I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of the first single released off Phish’s upcoming album, Joy.  At least I wasn’t until I heard this gorgious acoustic version Trey’s people posted over at Vimeo 20 days ago.

Time Turns Elastic – Acoustic Barn Demo from Trey Anastasio on Vimeo.

This is, in a word, beautiful.  It gives me a new found respect for this work, and makes me want to listen again and again, not just to the words, but perhaps on an even geekier note, what tuning is he using?  Sounds like DADGAD, but I could be way off.

I’m not sure what is is about the amplified version that bugs me, but there’s something.  Maybe it seems almost a bit ‘overdone’?  Perhaps there’s just a bit too much going on.  I’m not 100% sure.  I’ve listened to both the upcoming studio version as well as the 4 other appearances the song made on the recent early summer tour, and I have to say, this acoustic version beats them all.  Hands down.

If you’re so inclined, as a point of comparison, here’s the studio version:

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