Search - Jeffrey Butzer :: She Traded Her Leg

Just Enjoy

tripping.doozer | Marietta, Ga | 10/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have appointed myself with the daunting task of reviewing Jeffrey Butzer's debut album She Traded Her Leg. I can't complain because I undertook the task knowing good and well that I don't have the right words in me to do the music justice. During a recent stint in Hong Kong he was rightly heralded as "An American Genius." I am loath to label him or his style of music, not only because it transcends so many boundaries, but also because we as a people tend to ignore and forget things once we have fixed a label to them.



Our era is full of prepackaged kids in baggy pants pretending that they have something new to contribute to your ear, or fading icons with lost voices reading off of TelePrompTers thereby embarrassing themselves and distorting the legends they so carefully created for themselves. While I have nothing against those who decide to create disposable bubble-gum that will be forgotten in a garbage heap by the time their second album hits the streets, some of us want something more valuable.



Although it has very well established roots in several styles (Jewish folk music to Ennio Morricone's film scores to name two) Butzer's sound is as unique as it is unforgettable. He carves out a niche here that is all his own. Though I can trace several of his influences I cannot think of a single musician who has had the foresight to combine them in the manner that he has. The music is at times rough and experimental ("One Hundred and Sixty-Three Black Bubbles"), at times exiting and dramatic ("A Narrow Pit"), and still other times heartbreakingly beautiful ("Lucy 5's Theme" among others).



One might be moved to ask about the names of some of the compositions. ("Who traded her leg to whom and what did she get in return?" is a common query.) The range of sources for these names is as varied as his musical inspirations. Some reference literature ("The Scrivener"), and some his own writings ("Lucy 5's Theme"). Transversely, cuts such as "Broken Blunderbuss" and "Carbonated Sewing Machine" seem to be nothing more than comical gibberish. Whatever the source, they are as creative and varied as the instruments he employs on these recordings. (These recordings feature over twenty instruments- including many I have never heard of- all played by Butzer himself.)



If you find yourself wondering about the track listing, realize that the surprise is an important element here. You would be doing yourself a disservice by pondering over the titles instead of getting lost in the music itself. Besides, not knowing everything about it is part of the fun. Picasso once asked why we bother trying to "understand" art rather than just enjoying it. Similarly, I ask why try to understand genius? Why not just enjoy genius for the sake of it?



"

Authentic and felt. Unlike anything I've ever heard.

Sarah Hunt | 08/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I met Jeffrey through myspace. The band he performs with and the name of the artist collective of which I am a member share a name, "Midwives". I acquired the CD by bartering a stuffed felt mouse and homebaked cookies. On first listen, the compositions of "She Traded Her Leg" are reminiscent of french cinema, which I love. In addition to the accordian you might expect at the mere mention of "french cinema", Jeffrey plays piano,glockenspiel, guitar, drums, xylophone, bass, banjo, autoharp, ocarina,melodica, accordion, harmonica. The sound is rich and often surprising and, most importantly, authentic and felt - Expect both light and playful and dark and introspective. Jeffrey puts all of himself into this music. This becomes more and more aparent as I get to know him better... Now it's your turn ...



In additional to composing music and performing, Jeffrey also writes screen plays, is a film hound, and catalogs his dreams. I think that the following list of Jeffrey's favorite films will be very helpful in explaining the ecclectic taste of the artist and his many musical influences.



Jeffrey Butzer's 100 Favorite Films (in alphabetical order) :

8 ½ (Fellini)

12 MONKEYS (Gilliam)

39 STEPS (Hitchcock)

AGIRRE: WRATH OF GOD (Herzog)

ALPHAVILLE (Godard)

AMELIE (Jeunet)

AMERICAN MOVIE (Smith)

BARAKA (Fricke)

BARTON FINK (Coen)

BEFORE SUNSET (Linklater)

BELLE DE JOUR (Bunuel)

BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (Monicelli)

THE BIG LEBOWSKI (Coen)

THE BIG SLEEP (Hawks)

BLUE VELVET (Lynch)

BOB LE FLAMBEUR (Melville)

BOTTLE ROCKETS (Anderson)

BRANDED TO KILL (Suzuki)

BRAZIL (Gilliam)

BUFFALO 66 (Gallo)

BUFFET FROID (Blier)

CAMERA MAN (Sedgwick)

CELEBRITY (Allen)

A CHRISTMAS STORY (Clark)

CITIZEN KANE (Welles)

THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE, AND HER LOVER (Greenaway)

DAY FOR NIGHT (Truffaut)

DEAD MAN (Jarmusch)

DELICATESSEN (Jeunet)

THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON (Feuerzeig)

DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGOIS (Bunuel)

THE DRAUGHTSMAN CONTRACT (Greenaway)

DR. STRANGELOVE (Kubrick)

ED WOOD (Burton)

ERASERHEAD (Lynch)

EYES WIDE SHUT (Kubrick)

EVEN DWARF'S STARTED SMALL (Herzog)

EVIL DEAD 2 (Rami)

EXTERMINATING ANGEL (Bunuel)

THE FOURTH MAN (Verhoven)

GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS (Blier)

GOOD MORNING (Ozu)

GOZU (Miike)

GRIZZLY MAN (Herzog)

HEAT (Mann)

HOLY MOUNTAIN (Jodorowsky)

HOUR OF THE WOLF (Bergman)

HUDSON HAWK (Lehmann)

I HEART HUCKABEES (Russell)

THE INCREDIBLES (Bird)

IRON GIANT (Bird)

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (Capra)

JFK (Stone)

JULES AND JIM (Truffaut)

KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Miyazaki)

THE KILLING (Kubrick)

LA DOLCA VITA (Fellini)

MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Frankenhiemer)

METROPOLIS (Lang)

THE MILKY WAY (Bunuel)

MILLERS CROSSING (Coen)

MIRROR (Tarkovsky)

MULHOLLAND DRIVE (Lynch)

MYSTERY TRAIN (Jarmusch)

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (Fellini)

OFFICE SPACE (Judge)

PERSONA (Bergman)

THE PHANTOM OF LIBERTY (Bunuel)

THE PLAYER (Altman)

PULP FICTION (Tarantino)

REAR WINDOW (Hichcock)

RIFIFI (Dassin)

ROBOCOP (Verhoven)

ROYAL TENENBAUMS (Anderson)

THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD (Madden)

SCIENCE OF SLEEP (Gondry)

SCHIZOPOLIS (Soderbergh)

SECONDS (Frankenhiemer)

SEVENTH SEAL (Bergman)

SHERLOCK JR. (Keaton)

SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (Truffaut)

SIDEWAYS (Payne)

THE SILENCE (Bergman)

SLING BLADE (Thorton)

SOLARIS (both versions) (Soderbergh/Tarkovsky)

SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR (Anderson)

SUNSET BLVD (Wilder)

TALK TO HER (Almodovar)

THE TRIAL (Welles)

TOY STORY (Lasseter)

VERTIGO (Hitchcock)

VIRIDIANA (Bunuel)

WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (Guest)

WARM WATER UNDER A RED BRIDGE (Imamura)

THE WEATHER MAN (Verbinski)

WEEKEND (Godard)

WINGED MIGRATION (Perrin, Cluzaud)

WINGS OF DESIRE (Wenders)

A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (Godard)

A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS (Greenaway)



"

So good!

Tomi D. Moore | Los Angeles, CA | 08/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard Jeffrey's music on myspace... and I listend to the songs there, over and over and over. Good music from a very talented musician!"