Slowcoustic goes local: Edmonton’s Tyler Butler creates the dark bedroom folk of my dreams

Tyler Butler is creating slowed down folky soundscapes from the city of champions, Edmonton.  Sometimes I find myself scouring the US and Europe for music and end up finding some of the best stuff right in my own backyard.  Figures.

Tyler has recently released his latest album ‘Winter King’ on OLD UGLY Recording Co and while I am just getting into this stripped down acoustic album, it is truly impressing.  Winter King was created to infuse ‘Winter Mythology’ with ‘Complex & Controlled Poetry’.  What I take from this is that the album brings stories melded into songs that make you fall deep into them and you also get lost in the fantastic tales themselves.  Butler indicates that the album has come out of the exploration of social and personal life experienced over the long dark Edmonton winter.  Something I am not totally unfamiliar with and as an analogy, I have to say it rings true.  When days are short, bleak and isolating one can come out with clarity and even more so, great music.  Sample one:

With comparisons to true singer songwriters like J. Tillman, Will Oldham and Bon Iver – you get an impression of a down trodden but musically driven person.  While many dismiss lo-fi or minimal sounding music, this is where ‘real’ music lives for me – in the quiet moments of a song between versus, audible finger slides on strings and slight whispers that an artist mutters to themselves.  Butler brings you inside his world, sits you down next to him and he sings to you and not at you.  Listen in headphones to catch it all, it is truly worth your time.  Sample two:

The new album “Winter King” is now out via his Bandcamp page HERE and while perusing you can catch his live performance on CJSR for a pay-at-your-own-risk download (re: free if you wish) that is also a must.  Take the time, tell your friends and slow down for a moment.

~Smansmith

P.S.  Bonus track: “Morana (Live at CJSR)” – Tyler Butler.  Studio version on “Winter King”.