor tinkering with a recording before seeding.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Reba and Harry Hood from the set in question are still not streamable in Rhapsody, so for today's playlist purposes we'll just highlight the middle segment.

Voraciously Alternate Wednesday Playlist [Rhapsody Online Version]

Voraciously Alternate Wednesday Playlist [Rhapsody Player Software Version]

Glide
Mike's Song
I Am Hydrogen
Weekapaug Groove
Fast Enough For You