THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS: The Builders and The Butchers

The Builders and The Butchers

The Builders and The Butchers

© 2007 The Builders and The Butchers (634479505034) (format: CD-R)

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Tom Waits gospel songs about despair and redemption

tracks

1 The Night pt. 1
2 Red Hands
3 Spanish Death
4 Black Dresses
5 Bottom of the Lake
6 The Gallows
7 Bringing Home the Rain
8 The Coal Mine Fall
9 Slowed Down Trip to Hell
10 The Night pt. 2
11 Ten Miles Wide
12 Find Me in the Air

notes

Ryan Sollee: “I moved the portland in the fall of 2003 from Alaska with my band at the time The Born Losers, which played rockandroll/punk. After playing a ton of shows and a bit of touring with a lot of expectation it was time to try something new. During my time playing in the Losers I started a project on the side called the McGovern Goldwater Ticket playing with my good friend from Alaska Brendon Price. At this time I was writing a lot of country and blues songs, Brendon introduced me to older blues and gospel artists, as well as giving me a lot of feedback on my own songs. This is where the first Builders and Butchers songs came from, the very first being Bringin' Home the Rain. At this time I also became friends with Adrienne Hatkin who's band Autopilot I was a huge fan of. Adrienne and I started playing together and we had an idea for starting a funeral band that played death themed songs. I wrote quite a few songs during this time, Spanish Death Song, Slowed Down Trip to Hell and Find Me In the Air. One day in September of 2005 I was at the home of Alex Ellis and Ray Rude and I played them the songs Adrienne and I were working on, Alex had an acoustic bass and Ray joined in on organ, I think Harvey was over and he had borrowed a Mandolin from Adrienne, Paul joined us the very next time we practiced, and that was the band. We practiced a few times and played our first shows on the Halloween weekend of 2005. Unlike the Born Losers the Builders and the Butchers started with no expectations and when after the first few shows people were singing along and responding to the band I was totally suprised. A lot of our first shows were played downtown outside of bars and clubs. One of our first shows was playing outside of the Bob Log III show at Sabalas. In the spring of 2006 Adrienne left the band to concentrate more on Autopilot, but still plays with the Builders on occassion. Analisa Tornfelt, a longtime friend from Alaska also joins us playing violin on the occasional show and practice.”

reviews

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  • Rousing stuff!
    author: nic

    The perfect accompaniment to a glass of Pimms and a spot of tennis... But seriously, this is the album you want to put on loud after you walk in from work, crack open a beer, and are looking to wake up and revive your soul after a weary day.

  • Wohooo!
    author: swampman

    This album is SERIOUS shite!.

  • Can't help but sing along
    author: Sarah I

    So much fun--this is awesome.

  • Great from start to finish
    author: mike

    A solid album from beginning to end. sounds like if some rockers, cowboys and Spanish conquistadors got together to make epic songs of death blood and love. I saw them last night at spaceland in LA and they have definitely moved to the top of my "favorite bands to see live" list. An amazing performance and a great live sound. must see if you ever get the chance.

  • Rockin' Rough
    author: Dan Miller

    These guys pull off a unique sound, but with a high amount of repetition. I enjoy the fact that each song sounds blended to its predecessor, but when the whole album sounds like one song it is slightly confusing. Amazing lyrics and fun instruments all the way.

  • awesome
    author: aj nutter

    awesome, I love this Band

  • author: Michael R

    Music needs no genre. and this band proves it. every person i show this cd too, falls in love. no matter if there a metal dude, or a god fearing man. I sincerely believe putting a band into a genre is just bs. If you can apprecciate music, that should be good enough. ps. this isnt regarding any persons prior posts. Just my thoughts, and this band is perfect for me to express those thoughts. Thanks, and Lachians right. The East Coast neeeeeds this. Bring all bands from Oregon and lets put on a show no one can forget

  • yow!
    author: Lachlan Whalen

    Simply the best CD that I've bought in years. Sometimes sinister, often tongue-in-cheek, if you're a spooky acoustic fan this *must* be in your collection. Hope to catch them live someday--tour the East Coast, dammit!

  • author: Stephanie Thomas

    Like MichaelD I'm not certain what official genre to place this album. Personally this is part of my "Spooky Americana" section of cd, which yes include Tom Waits, but also Jim White and a multitude of old blues and gospel. There is a sense of old fashioned murder ballads here, a sense of history despite these being all original. All I know is that a day hasn't gone by without at least one song of their's being playing loud in my apartment.

  • Country? Gospel? Southern Soul?
    author: MichaelD

    I'm not sure which category this album fits. Regardless, it is an amazing collection of lo-fi tantalizingness. The chanting background chorus' and the odd variety of instruments used will indulge your hearing in blissful music-sex. These guys are very original despite the Waits comparison. Reminds me of sitting on a stoop in Mississippi, sipping a warm beer with an unfiltered smoke hanging from a set of waspy lips. Weird thing is - I've never been to the south!

  • author: Pamela at CD Baby

    Chock full of junk store percussion, is this to be considered inspired by call and response old time Gospel, or is it the Gospel for modern folk pop lovers? This lo-fi recording of strings, mandolin, drums, "whatever you can get your hands on" percussion, guitars, banjo, bass, organ, and open vocal harmonies, is deceptively loose-sound sounding on first listen. As the listener dives deeper into the record it becomes pretty apparent that this musical mongrel of a band is pretty precise, but feels like it was hewn from dirt of the land (or the dirt of the graves), and sounds ragged and burnt from a lifetime of tilling. The lyrics are slyly smart, artfully sinister, and built for audience participation... and while the rolling high end mandolin and banjo pluck their ways through countermelodies, there's that perfectly tattered jumble of percussion that sets the knee to bouncin' and the hands together to clap along. Find the lot of players in front of a crowd that is jubilantly singing along with the backing chorus, and you'll find the whiskey drinkers, beer swillers, the devoted Tom Waits fans who wish they could get as close to him as they can to this band. This record must have been incredibly fun to record.

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