Maximal jam: Colin's wordless

By Colin St. John

My in-laws were in town for the holidays, and while we were watching some crummy cartoon Christmas movie, the fanfare from Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra came on for a climactic scene. “That’s from Barbie!” my niece shouted. 

Well, not exactly.

Who could blame a nine-year-old for not knowing that the opening scene of the biggest movie of the year was an homage to a dorky, psychedelic film from 1968? 

That tune has lived another life in the annals of a dorky, psychedelic band from the 1980s. So intertwined the famously surging tone poem is with 2001: A Space Odyssey that fans (oh okay, phans) mostly shed Strauss’s Nietzschean reverence and label the cover simply “2001.”

I have seen Phish 125 times now and written extensively about my unabashed devotion to the Vermont jam band. Not an instrumental outfit, per se, someone even marginally familiar with the group probably knows that its lifeblood is its jams—and them jams don’t have no words. 

That said, most Phish songs do contain famously-mocked lyrics—”boy, man, god, shit” anyone? So “2001” is a rare staple that is wordless. 

As a bit of a gag, I’ve kicked off my wordless mix by including all 13 versions of the song that I could find on Spotify. They’re all live and evocative of Strauss’s original intentions. But they all differ, ranging in length from three to nearly 25 minutes.

My favorite versions, here, are probably from Halloween ‘96 (replete with guest percussionist Karl Perazzo’s cowbell), Vegas ‘96, and Fukuoka ‘00. 

In defense of listening to 13 different versions of the same song, I’ll offer this anecdote: A few weeks ago, Phish announced a run at the Sphere in Las Vegas with a video featuring some trippyass wordless music. I couldn’t put my finger on what show it was from, so I posted on the fan board Phantasy Tour inquiring. Within a minute, a fellow fan responded that it was from the song “Twist,” recorded at that very same legendary show in Fukuoka, Japan. Make fun of us all you want; Phish fans are a dedicated lot.

After the 13-song stretch, you’ll find a Strauss version recorded by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. Von Karajan is my favorite conductor of classical music, if only because when my dad was in the seminary, he purchased a box set of his recordings of Beethoven’s symphonies, which I have since inherited. I have included Beethoven’s Seventh, which is currently my favorite of the nine. (It often changes.) You may recognize the second movement from yet another film, The King’s Speech.

After that, it’s more Phish! I assembled as many purely instrumental songs of theirs as I could—I am trying to be strict about that with this playlist—hopefully showing the breadth and style of the quartet’s capabilities. 

Then, it’s a smattering of electronic, classical, country, metal, experimental, hip-hop, and even blues. This is the Jackson Pollock part of the playlist, sounds scattered and thrown against a canvas. I point to a few highlights:

• David Michael Moore: I hadn’t heard of this multi-faceted Mississippi artist till this year, when his album, Adagio Fishing, was re-released. Recorded in 1994, it wavers from jazz to country to ambient to just really fuckin’ weird. It’s awesome; check the whole thing out. 

• Staying in Mississippi, I’ve become quite fond of hill country blues—especially that of R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, the latter of whom makes the playlist. Those guys do a lot of singing, much of the time, so you’ll have to dig into their catalogs outside of the wordless world.

• I love Anna von Hausswolff’s dedication to bringing the pipe organ into the pop world. 

Next up, I thought it was important to include William Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops in full. Not only because it’s a gorgeous composition, but because much of the sound is derived from the tape loops decaying as time mounts. That means we better have it all. (Some of you may know that the disintegration of the Twin Towers is closely associated with the recordings.) 

Jazz follows. I fronted the grouping with a bunch of heavy hitters like Oscar Peterson and Ornette Coleman before moving on to some more modern takes on the genre. 

In 2012, I wrote an article for Stereogum about the best instrumental music of that year. (Sneak past the paywall here.) It was fun to relive the era, and I figured I might as well put together some tracks from artists I mention in the piece, from Karriem Riggins to Sir Richard Bishop to Daphni. I forgot how much I like Lindstrøm! 

Finally, beginning with Maria BC and continuing to the end of the list, I picked out some tunes from 2023. 

I used to write professionally about pop music for many years. Now? I am an old, tired dad. I don’t pretend to know a whole lot about the state of, say, electronic music as we enter 2024. But I enjoyed these tracks, including those from a couple of familiar folks like Aphex Twin and Four Tet.

And, then, it’s more Phish. Just kidding.

Tracklist: Colin's wordless

1. 2001 — Phish

2. 2001 — Phish

3. 2001 — Phish

4. 2001 — Phish

5. 2001 — Phish

6. 2001 – Live at The Clifford Ball, August 16, 1996 — Phish

7. 2001 — Phish

8. 2001 — Phish

9. 2001 — Phish

10. 2001 – Live — Phish

11. 2001 — Phish

12. 2001 — Phish

13. 2001 — Phish

14. Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30: I. Prelude. Sonnenaufgang — Richard Strauss, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

15. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace — Ludwig van Beethoven, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

16. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: II. Allegretto — Ludwig van Beethoven, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

17. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: III. Presto – Assai meno presto — Ludwig van Beethoven, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

18. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: IV. Allegro con brio — Ludwig van Beethoven, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

19. Dave’s Energy Guide — Phish

20. A Letter To Jimmy Page — Phish

21. Peaches En Regalia – Live — Phish

22. The Landlady — Phish

23. What’s The Use — Phish

24. First Tube — Phish

25. The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony — Phish

26. I Am Hydrogen — Phish

27. The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday — Phish

28. Cars Trucks Buses – Live at The Clifford Ball, August 16, 1996 — Phish

29. Buried Alive — Phish

30. Tweezer Reprise — Phish

31. The Four Seasons – “Winter”: I. Allegro non molto — Antonio Vivaldi, Joshua Bell, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

32. Rhapsody in Blue — George Gershwin, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein

33. Cerca De Ti — Hermanos Gutiérrez

34. Highway Anxiety — William Tyler

35. Grateful Dawg — Jerry Garcia, David Grisman

36. Big Country — Edgar Meyer, Béla Fleck, Mike Marshall

37. Untitled — Mdou Moctar

38. Song From The Hills — Maria of Egg Sandwiches

39. Maria of Egg Sandwiches — David Michael Moore

40. Most Things Haven’t Worked Out — Junior Kimbrough

41. Orchid – 2014 Remaster — Black Sabbath

42. Untitled 3 — Panda Bear

43. Gobstopper — J Dilla

44. Roygbiv — Boards of Canada

45. Surrender — The Chemical Brothers

46. Keep on Dubbing — King Tubby, Augustus Pablo

47. Ratts of the Capital — Mogwai

48. Motivation — Clams Casino

49. We Wave From Our Boats — Mary Lattimore

50. Epitaph of Theodor — Anna von Hausswolff

51. dlp 1.1.1 — William Basinski

52. dlp 1.1.2 — William Basinski

53. dlp 1.1.3 — William Basinski

54. dlp 1.1.4 — William Basinski

55. dlp 1.1.5 — William Basinski

56. dlp 1.1.6 — William Basinski

57. dlp 1.1.7 — William Basinski

58. dlp 1.1.8 — William Basinski

59. dlp 1.1.9 — William Basinski

60. dlp 2.1.1 — William Basinski

61. dlp 2.1.2 — William Basinski

62. Milestones (feat. John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Red Garland, Paul Chambers) — Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Red Garland, Paul Chambers

63. Moment’s Notice — John Coltrane

64. Brilliant Corners — Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Ernie Henry, Clark Terry

65. But Beautiful — Stan Getz, Bill Evans

66. Take Five — The Dave Brubeck Quartet

67. St. Thomas — Sonny Rollins, Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, Max Roach

68. Des femmes disparaissent — Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

69. Out Of Nowhere — Charlie Parker

70. Blue And Sentimental — Oscar Peterson

71. Skating — Vince Guaraldi Trio

72. Boogie Stop Shuffle — Charles Mingus

73. Lonely Woman — Ornette Coleman

74. Out of Nowhere — Django Reinhardt, Coleman Hawkins

75. Cantaloupe Island (Remastered 1999 / Rudy Van Gelder Edition) — Herbie Hancock

76. Leap Frog (Take 11/Take 6 / Master Take) — Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Curly Russell, Buddy Rich

77. Autumn Leaves — Chet Baker

78. I Want To Feel Good Pt. 2 — The Bad Plus

79. Song For Fraser — Kamasi Washington

80. Journey In Satchidananda — Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders

81. Electric Counterpoint: III. Fast — Steve Reich, Pat Metheny

82. Grande Mareacion — Maneesh de Moor

83. Mystic Brew — Vijay Iyer, Stephan Crump, Marcus Gilmore

84. Double Trouble — Karriem Riggins

85. Bugg’n — TNGHT, Hudson Mohawke, Lunice

86. We Drift Like Worried Fire — Godspeed You! Black Emperor

87. Fäär-i-kääl — Lindstrøm

88. Spock — VCMG

89. Locked — Four Tet

90. Drones & Viola: Part III Material With No Tricks — Nico Muhly, Nadia Sirota, Bruce Brubaker

91. Dance of the Cedars — Sir Richard Bishop

92. Photos Of Photos — Carlton Melton

93. Yes, I Know — Daphni

94. Lacuna — Maria BC

95. Calon — Overmono

96. Pluto (a 2) — Actress

97. Late Night Love — Octo Octa

98. Blackbox Life Recorder 21f — Aphex Twin

99. Blissda — DJ Koze

100. Three Drums — Four Tet

(If you've got your own favorite wordless music to share, check out our open and public collaborative playlist. And if you want to create one of these mixes and write a blog about it, send us a note! wordlesscollective[at]gmail[dot]com.)