Als Charles Douglas 2002 sein finales Album "Statecraft", das er in Manhattan mit Dinosaur Jr. Und Sonic Youth Produzent Wharton Tiers an den Reglern und Joey Santiago von den Pixies an den Lead Gitarren aufgenommen hatte, veröffentlichte, bekam er Fanpost von David Bowie und John Waters. Auf dem vorliegenden Reissue sind nun alle Tracks der Studio Sessions, davon 19 unveröffentlicht, versammelt!

Fifteen years ago, Charles Douglas wandered out of a Manhattan recording studio where he was putting the finishing touches on what was to become his final album, Statecraft. Featuring Joey Santiago of the Pixies on lead guitars, and recorded by Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. producer Wharton Tiers, the album was intended as a huge step forward for this iconoclastic indie rocker, who had started his recording career when he was a teenager in Dayton, Ohio.
His previous studio album, The Lives of Charles Douglas, had been a raw Ramones-meets-VU-meets-Jonathan Richman blast of energy, featuring Maureen Tucker on drums and production, recorded mostly live in the studio. Statecraft was meant as a much more fleshed-out affair, featuring offbeat horns and strings alongside the guitar assault of Douglas and Santiago's unmistakable signature sound.
Upon its initial release, Statecraft would go on to gather praise from the likes of David Bowie (who sent a fan letter) and John Waters-as well as rave reviews in music magazines in the US and UK.
"David Bowie's letter arrived in a large white envelope that looked like some sort of bizarre wedding invitation. My girlfriend got it from the mailbox. To my surprise, when we opened it, there was a letter from Bowie inside saying that he loved Statecraft, and that I must keep up the good work, and make more music for him to enjoy." (from the Statecraft: Expanded sleeve notes)
Broken Horse's Statecraft: Expanded reissue now presents Charles Douglas's original vision by collecting all of the studio tracks from the sessions on two CDs-adding nineteen rare and unreleased songs to the sixteen original tracks. The reissue also includes an extensive 28-page booklet of liner notes written by Charles Douglas himself, detailing his misadventures making Statecraft, which serve as a brilliant snapshot of life and music in NYC in the early 00's.
According to Douglas, who has not recorded any music in the fifteen years since Statecraft, he is delighted to be "unknown but still alive." We hope to change the "unknown" part of that equation with Statecraft: Expanded, and introduce his genius to a brand new audience who missed out on him the first time around.