The songs of Sigma Oasis, and the album itself, are at first, unassuming and groovy. But before you know it, you are swirled up and exported into the celestial, with multiple constructions of the portrait of hope, transformed into devastatingly technical and hypnotic de-constructions of the jams, typical of the spirit of the Phish universe. The first album by Phish to have been debuted via live streams, complete with Trey commenting on the live chat, seemingly watching and listening with all of us. I think Mike was on chat too, under an alias. This is also the first album by Phish to have been entirely played live, from the song, Sigma Oasis having scarcely pinged the stage, to Steam, entrenched solidly into the 3.0 era, even showing its “chops” during New Years 2011 at MSG as the gag. This album has been through the paces and refinements of the live performances, juxtaposed with the studio at Treys barn in Vermont, swirls and twists the two environments of live and studio, effectively making any venue obsolete to the quantum frequency to which we tune. Sigma Oasis is Phish’s newest and most ubiquitous representation of the process of “bringing the live energy into the studio”. Fun and challenging to the listener throughout. Special shout out to Tom Marshall