Hey there – this is Pat from The Cocktail Revisionists. I am really excited to announce that we have released a new EP called “Corpse Reviver No. 1”, featuring remixed and remastered versions of some songs from our “This is my happy face” LP.

This EP is available on all of the popular streaming services. Here are some quick links to get you started:

BandCamp
Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube

Here’s the story: When we recorded these songs back in 2004 and 2005, we were using some newer recording technology that I didn’t fully understand, and over the years I have wished I could go back and re-work some of these mixes. There are some really great songs on that record, and I don’t think those original mixes did them justice.

“Happy Face” was our third and most ambitious record. It had our most complex song arrangements, and featured some amazing performances from guest musicians who added new textures with cello, trumpet and keyboard parts.

This was also the first time we tried recording directly to computer. Prior to 2004, were recording on an 8-track reel-to-reel tape deck (Tascam 38). When you have only 8 tracks you have some built-in limits on how many distinct parts you can record. And sure, there are ways to record more than 8 tracks using bouncing (Sgt. Pepper was recorded on 4-track technology for example), but recording directly onto the computer was a pretty significant change in our approach. All of a sudden, we could have as many tracks as we wanted. Which was great from a creative standpoint, but it meant the mixing process needed a whole different skill set. Which I didn’t really have at the time… 🙂

Recorder we used on our first two records (a Tascam 38)

I will be the first to admit I was in a bit over my head on this project. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot and gained a bunch of experience by recording and mixing not only my own bands, but other bands as well. In the 15 years since we originally tracked these songs, this additional experience has put me in a much better position to do great mixes for a project like this.

When the pandemic lockdowns hit in March 2020, I was trying to write new music for the 3rd Stellarator EP, but was having a really hard time being creative. So as a distraction one night, I located the original source tracks from Arbusto and tried to do a remix to see if it would sound better. The remixed version came out really great! So I picked a couple more, found the source tracks and tried mixing them. Consistently, I felt the new mixes were getting to the “heart” of these songs, and I was unlocking what we were trying to sound like as a band, as well as what Leslie and I were trying to do with writing of the songs.

Leslie recoding vocals in the early 2000’s

And while I was very tempted to re-record some of the clunkier bits, I decided I would work only with the original performances from the original songs. The only place where I cheated a little is I changed the piano sound on “This Little Hell” to an electric piano (Wurlitzer) from the original grand piano sound. But it is the same actual performance that I played back in 2004. Everything else is using the original tracks as they were recorded in 2004 and 2005. If you are familiar with these songs, you may hear new details that you might not have heard in the original mixes, and you may even think we re-recorded some of them. That is my hope anyway. In any case, I think these 2020 remixes sound much closer to our vision, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to give these songs a second chance!

It was a lot of fun to do this project. I really hope you enjoy getting re-acquainted with these songs, or hearing them for the first time. Thanks for taking the time to read this too!

— Pat Stirrat, October 2020

Pete tracking guitar circa 2002 or 2003
Brian tracking drums in circa 2002 or 2003
A long time ago
Tapes from our first two records, and also Steve’s “Like the Moon” record

We would like to extend a very warm thanks to our friend Ben Childers for creating the artwork for our new EP. Not only is Ben good at design, he also is the man behind the popular @ben_at_the_bar Instagram account. Ben knows his cocktails and is on a mission to help everyone learn to make and enjoy craft cocktails.

Click the logo below to check out his Instagram feed. He has some great videos, photos and even the occasional contest. He’s definitely a good follow!

Click the image to visit the “Ben at the Bar” Instagram feed

A Corpse Reviver is a vintage cocktail that dates back to the late 1800’s. The precise origin story is a bit fuzzy, and there are several versions of the recipe that have been documented (and modified) over the years. This has led to a numbering system for the recipes: Corpse Reviver No. 1, Corpse Reviver No. 2, Corpse Reviver No. 2a, Corpse Reviver No. 6 etc. (Corpse Reviver No. 2 is probably the most common recipe that you would see at a bar these days.)

An early recipe from the 1948 edition of Old Mr. Boston’s DeLuxe bar guide

Cocktail culture has gone through a renaissance, where mixologists are embracing, refining and rediscovering vintage cocktails and making them more accessible for a modern palette. In many respects, this remix/remaster project was similar, where we took old songs and gave them a new life… dare we say we “revived” them?

The Corpse Reviver gets its name from its potency and intent: it was supposed to help you get going again after a hard night of drinking. We aren’t claiming that our music is a magic hangover cure, but we do think it can help soothe your brain. Give it a try!

The Corpse Reviver cocktail is a series of recipes developed over time. As a band, we would like to do more of these remix projects, or possibly re-record some of our songs. For years we’ve talked about doing new studio recordings of our live set, where we would record some of our favorite songs the way we play them live: more stripped down, more high energy, more raw and direct. So perhaps there will be a Corpse Reviver No. 2 in our future…?

Saw this on Amazon… As tempted as you probably are to mash that “Buy Now” button, it’s probably not worth $970.43 + $3.99 shipping. We do think this is a pretty good record, and if you really want one, please get in touch with us over social media and we can hook you up.

This record is also available on all the digital networks, which is a pretty easy way to listen, too!

In the early 2000’s the local Fox affiliate in Seattle would sometimes have live bands in the studio during their morning broadcast. It was pretty cool – the band would be in the studio near the news room, and they would cut to the band while going out to commercial, or coming back from a segment or whatever.

Leslie had a friend who worked there and got us an intro with the booker for that feature. In January 2003 we were invited to come down and be the in-house band one day.

It was a really cool experience, although it’s really hard to “rock out” at 7:00am in kind of a sterile performance space. We had a blast, though, and it was definitely a highlight for the band back then. We were promoting a show at Doc Maynards, and the booker at the club was surprised & very happy with us that we were promoting the show so well!

We put up a montage video on YouTube if you want to see what it looked like…

Good times…. 🙂