from Rolling Stone
Trey Anastasio
The Horseshoe Curve
2007In the three years since Phish disbanded, frontman Trey Anastasio has emerged as the most prolific member, from (on the upside) releasing four solo records to founding an arts-education charity to (on the downside) getting busted for heroin and pills last year. Unlike 2005’s song-based Shine, The Horseshoe Curve is a groove record, with jazz-organ funk, Afrobeat and Seventies fusion in the mix. Most of the time, Anastasio chills in the background, letting the horn section log play time on tracks such as "Burlap Sack and Pumps." This makes for a record that’s alternately brainy and backgroundy – the arrangements are sharp, but the flute solos (particularly on the title track, recorded at a 2002 Pittsburgh show) bring Anchorman to mind. At points like these, you wish Anastasio would step up and do what he does best: shred.
KEVIN O’DONNELL
(Posted: Jul 25, 2007)