Published: ink19.com
April 03, 2000
Credit:
Ian Koss
Source:
ink19.com
All these years, I've thought the Jazz Butcher
(aka Pat Fish) had taken his moniker in a fit of dada. As this live set bears
out, there's a bit more significance to it that the juxtaposition of the absurd.
On a cold Hamburg evening about a year ago, the Jazz Butcher and a handful
of co-conspirators took the stage and recorded a couple hours' worth of
music. Overwhelmingly present are twin comping guitars, pumping and
strumming out deliciously fractured chords and the occasional blue lick, and
Butchie's old-fashioned melodic voice. The music is jazzy and unplugged, in the
best sense of both words, while the songs themselves are more than a bit
twisted in typical Jazz Butcher Conspiracy style. Familiar friends like
"D.R.I.N.K.", "Partytime," and "The Human Jungle" are present here, the first
two sticking close to the original plan and the latter stripped down a bit but still
resplendent in its hooky melody. JBC fans must -- absolutely must -- seek
this out. For the uninitiated, it's not much of an accurate picture of the band
(other than in displaying just how top-notch JBC songs are), but it's still a
wonderfully relaxed, stripped-down release and it does just fine on those
merits, thank you.
ROIR
CD
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