The three last years have been crazy for Mainz-based German Turkish producer and DJ Bьlent Gьrler, the driving force behind the brawny pseudonym Butch. Well, actually, all his life has been crazy. From his early days as a graffiti artist to today, Bьlent Gьrler, a sparkling individual with a great sense of humor, has always pushed the envelope. An immensely talented, music-ridden, technique-crazed person with a strong zest for recognition, he’s undergone a huge artistic metamorphosis in order to expose himself. And now that his ”Papillon” is spreading its wings, Butch is ready to take off!

Locked into his studio for years, Bьlent honed his skills to perfection and subsequently created his very own definition of sound. An utterly open-minded approach to music and life in general as well as a downright emotional way of dealing with things is responsible for his amalgamated style that smoothes the edges of techno, house, minimal and experimental stuff and melts them into one great colorful experience. Incorporating everything from guitar licks to deep gurgling acid -- anything that feels good -- into his sound, he manages to dulcify 1001 nights, and he is no where near tired yet…

Butch’s journey started when he was a b-boying teenager surfing trains to Frankfurt to paint. He risked his life climbing the compartments, and inevitably ended up getting injured. Breaking both his arms meant he had to take a break from dancing, so he got busy with some turntable equipment and walked out 6th in the German DMC DJ-Championship a few years later. With this kind of achievement under his belt, there was nothing that was gonna stop Butch on his way to the top.

”Papillon” is the life story of a butterfly (although it was the film which got Butch inspired), breaking out of his cocoon to fly off to higher ground. It is personal transformation that becomes musical progression over the course of the years, with Bьlent getting closer and closer to the core of things. Once inspired by his older brother who got Bьlent into electronic music, Butch who went dancing in the infamous Dorian Gray club when he was a teenager, is firmly rooted in the past and the present while reaching out for the stars.

Butch’s debut is timeless club music at its finest that never ceases to surprise with its eloquent expressivity. Breaking out of stylistic confinements with elaborately kicking and clicking tracks like ”Wet’n’Tight” or ”Ein-E”, Butch is taking off into other dimensions. And parallel universes. Reintroducing musicality to the floor, Butch does not hesitate to paint vivid colors when producing: be it the wonderfully vibrant, lively accordion- and percussion flavoured house sounds of ”Amelie” which has the potential to become massive, the smooth and sophisticated sounds of ”Osiris” or the harmonic ”Jazzy Belle” -- all tracks sound equally homogenous, fluent and creative.

Limitless he explores luscious sounding elements and wedges them into tight beat cages. Tracks like ”Kaleidoscope Eyes” tell stories that have you listening full of astonishment while they are gripping you firmly with their streamlined grooves. When the violins in the breakdown of ”Soultan” overlap the soulful moans of Julie Marghilano, it leaves nothing but amazement. And when the first CD of the album fades into the secretly stashed away, soft guitar licks that give ”Sand” its reminiscent flavour, it smoothes every frown and leaves nothing but contentment.

The album is much more than a debut as the second CD includes material previously released on labels as prestigious as Trapez, AFU Ltd., Craft Music and of course his main-label Great Stuff, thus offering a huge retrospective of the last few years’ activities. A DJ-mix which encompasses more of Butch’s output under different monikers, sometimes released under his real name Bьlent Gьrler, and is significantly crunchier and tougher than the first disc -- with remixers or co-producers like Oxia, Popof and Amir on duty this comes not as a surprise. It shows a more club focused side of the incredibly versatile talent that is Bьlent. And knowing him means knowing that that is only the beginning.