JamBase has announced the release of Cluster Flies, a compilation album celebrating the 20th anniversary of Phish‘s Farmhouse. Out on April 30th, the 3-LP collection features contributions from Brendan Bayliss, Jennifer Hartswick, Reed Mathis, and many more. Along with the announcement, JamBase has shared a cover of “Sand” recorded by Boston improvisational ensemble Club d’Elf.
Mastered by engineer Joe Lambert and adorned with artwork from longtime Phish associate Jim Pollock, Cluster Flies is a thoughtful tribute to the 2000 Phish album. The compilation also features contributions from Neal Francis, Amy Helm, Lindsay Lou, Jay Lane, members of Goose, Twiddle, Tea Leaf Green, Strangefolk, Phish Twitter favorite Amar Sastry, and more.
Even more personal than Cluster Flies‘ stated mission of paying tribute to Farmhouse is its timing at a crucial moment in music history. According to a press release, the funds raised by the tribute album will go to benefit musicians who haven’t been able to tour in over a year. As JamBase CEO David Onigman said in a statement,
In July of last year, as it became clear the COVID-19 pandemic would have a devastating impact on the live music industry, I tasked the team to come up with an idea that we could rally around in place of live music and to raise lost revenues for JamBase. Rather than a standard fundraiser, the Cluster Flies project was conceived, and we soon reached out to an incredible group of musicians who graciously jumped at the opportunity to support JamBase. What happened over the last nine months outperformed even my wildest of expectations. I’m elated with how the performances, the artwork, the packaging, the mastering and the podcasts we are going to be launching daily came together. It’s a collection of work I am extremely proud of and honored to share with the world.
Cluster Flies features covers of all 12 songs found on Farmhouse, in addition to bonus tracks found on the Japanese version. The compilation’s architects went an additional step further by also including three more Phish songs that were written during the Farmhouse era but never made it onto an album, including “Vultures”, “Bye Bye Foot”, and “Dogs Stole Things”.
In the first offering from Cluster Flies, Club d’Elf puts a psychedelic Moroccan spin on “Sand”. The inherently infectious groove of the track plays right into the strength of the dub jazz collective as crashing cymbals and exploratory keyboards move down divergent yet coordinated paths. The Club d’Elf “Sand” kicks off a daily rollout of tracks on the compilation, each coming alongside a new episode of The JamBase Podcast featuring interviews with artists involved.
Listen to Club d’Elf’s take on “Sand” from the upcoming Cluster Flies tribute to Phish’s Farmhouse from JamBase. The compilation is available now for pre-order in a variety of formats which include the Pollack poster, 180-gram vinyl, and digital download. Scroll down to see the full tracklist and album artwork.
Club d’Elf – “Sand” (Phish)
[Video: JamBase]
