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The String Cheese Incident
Untying the Not
(SCI Fidelity)
First Appeared at The Music Box,
October 2003, Volume 10, #10
Written by John Metzger
As if to forewarn fans that its latest effort Untying the Not is
something completely different, The String Cheese Incident co-opted the pig
utilized by Pink Floyd on its 1977 tour and sent it soaring over the crowd
during its album release party at the Austin City Limits Festival. In borrowing
one of the most recognized icons in the history of rock ’n‘ roll, the group made
a bold, determined statement to the world that it’s moved far away from being a
typical jam band. Fortunately, its new suite of songs lives up to this promise.
Not unlike the artistic creations of Pink Floyd, Untying the Not is
constructed around two distinct, but cohesive, album sides, and each is full of
strange twists and turns that are quite different from anything The String
Cheese Incident has ever released. As evidenced by the Irish reel-turned-techno
groove of Valley of the Jig, the bluegrass-infused bent of its prior
efforts is now buried within something greater, and with the help of producer
Youth (The Orb, The Verve), the band uses a variegated sonic playground to
bend its music in prismatic and psychedelically pleasing ways. Spoken word
segments by Chet Helms, Carolyn Garcia, Julia Butterfly Hill, and others are
grafted onto the instrumental overtures, drifting invitingly over the hypnotic
terrain. Indeed, Untying the Not is the re-emergence of the proverbial
"headphone album," as ethereal wisps of sound skitter freely about the sometimes
soothing, sometimes eerie, ambient passages.
Lyrically, The String Cheese Incident continues to develop the themes that
connected the songs on its previous effort Outside Inside, expanding upon
the concepts of life, death, and spiritual rebirth with the affirmable hippie
vibrations of peace, love, and harmony. There’s a touch of reggae and a
splattering of jazz; there’s the jam quotient of Phish, a hint of The Beatles,
and the rock ’n‘ roll bravado of The Who; and all of it is rolled together to
formulate a delectable dish of life-affirming social consciousness.
Without question, The String Cheese Incident has matured considerably over
the past few years, and Untying the Not continues the band’s growth and
demonstrates its intense zeal. Its always been an eclectic ensemble, and the
songs it has covered in concert frequently have been mined like gold nuggets
from the pantheon of rock, folk, jazz, and bluegrass. However, without turning
its back on everything in its past, The String Cheese Incident stepped outside
its box and dared to reinvent itself, using what it has learned in order to take
its audience on a new, intriguing journey.
That’s not to say that Untying the Not is a flawless effort. There are
moments when The String Cheese Incident leans a little too much upon its old
ways, its lyrics and melodies occasionally feeling a little coerced. Dark Side
of the Moon it is not. But it is an ambitious project — one that will force
those who have dismissed the group as "just another jam band" to start paying
attention, one that separates the men from the boys and hopefully will pull the
jam band scene itself out of its interminable stagnation.
Untying the Not is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006 The Music Box
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