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Date: Wed, 5 Apr 1995 14:04:31 GMT
From: "Cliff Lovelock" <CLIFF[at]-remove-glg.ed.ac.uk>
Subject: NME don't hate new JBC album shock!
Well, they don't love it either. Here is the review that appears on p55 of the
current (8/4/95) issue;
THE JAZZ BUTCHER CONSPIRACY Illuminate (Creation/CD/LP)
Coming as he did in the wake of the post-punk world and before the havoc that
dance culture wreaked, Pat Fish/The Jazz Butcher was the product of a difficult
epoch in British music. Now working as The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy,
'Illuminate' is his tenth album and could be seen as an attempt to justify the
relevance of that era. So, the second track, 'Sixteen Years' still laments the
'80s blight of privatisation but the target in the '90s is a Labour Party
attempting to dismantle Clause IV.
Politics aside, Pat Fish sticks to his '80s musical guns too, as memories
of Lloyd Cole, Scritti Politti and The Go-Betweens flood back. Stylistically
diverse as 'Illuminate' is, it has none of the pan-cultural appeal that lies at
the heart of '90s eclecticism (Really? What a shame - Ed).
Instead, Pat Fishpersists in what he's good at: crafting an album of
fragile pop songs best suited to those with fond memories of their '80s glory
days. But, for all its merits, 'Illuminate' doesn't shed fresh light on
arguments over whether or not The Jazz Butcher was criminally overlooked
talent. (5/10) Neil Spence.
"...doesn't shed fresh light on whether The Jazz Butcher was a criminally
overlooked talent"!!!! Bit bloody late for that now, if you ask me.
I haven't heard 'Illuminate' yet as I'm still waiting for Ed to pop down to the Record
Shop and pick up the copy he ordered. In fact he's probably at home at this
very minute listening to all those "fragile pop somgs". Bastard.
Regards, Cliff.
==========================
Cliff Lovelock (PG)
Dept. Geology & Geophysics
University of Edinburgh
Scotland, UK.
Ph: +44 (0)131 650 5918
FAX: +44 (0)131 668 3184
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