While the thought of listening to an entire year of the Grateful Dead tuning their instruments on stage doesn't sound like much, it is (much to our surprise) a fascinating thing to behold. A mix between that feeling you get right before the curtain rises on a Broadway show and the anxiousness you get just before taking drugs. Like that.

Michael David Murphy's "Tuning '77," in his own words, is "a seamless audio supercut of an entire year of the Grateful Dead tuning their instruments ... Chronologically sequenced, this remix incorporates every publicly available recording from 1977, examining the divide between audience expectation and performance anxiety."

Do give it a listen. And for those of you who claim not to like the Dead, check out this excellent New Yorker article about the band's archives and fan base. Great read.

[via Boing Boing]