Farmhouse (album)

Farmhouse is the ninth studio album by the American rock band Phish. The album was released on May 16, 2000, by Elektra Records. Farmhouse was the last Phish studio album before their two-year hiatus between October 2000 and December 2002.

Farmhouse
Studio album by
Phish
ReleasedMay 16, 2000
Recorded
  • July 18, 1999 ("Piper")
  • October 1999 – February 2000
Studio
Genre
Length49:34
LabelElektra
ProducerBryce Goggin, Trey Anastasio
Phish chronology
The Siket Disc
(1999)		 Farmhouse
(2000)		 Round Room
(2002)
Singles from Farmhouse
  1. "Heavy Things"
    Released: 2000

The album's first single, "Heavy Things", was one of Phish's most successful radio hits; it was the band's only song to appear on a mainstream pop radio format, reaching #29 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart that July.[4] The song also became the band's biggest hit to date on the Adult Alternative Songs chart, reaching #2 there.[5] The song had previously been performed for live broadcast during the overnight set of Phish's New Year's Eve 2000 show at Big Cypress as part of ABC's coverage of New Year's festivities around the globe.[6]

Owing in part to the mainstream exposure of "Heavy Things", Farmhouse had the highest-ever first week sales for a Phish record.[7] The album was certified gold by RIAA on January 30, 2006.

Production

Songwriting for Farmhouse was a joint effort between Trey Anastasio and Phish lyricist Tom Marshall, with contributions from Tony Markellis, Russ Lawton and Scott Herman. All of the songs were already part of Phish's live concert song rotation before being recorded for the album, some dating back to 1997. The tracks were recorded at The Barn, frontman Trey Anastasio's studio in Chittenden County, Vermont. The introduction to "Piper" is an extract from the band's live performance of the song on July 18, 1999, at their Camp Oswego Festival in Volney, New York.[8] There is also a Japanese version of the album available as an import which include two bonus studio out-take tracks from the Farmhouse recording sessions which are "Driver" and "Mist" (sometimes referred to as "Mountains in the Mist"). These two songs are currently not available in any format online by Phish although as of December 2018 it can be purchased in its original CD format on Amazon.com and possibly elsewhere for about twice the price of the standard version of the album.

Early incarnations of several tracks from the album can be heard on the 2000 release Trampled by Lambs and Pecked by the Dove, a collection of song sketches and demos recorded by Anastasio and Marshall.

The song "First Tube" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.[9]

In February 2009, the album was made available as a download in FLAC and MP3 formats at LivePhish.com.

A new 2-LP vinyl version of the album was announced on May 31, 2023, for an official release on June 30, 2023, sourced from the original 1/2" master reels.[10] The original version of the record on vinyl was on one single LP, sourced from digital.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]
Jambands: The Complete Guide to the Players, Music, & Scene[13]
Entertainment WeeklyB[3] / B+[14]
Los Angeles Times[1]
Q[15]
Rolling Stone[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[16]
Spin7/10[17]
The Village VoiceB−[18]

Farmhouse received mainly positive reviews. Jason Ankeny of AllMusic praised the album as Phish's "rootsiest and most organic effort to date... [and] also their most fully developed – these are complete, concise songs and not simply outlines for extended jams, boasting a beauty and intimacy which expands the group's scope even as it serves notice of a newfound pop accessibility."[11]

Rolling Stone's Jon Pareles, however, gave Farmhouse a mediocre rating of only 2.5 stars. The review states that on the album the band walks "a thin line between mellow and torpid" with songs that "are going to need a lot of live (concert) resuscitation".[2]

Track listing
Farmhouse
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Farmhouse"Trey Anastasio, Tom Marshall4:02
2."Twist"Anastasio, Marshall3:24
3."Bug"Anastasio, Marshall5:07
4."Back on the Train"Anastasio, Marshall3:02
5."Heavy Things"Anastasio, Scott Herman, Marshall4:15
6."Gotta Jibboo"Anastasio, Russ Lawton, Tony Markellis5:31
7."Dirt"Anastasio, Herman, Marshall4:32
8."Piper"Anastasio, Marshall4:27
9."Sleep"Anastasio, Marshall2:09
10."The Inlaw Josie Wales"Anastasio2:56
11."Sand"Anastasio, Lawton, Markellis, Marshall3:24
12."First Tube"Anastasio, Lawton, Markellis6:45
Total length:49:34

Charting singles
2000, Heavy Things (No. 22, Adult Top 40)

Personnel

Phish

Additional musicians[19]

  • Jerry Douglas – dobro on "The Inlaw Josie Wales"
  • John Dunlop – cello on "Dirt"
  • Roy Feldman – viola on "Dirt"
  • Béla Fleck – banjo on "The Inlaw Josie Wales"
  • Dave Grippo – saxophone on "Gotta Jibboo"
  • David Gusakov – violin on "Dirt"
  • Jennifer Hartswick – trumpet on "Gotta Jibboo"
  • James Harvey – trombone on "Gotta Jibboo"
  • Laura Markowitz – violin on "Dirt"
  • Andy Moroz – trombone on "Gotta Jibboo"

References
  1. Lewis, Randy (May 12, 2000). "Phish Delivers a Stew of Americana". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  2. Pareles, Jon (May 25, 2000). "Phish: Farmhouse". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  3. Brunner, Rob (May 19, 2000). "Farmhouse". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  4. "Phish Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  5. "Phish Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  6. Phish.net Song History: Heavy Things Phish.net. Online. Accessed: September 1, 2011.
  7. Phish.net: Farmhouse Phish.net. Online. Accessed: September 1, 2011.
  8. "Jul 18, 1999 Setlist - Phish.net". phish.net. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  9. 52nd Annual Grammy Nominations Phish.com. Online. Accessed: September 6, 2011.
  10. "Phish 'Farmhouse' 2-LP Vinyl Pre-Order". 31 May 2023.
  11. Ankeny, Jason. "Farmhouse – Phish". AllMusic. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  12. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Phish". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  13. Budnick, Dean (2003). Jambands: The Complete Guide to the Players, Music, & Scene. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 166. ISBN 9780879307455.
  14. Hermes, Will (August 4, 2000). "Phish albums". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  15. "Phish: Farmhouse". Q. No. 166. September 2000. p. 105.
  16. Randall, Mac (2004). "Phish". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 635–36. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  17. Dolan, Jon (June 2000). "Hippie Trails". Spin. Vol. 16, no. 6. pp. 147–48. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  18. Christgau, Robert (May 23, 2000). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  19. "Farmhouse credits". Phish.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
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