I hesitate to post Cotton Mathers' s rarer than rare, The Crafty Flower Arranger for a number of reasons. Number one I don't own an original copy, or even possess a burned copy from an original. Number two, the best rip I was able to locate on MP3 sharing sites was a paltry 128 kbps, half of what I personally rips my CDs and records at. Strangely enough, I was able to find this at a slightly higher bit rate on Soulseek, but with much inferior quality than the 128 kbps version I'm hosting. Finally, and most significantly, this is an ethical dilemma. The eight song CFA was never intended for public release, rather as a tool to book shows in the Austin, TX area, where Cotton Mather resided. Some people might refer to this CD as a "vanity release," and by and large that would be accurate, taking into account it's scarcity and the cherry-picked audience it was targeted for. No one perhaps the band knows exactly how many copies were pressed, but estimates are in the low hundreds - if not less than a hundred!
If you like Cotton Mather, or for that matter have an inclination for quality guitar-pop in general, then it's a safe bet to say that you love/will love their debut album, 1994's Cotton Is King. The Crafty Flower Arranger is effectively a CD of demos for that very record, making it no small object of intrigue to die-hard CM fans. Only three of the tracks would latter appear in slightly modified versions on Cotton Is King, and five others ("Asterisk Man," "Listen to the Angel," "Spellbound," "Ship Shape," and "I'm in Debt") are 100% exclusive to this coveted, five inch circle of aluminum. Simply put, the full-length album that these eight tracks were the appetizers for, transcend mundanely termed "power-pop", "indie," etc. Cotton Mather would record two more albums, Kontiki and The Big Picture, and while they imbued all of their music with class and wit, they never were able to match the magic and moxie of Cotton Is King. For the uninitiated, hearing is believing.
If anyone associated with Cotton Mather objects to this post, please contact me. I might however ask why you would want a record of this caliber and scarcity removed from the public domain. As a shout-out to the band, I hope you will consider reissuing Cotton Is King, along with the tracks from CFA as a bonus, or for that matter a separate release.
Incidentally, I was able to swipe a jpeg of the cover from a listing for this CD on Ebay, some four or five years ago. So far I as I can tell, it hasn't reappeared since. Enjoy.
01. Asterisk Man
02. Ship Shape
03. Spellbound
04. April's Fool
05. Cross the Rubicon
06. Lost My Motto
07. Listen to the Angel
08. I'm in Debt