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Phish phans biding their time for the jam band’s all-but-confirmed reunion should find plenty to occupy themselves with on this second solo album by bassist Mike Gordon. The Green Sparrow features lots of granola-grade philosophizing — “We could déjà vu backwards, baby, make it seem like a trip,” Gordon declares in “Pretend” — and the album even includes guest spots by fellow Phishermen Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio, the latter offering a tasty solo on “Dig Further Down.” (Ivan Neville and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo also turn up for cameos.) Everyone else, however, is likely to be bored stiff. Although he says he wanted The Green Sparrow to emphasize his songwriting rather than his considerable instrumental chops, Gordon isn’t much of a tune man; his melodies rarely take a memorable shape here, and his adenoidal singing turns what he does have into open-mic mush. The lyrics, too, are on a pretty low burn. “I’ve been thinking about you now for 15 minutes and change,” he tells one lucky lady. What a romantic!
MIKE GORDON | Paradise, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | September 7 | 617.931.2000 orwww.livenation.com
