Jazz Butcher

[<e.h.doxtator@ac...com>]

My favorite band.

If it wasn't for the madness of the Jazz Butcher, I would have never found 
the Blue Aeroplanes.

Pat's assessment of his work is a good (but brief read).  
http://www.jazzbutcher.com/htdb/albums

Of the pre-Creation (the late lamented Glass Records label) stuff:

The early records are good, and "A Scandal In Bohemia" is a good 
recommendation, and the reissue (from Vinyl Japan) is still around.  
However, there's an E.P. called "Sex And Travel" of the same vintage that 
is also worth a listen.  The original CD issue of "Scandal" included "Sex 
And Travel", but sadly, the re-issue does not include these tracks.  A lot 
of folks slag on his first effort "In Bath of Bacon", which is 
unfortunate.  There's a lot in that record, but it's not the most 
approachable document.

"Distressed Gentlefolk" is likewise a fine record (comes after Scandal).  
I'd suggest seeking out the original, rather than the re-issue, as it 
contains "South America".

The EP "Max Eider V. The Jazz Butcher" is also highly recommended.  In 
four songs, it shows the amazing breadth and depth of Pat's songwriting 
ability.  "Big Old Wind" is among the best in the songs ever written, IMHO.

There are a ton of EP's and singles from this time.  "Angels", "Real Men", 
"Grooving In The Bus Lane", "Hard".  All worth picking up if you find them 
used in a second-hand record shop.

About this time Glass records died, the catalog went into receivership, 
and the rights are now owned (I think) by Fire Records.  Fire isn't keen 
on re-issuing the bulk of the Glass-era material, which is a pity.

On the Creation label:
My favorite is still probably "Big Planet Scarey Planet", closely followed 
by "Condition Blue".   "Illuminate" is a great record, but I find it's a 
little uneven.  There's a recording from a CBC radio show where Pat covers 
"Spooky" (also the name of the record).  There's a chopped up version that 
was released in the US (if you find a record with "Blame (It On The 
Libyans)", that's the one).

Vinyl Japan Label:
The last studio record was on Vinyl Japan, called "Rotten Soul".  It has 
good songs (other than Owen Jones' overwrought stuff) but the production 
isn't the greatest.  I find the electronic drums a huge distraction.

Live records
"Hamburg" (Glass era), "Western Family" (Creation era), and "Glorious & 
Idiotic" (entire catalog on the ROIR label).  The production suffers on 
these guys too ("Western Family" particularly).

The Best-Ofs:
There's a lot of bits and pieces:
"Bloody Nonsense" - Glass era US/Canada release.
"The Gift of Music - Vol 2".  Creation-era ep's and singles
"Unconditional"   I think that's Creation era, but it has a pretty wide 
swath of stuff
"The Jazz Butcher's Free Lunch", "Excellent - The Violent Years" are more 
or less the same collection of Creation stuff (Sony owns the Creation 
Catalog; any further reissues will just be reordering of the tracks that 
are on these records).
"Cake City" is decent compilation of Glass-era stuff, and I think it's 
still available (Vinyl Japan)
"Draining The Glass" also a good compilation of Glass-era, but it's out of 
print (Fire Records own the publishing rights, it was put out on the label 
"Nectar Reissues", I think)

Offshoots:
Black Eg:  Don't.  Just walk away.
Wilson:  Pat's current band.
Sumosonic:  "This Is Sumo" is still one of my favorite records of all 
time.  Creation screwed the pooch on this one.
Strange Attractors:  Pat's other band where he sometimes plays drums.  On 
extended hiatus.
Max Eider solo records:  Best Kisser in the World, Hotel Figueroa, and Max 
Eider III: Back in The Bedroom.  Of these, I like "Back in the Bedroom" 
the best.  Max says he's gonna put out another solo record later in 2010.
"Cellartime" - Peter Couch's solo effort (he played guitars on Waiting for 
the Love Bus and Max Eider III)
Dave Coverly's "Speed Bump", which appears on the comic pages of US 
newspapers.  He and Pat have been working for years on a children's book 
called "Buffalo Shame", which I wish they'd finish.  The artwork looked 
fantastic.  Dave did the artwork for Max Eider III as well.
The Blue Aeroplanes - "Beatsongs", where Pat plays guitars, but I don't 
remember on what :), and "Rough Music", where Pat plays guitars on 
"Whatever Happened To Our Golden Birds" (I think he has a cowriting credit 
on that), and also (I think) guitars on "Detective Song".

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled Blue Aeroplanes content.

-Doc



This message is for the designated recipient only and may contain 
privileged, proprietary, or otherwise private information.  If you have 
received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the 
original.  Any other use of the email by you is prohibited.

_______________________________________________
The Blue Aeroplanes mailing list
BluePlanes@bl...org
http://www.blueaeroplanes.org/