Episode 1 — Analyze Phish

[admin 330]

Harris Wittels and Scott Aukerman are comedians, music lovers, and most importantly friends. Where do they differ? Harris loves Phish, and Scott couldn't care less. On Analyze Phish, Harris carefully navigates the vast landscape of Phish's catalogue to find possible entry points for Scott while trying to explain the live Phish experience without the use of illegal substances. Will he succeed? You'll have to listen to find out!

[astralweeks 1]

Sounds like a funtastic idea. Analyze Phish is a stone groove.

[CrustyDustReceptacle 154]

I really enjoyed this! As someone who wasn't very familiar with Phish beforehand, I tended to agree with Scott's view: instrumentally they are a pretty strong band, and the covers were very listenable, but their originals aren't really up to snuff. I can understand going to a show and just getting into the experience, but the songwriting and vocals kind of hold me back from enjoying the music on its own merits. That said, I legitimately liked what I heard of "You Enjoy Myself." As for the show itself, I think the very premise of spending an hour trying to convince one person to like a band is funny enough to get laughs out of even the moments of serious analysis. Scott and Harris have a great dynamic, am looking forward to the next installment.

[panzarotti 0]

I'm a huge Earwolf fan and was an even bigger Phish fan (66 shows since '96). But the presentation Harris made actually made me denounce the band. As I write this I'm sittIng quietly in a dark room sadly regretting all the time and money I've wasted on these horrible dirtbags over the years. On a brighter note, this podcast did turn me on to Spacehog. I can't wait to delve deeper into their catalog. Scott and Harris are hilarious as always and this is a super funny show. Well done.

[truthskull 109]

dearest earwolf and earwolf fans,
i would like to start a petition for the harris wittels takeover. a week of harris on every show... lets start working on the ideas here.
-apple sisters - carl, father of jack, from carls lumber
-cbb - always gold in them hills
-eardrop - this seems to already be a phone corner
-challenge - a guest judge, right?
-who charted - he needs to unseat brody as the return guest champion

what could be done with the other shows? come on wolfers, let us herald the takeover of our champion harris!

[truthskull 109]

oh, glitter in the garbage, i feel like this is the place the first foam corner might actually happen

[Whocares 2]

Deodato

[blingram 0]

As a Phish fan and Harris fan, I loved this episode. Phish is incredibly polarizing. You either like it or you don't. I don't think there are very many casual Phish fans. I think it should be noted that Phish is pretty easily mockable, and Harris does a good job of not taking it too seriously. But really Harris, no Antelope?!? Earwolf Presents is another solid idea!

[Whocares 2]

Just give Aukerman a copy of "A Picture of Nectar" and be done with Harris being a terrible defender of the band. That album also has a studio version of a cover: Manteca

[linderstorm 0]

I'm a pretty big Phish fan -- I've seen them around 50 times since '03 -- and have just started to get into Earwolf/CBB, so I was quite eager to give this episode a shot. Listened this AM and was pleasantly surprised - needless to say, I've had similar experiences trying to convince my own friends to get into Phish. Fortunately, when I tried this task, I didn't have to shoehorn sprawling songs and jams into 60-90 second chunks.

My suggestions for round two: more of the "heavy hitters" with good jams. Stick to good sound quality/SBD recordings - live stuff that was officially released. Try Mike's Groove from Slip Stich and Pass; LivePhish 1 (Binghamton 95) Suzy, Llama, Tweezer>Timber>Tweezer; Camden 99 Chalkdust; anything from the Island Tour; Japan '00; Nassau Feb '03.

Also, for what it's worth, Carrie Brownstein (formerly of Sleater Kinney and NPR; now of Portlandia fame) tried a similar experiment a few years ago on her NPR blog. As a Phish-hater, she listened to nothing but the band for a week to see if she could change her mind. There's about ten posts in this series, and it starts here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/07/how_i_stopped_worrying_and_lea.html

[jughead 189]

That was Awesome! I could have easily listened to another hour of this show. I am not a Phish fan and Scott pretty much nailed everything that I was thinking when listening to their songs. I don't get it either, its basically 70's hippy funk music. I don't even see how you could compare Phish to P funk?

[ragnar 23]

Just starting to listen to this now, I love the concept and hope you continue to produce episodes where somebody tries to convince someone to enjoy something whether its a band, movie, whatever

[calreesian 0]

Go with Farmhouse next time. Most people I know hate Phish but still dig Farmhouse.

[misscritta 0]

It has been my experience that you either really love Phish or you really hate Phish. I really love them, so I think that this is awesome and I can't wait for the next installment. Farmhouse is my favorite studio album, but I will agree that I typically only listen to live shows. For an awesome mix of traditional Phish plus a cover, can I suggest the Harpua/Killing in the Name of/Harpua from Alpharetta, GA July 4, 2010? It might just be special to me since I was there and the place went BANANAS during it.

[Mister 21]

I think the best part of this show is how much of a stretch the title is.

[Merick 28]

So is Earwolf Presents its own podcast that doesn't have a set schedule and has guest hosts doing whatever they want, or is it an umbrella term for multiple Earwolf podcasts, of which Analyze Phish is one?

[Sloshed Auckerphan 0]

I really enjoyed this show and hope there are more episodes in the future. I too saw Phish for the first time in 1999 and I've been a fan ever since. However, Harris has me wondering if I've been wrong this whole time. Even though I truly enjoy Harris, he is awful at the art of persuasion. If he did a show about his love of breathing, the listeners would be convinced to hate oxygen and end up suffocating themselves before the end of the show. If he worked as a hostage negotiator, every situation he worked would end up with the terrorist(s) being convinced to take more hostages and kill them as quick as possible. That said, I loved the show and hope there is more.

[CarolineEAnd 41]

@Matt Both, if that makes sense. Scott kind of explains it in the video, but it's a way to classify one-off podcasts, special events, and more. They will each be individual podcasts with their own identities.

[Julia 477]

So I was not really familiar with Phish before listening to this episode. I think I'm in the same boat as Scott for the moment. The jury's still out on this band (for me.)
P.S. Artsy fans need to attempt to make something that says: "No shirt. No shoes. No cell phone service."

[cakebob 2]

It's been awhile since I listened to Phish and it seemed like every jam Harris played sounded like the generic jam band music from the hippie episode of South Park. One more episode and Scott will triumph, and all that Harris will be able to do is succumb to that slow procession into Jazz that all adults must face.

[ComedyGangBang 88]

I think you should scrap Earwolf Presents and just do Analyze Phish, every week.

[Pops 0]

Chalkdust! If he doesn't like that, he doesn't like good rock. Down with Disease, Tweezer, Free, even Axilla would work, too. I'd say away from the gay stuff (Caspian, Squirming Coil).

[tomaccosheep 0]

This an impromptu Phish cover of Hanson's "Mmmbop." They don't know the words, so they just sing James Brown style. The track is mislabelled as being by "Real Big Fish," just ignore that.

http://hypem.com/item/mkva/Reel+Big+Fish+-+MmmBop+(Hanson+cover)

[aboutmattlaw 0]

Can Harris post the track lists (with show dates) for his clip CDs?

[ekennedy 0]

I enjoy the show (but not Phish). I'd like it if you could play the original tracks for comparison before the Phish versions.