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Reviews

I always have high hopes for a new Jonathan Richman album. Any time I've seen him live, he has given a winning performance even if it's just him and his acoustic guitar on stage. He's utterly charming at these shows, turning newbies into fans. He has a big catalog of worthwhile material to support him, though some of the records sadly remain out of print.

Unfortunately, for the past several years, it seems as though Jonathan's brand of lightning isn't easily caught in a bottle. The last of his albums that sparked consistently was 1992's I, Jonathan. Subsequent records have been mixed bags at best: perhaps a standout tune or two, surrounded by weaker new material, and padded with unnecessary remakes of older songs.

"Her Mystery..." continues the trend. The new love songs sound a bit forced and thin... perhaps understandably, I mean, the guy's written what, a million of them by now?  The remakes this time out are "Give Paris One More Chance" (the original was fine) and a rendering of "Vampire Girl" in Spanish. The only new song that really pops out is "Springtime in New York", a meandering observation of blooming love in the city recorded prior to September 11 but released a month afterward.

For his next album, I'd love to have a live recording. It might better document Jonathan's appeal and win him some new converts.     (Vapor Records)

— Fred Wheaton (02/02)

A Scandal in Bohemia by The Jazz Butcher was originally released in 1984 on Glass Records in the UK. After at least a decade of unavailability, the album has been reissued on LP and CD by Vinyl Japan, the band's current label. Even though I've had a copy of the LP for years, I greeted the new CD version with tingly anticipation. There was no logic behind this feeling, because there is almost no difference between the '84 vinyl and the new disc; it was simple, unadulterated fanboy devotion.

Scandal is one of those albums that I love uncritically. If pressed, I'd probably name it as one of my "desert island discs" or list it on my all-time top five, whatever. Seventeen years after its original release, it's hard to separate the album from the time that I was exposed to it and from the memories it conjures. Considering that it took a while for its singular charm to work on me back in the day, I find it difficult to recommend Scandal unheard to fresh ears. It's not the band's most polished work, and they had yet to find a balance between surreal goofiness and "art misery" (as frontman Pat Fish described their more serious, even sad songs). But it contains at least one great pop tune that transcends its context: "Girlfriend," a song about impossible romance that ranks among the band's best compositions.

Those who were smart enough to seek out the Glass import CD version of Scandal in the late '80s got different cover artwork and the inclusion of the band's excellent follow-up EP, Sex and Travel. (I foolishly passed on it at the time—something to do with unemployment, I think). The absence of that material—and of any extra tracks whatsoever—is a missed opportunity here. But as a fan, I'm pleased to see one of my favorites back in print.

Cake City is Vinyl Japan's compilation of Glass-era Jazz Butcher album tracks and rarities which is only halfway essential for fans—and then only if you missed the rarities on Napster. A bunch of the tracks are culled from Scandal and the also-reissued Distressed Gentlefolk, and although they are all A-material, it's a bit redundant if you own those discs.  A singles collection on the order of the old Gift of Music comps would have been more welcome: more cake and less icing.

— Fred Wheaton (02/02)