Artifacts of Buttercup- the long journey Home

Oh my oh my oh my....I have been quite lax about the music stuff, haven't I? Well, frankly, I haven't done much searching or traveling and what I have found hasn't moved me to write so much that I couldn't wait to tell the world about it. Shame. I know it will come around again, and maybe I have just been a bit too cynical of late.

Both my beloved bands are due to put new albums out soon. Del Castillo's is due out April 7th, to a literal world onslaught- US to Brazil to Russia and who knows how much further! We who are insane have been hearing these songs off and on for the last year or so, but what the guys have done in the studio will say volumes about how we in the audience responded. The very beautiful Castles, and Everlasting, and Anybody Wanna Dance with Me? are spread all over the internet already. I could never find a CD release of theirs anticlimatic, but then with the Boyz, it was never about the CDs. Their true power to me has always been the live gigs. The worst night has still managed to find energy, and a good night can leave a silly grin on my face for days. And this after over five years of dedicated fandom.(speaking of LIVE.....someday, ....SOMEday...the live gigs recorded in Montana just might make it to DVD. Hey, if they had done it in Texas like they should have, it would be out already.....{put little somewhat tee-ed off emoticon here} )

The BC Boyz- the San Antonio side of the coin which is me- are waiting on the mastering of the music they have been recording with Dallas balladeer Salim Nourallah. I met Salim years ago, due to a mutual friend (hi Lisa!) and can hear what it is about his music style that caught Buttercup up. After years of self-production and local only production, the guys have felt the need to stretch out. They graciously gave me an advance copy of four of the unmastered songs, and I must say it sounds good as it is. I know that they will still try to find that discerning ear to pull the last bits of nuance from the recordings, but for their dedicated local fanbase, they could get away with selling the advance copy as is. I've heard it on computer, iPod, car stereo, and iDog, and it holds up thru it all. Again- I think a lot of Buttercup's strength ultimately is in their live performances. These songs have all been tried in front of audiences. I liked "Kite" the first time I heard it live, but the song is probably too quiet for any but the most intimate of rooms. It would've fit well at the Red Room, or Flipnotics. When one gets a club type crowd going though, the quieter songs become victim to the chatty sorts. Such was the destiny of Kite that first night, and more's the pity. It's a beautiful tune.

Catchy and Buttercup seem to be connected. I cannot get "I Am A Tiger" out of my head! Doesn't help that I have several felines wandering around my house who think they are indeed tigers. There are some pop tunes that one knows instantly when the first notes are struck. This will become one of those to the BC crowd. Right now, it is a subtle semi-acoustic piece, but I wait for the day, when it gets turned on its own ear one night and becomes a rocker.

Some part of Erik Sanden resists the rock in him....giving in only when pushed to the edge, usually by the audience in front him. He actually could give Iggy Pop a run for his money on the apparently self-destructive stage personna. There is a serious rock band festering under the guise of a pop band. I saw that in a number of the bands that are inspiration to Buttercup too, so I am not surprised really. The fun part is to watch it bust out.
Ah well, I have lingered over this piece for too many days, so I publish now and wait for the albums to surface for further review. In the meantime there are other gigs to make, and maybe a few peeps to help come to SA rather than continue to depend on Austin for the "big break."

namaste