Double Lives

We're wrapping up the season with two-parter on Phish's 1995 double CD 'A Live One', recorded from their 1994 summer and fall tour. James and Dan dive full into disc 1 on this episode, talking about what makes Phish not only a unique live band, but a unique live-album band. How do you even capture the phenomenon of one of THE live bands of our time on a CD, especially in the mid 90s, as the band was growing rapidly along with their devoted fanbase? Dan and James go deep on one of their favorite bands, with "minimal trivial diversions".

There are more Aretha Franklin live records out there than most bands have in their entire catalogs. Why this one? James and Dan get wowed not only by the Queen of Soul's not-of-this-world vocals, but by the fiery performance from King Curtis and the Kingpins, backed the Memphis Horns. Whether it's her superior takes on a few classic hits of the day, her own hits, or Aretha's gospel-steeped crowd work, there's a lot to talk about on this record that doesn't even clock in at an hour.

There was no band bigger, no band greater, and no band that represented Canada better than The Tragically Hip. Their 1997 live album (the only full length live LP they ever put out) is both a snapshot of a band fully embracing their role in Canadian music, and a full-of-energy artifact of what the band could offer every night onstage. James and Dan talk about the late poet/frontman Gord Downie and his antics, the band's massive popularity in their home nation (while never really making a big splash in the US), and the evolution of The Hip from a solid barroom blues band to stadium kings.

In the 90s, there was no other group like Portishead. And there is no live album from the modern rock era that swings for the fences like this one, and pulls it off as beautifully. James and Dan both cite this album, the band, and the accompanying concert film as life changing for them as late teens, and they talk about the brilliant use of orchestration for an otherwise sample-heavy band, the delicacy of dynamics, and Beth Gibbons' haunting vocal range.

In Part 2, we slide disc 2 of 'Living In Clip' into the player for more great live Ani Difranco. James and Dan get more into Ani as a lyricist, some of her classic folk singer moves, her work with Utah Phillips, what she means to the LGBTQ community, and more hilarious onstage banter. They wrap up by answering the question: Should this be the only Ani record you own?