- Despite enjoying support from the likes of Dave Spoon and Mark Knight in the electro camp for tracks like "Mushroom Man" and "On the Line," Bülent Gürler, AKA Butch, typically collects the minimal tag in press and even received a "Best Techno" nomination in 2008's Beatport Awards. Seemingly recognising the incoherent messages thus far, Great Stuff's PR blurb for Butch's debut artist album, Papillon, develops the title theme (Papillon is French for butterfly), claiming that the producer has "undergone a huge artistic metamorphosis" with this release. So what does the pattern on his wings tell us?
Butch immediately reveals the new formula in "The Table," "About This Time" and "Wet'n'Tight," which are tech house groovers built around catchy melodies and contain, without fail, a subtle crescendo delivered with carbon copy timing. Next is the instantly appealing "Amelie," with a club-friendly Parisian accordion riff and a crescendo that dominates the track more boldly. With the tone set, massive build-ups are the blueprint for the clichéd minimal bleeps of "Ein-E" and contrasting dark and soft electro of "Osiris" and "Jazzy Belle" respectively. Nonetheless, despite the conventional recipe—nearly all tracks feature the same crescendo based ingredient—as standalone tracks they are veritable dance floor bombs, jackhammers for peak time sets.
Yet when "Kaleidoscope Eyes" changes the mood, its imagination is striking; a chilling lullaby straight from a child's nightmare skipping a different beat to the rest of the album. Likewise, "Soultan," featuring an evocative Muslim violin melody—its use allegedly disapproved of by Islamic fundamentalists—demonstrates a more creative and distinctive Butch, in contrast to the general hesitance that pervades the rest of the record. (Typified, frustratingly, when disc one ends by reverting back to the earlier formula with two tracks, "Gag Bag Roll" and "Something Called Acid" best described as fillers.)
If disc one is Butch as Papillon, then disc two is the decomposing waste left in the cocoon that spawned him. A continuous mix of previously released material, the Muslim inspirations heard within "Last Tango" and "Turkey" are the only things likely to grab your attention here. Moreover, it is such personal touches that are plagued by a chronic use of conventional ideas throughout, most typically the maladroit crescendo, which obscures the true Butch persona. Yes, he is an artistic personality who has certainly shown enough originality here for continued intrigue in his work, but the reluctance to unreservedly flaunt his colours leaves a lasting frustration.
TracklistCD 1
01. The Table
02. About This Time
03. Wet 'N' Tight
04. Amelie
05. Ein-E
06. Osiris
07. Jazzy Belle
08. Kleidoscope Eyes
09. Bad Weed
10. Soultan
11. GG Ball Roll
12. Something Called Acid
13. Sand
CD 2
01. Slg - Rushhour (Bülent Gürler Remix)
02. Butch - Last Tango
03. Butch - On The Line (Oxia Remix)
04. Butch & Amir - Set It Off
05. Bastian Heerhorst - Marathon (Butch Remix)
06. Butch - Turkey
07. Butch - Mushroom Man
08. Silent Breed - Syin In 2008 (Butch Remix)
09. Alex Cappelli - Bloody Notes (Butch Remix)
10. Bülent Gürler - Fire
11. Butch - 1000 Lords (Popof Remix)