Phish.net

From the studio, on The White Tape, it starts with an eruption labeled “mayhem” in the credits, following the first recorded “Slave to the Traffic Light” (which one imagines ends in a merciless crash) and preceding “Ingest” (which begins the slow build of weirdness for the remainder of the album). In “Aftermath” lies still the studied composition of “Slave” and, earlier on the compilation, “You Enjoy Myself,” but a looseness also arrives, one that recurs in later tracks.

“Aftermath” lies beyond the ignited jams and the tweezered ecstasy, in a space of uncertainty. Pretty, yes, but subdued. An unsettled calm, filled with sweet anticipation but not aspiring away from what it is. Light but intricate, trill but full. But its history is not full: only slightly more than composed filler, it has only reached the stage once, and then only Trey’s stage (5/7/99), and by only Trey and co-creator Roger Holloway.

Watch Aftermath on YouTube Trey Anastasio, "Aftermath" 5/7/99, St. Louis, MO