The Butchershop Quartet ~ The Rite of Spring
G4CD7701 - Release Date April 6, 2004
Spring is finally upon us. With this seasonal change comes the next evolution of Galapagos4: Alabaster. A division of Galapagos4, Alabaster is dedicated to releasing live and experimental records, along with collaborations between Galapagos4 producers/MCs and live groups based in Chicago.
The first
release is a two-disc set which contains an interpretation of Igor
Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" by Chicago’s very
own The Butchershop Quartet and a full-length remix collaboration
between Galapagos4’s Offwhyte, Meaty Ogre, Maker, White Lightning
& Mestizo. The story of Stravinsky’s infamous 1913 Paris
premier (on the eve of World War I) may be considered more well-known
than the actual music, yet this piece is still heralded as the most
important piece of classical music of the 20th Century. The Butchershop
Quartet explores this idea with a bittersweet adaptation conveying
the ambience and ominous feel of Stravinsky's composition.
It started out as a 'college dorm-room daydream'.
In 1998, Chicago musicians Dylan Posa (drums - of Cheer Accident, The Flying Luttenbachers,
Brise-Glace and Bobby Conn), Rob Bochnik (guitar - of The Frames Nad Navillus, Garden Bower
and Nina Nastasia ), Dan Sullivan (guitar * of Nad Navillus and Songs: Ohia), and Rob Sullivan
(bass - of Nad Navillus and Songs: Ohia) came together to work on transcribing Stravinskyıs
masterpiece for two guitars, a bass, and drums - a "traditional rock band."
After two years of rehearsing and performing, "The Rite of Spring" opening for such
notable acts as: Low and The Breeders, Nina Nastasia at the Knitting Factory (NYC)
and Cheer Accident, the BSQ headed into record their work. In the spirit of all
great Chicago rock bands, the BSQ went to the legendary Steve Albini's Electrical
Audio Studios in 2002. Recording in the Electric Audio environment helped capture
the pure power and the intense nature of the piece, performed in a traditional rock line-up.
The recording highlights The BSQ's meticulous and faithful approach to their rendition.
The group's Knitting Factory appearance led the Julie Atlas Muz Dance Company to
have them perform as accompaniment to the dance ensemble's show at the 2004 Whitney Biennial.
This has led to a number of performances scheduled for the East Coast in early spring.
Included with The BSQ's earnest interpretation is a
second disc containing something far more abstract. Galapagos4 presented The Butchershop's
recording to it's stable of artists as source material for a collaborative album of remixes.
Producers Meaty Ogre, Maker, and DJ White Lighting/Royce, along with MCs Offwhyte, Mestizo,
and Andre, accepted the challenge, creating their a new interpretation of "The Rite."
A moody, chill yet dark record showcasing classic Chicago hip hop production and
revolutionary rhymes. Drawing inspiration from the history surrounding "The Rite"
Offwhyte and Mestizo deliver raw ominous rhymes, foreshadowing the continuing
instability, fear and chaos in this early part of the 21st Century. The producers
create a lush, jazz like ambience through driving beats, experimental drums and
inventive compositions of samples from the BSQ's record. This combination of artists,
whose common Chicago style work ethic and aesthetic, create a brilliant adaptation of
this historically important piece of music and help to introduce it to a
new generation of rock and hip hop fans.
