Butter | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 26 October 2009 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 51:05 | |||
Label | Warp | |||
Producer | Hudson Mohawke | |||
Hudson Mohawke chronology | ||||
| ||||
Hudson Mohawke studio album chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Butter | ||||
|
Butter is the debut studio album by Hudson Mohawke, the alias of Scottish musician Ross Birchard.[4] It was released on Warp Records on 26 October 2009,[5] to positive reviews from critics.[6]
Background
In 2009, Hudson Mohawke signed to Warp Records, despite a very limited track record of official releases; in fact, the bulk of his releases were unofficial tracks and DJ mixes circulated on the Internet, as well as his 2006 Hudson's Heeters mixtape.[7] Butter is his debut album and second release on Warp following the 2008 Polyfolk Dance EP.[8] The album’s artwork was designed by Birchard’s friend Tom Scholefield (a.k.a. Konx-Om-Pax), with both working from a folder of influences they wanted to incorporate,[9] including "the '80s t-shirts Ross and Dom [Flannigan] liked with wolves and bad airbrush animal art."[10] The album features collaborations with Dâm-Funk, Nadsroic, and Olivier Daysoul, the latter an American singer who contributes to two tracks.[11]
Birchard described his recording setup as "very simple," explaining "I’m more interested in the equipment being usable and immediate, rather than spending loads of time tweaking things."[10] Most of the album was made in the audio program FruityLoops using free plug-ins.[10] Mohawke also used hardware such as an Ensoniq VFX and Roland W30 "for lots of vintage dancey sounds" as well as a Korg M50, and sampled his own MIDI programming.[11] He premiered the material at LA's Low End Theory, where it was received positively,[11] although some feedback from the more purist hip-hop DJs was less positive.[10]
Reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 80/100[6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
BBC Music | favorable[13] |
Clash | 7/10[14] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10[5] |
The Guardian | [15] |
NME | 7/10[16] |
Pitchfork | 6.7/10[17] |
PopMatters | 8/10[4] |
Q | [6] |
Resident Advisor | 3.5/5[8] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Butter received an average score of 80, based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]
AllMusic called it "A fearless scrap heap mutation that incorporates icebox IDM crunch, DayGlo synthesizer funk and, most notably, late-'80s/early-'90s R&B flourishes."[12] AJ Ramirez of PopMatters gave the album 8 stars out of 10, commenting that "While Butter's fascination with chaotic beats and sonic experimentalism fit right into the Warp aesthetic, the album is remarkably accessible, liable to inspire head-bobbing motions of approval."[4] The Guardian wrote that "listening to Butter can feel like eavesdropping on the future," adding that "It's like eating candyfloss and helium on a speeding rollercoaster: exhilarating and discombobulating in equal measure."[15]
In retrospect, DJ Jake Jenkins called the album "one of the most iconic releases in the LET / beat-scene paradigm. There is a peculiar technicolour to the album that was unlike the other instrumental hip-hop coming out of LA at the time."[10] Birchard stated that within five or six years of release, he began hearing about the influence of the album on other artists, but "what I was doing was just doing shit for fun basically and wearing the influences of it on my sleeve, and it wasn’t done with the intention of anything else [...] If I was going to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same."[10] In 2020, Clash named it among the 20 best Scottish albums of the 21st century.[18]
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Shower Melody" | 1:21 |
2. | "Gluetooth" | 3:47 |
3. | "Joy Fantastic" (featuring Olivier Daysoul) | 3:59 |
4. | "3.30" | 1:35 |
5. | "Trykk" | 2:13 |
6. | "Fruit Touch" | 3:57 |
7. | "ZOo00OOm" | 2:42 |
8. | "Acoustic Lady" | 2:07 |
9. | "Rising 5" | 3:12 |
10. | "Twistclip Loop" | 1:23 |
11. | "Just Decided" (featuring Olivier Daysoul) | 3:50 |
12. | "No One Could Ever" | 2:19 |
13. | "Velvet Peel" | 2:16 |
14. | "Tell Me What You Want from Me" (featuring Dâm-Funk) | 2:58 |
15. | "Fuse" | 3:10 |
16. | "Star Crackout" | 4:55 |
17. | "Allhot" (featuring Nadsroic) | 2:43 |
18. | "Black n Red" | 2:44 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.[19]
- Hudson Mohawke – production, writing
- Olivier Daysoul – vocals, writing (tracks 3, 11)
- Dâm-Funk – vocals, writing (track 14)
- Nadsroic – vocals, writing (track 14)
- Naweed – mastering
- Sun Rab – effects
- Wednesday Nite – mbira (track 9)
- Sir Anthony Chopkins – samples
- Tweeter Cushing – tambourine
- Queefer Sutherland – trombone (track 6)
- Konx-Om-Pax – design
- Brian Sweeney – photography
References
- ↑ McFadyen, Alex. "The 20 Best Scottish Albums Of The 21st Century". Clash. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ↑ Sisson, Patrick (12 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke: Butter". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ Sisson, Patrick (12 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke: Butter". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 Ramirez, AJ (27 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke: Butter". PopMatters. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- 1 2 Gardner, Noel (28 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke - Butter". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 "Butter - Hudson Mohawke". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ Birchmeier, Jason. "Hudson Mohawke Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- 1 2 Marlow, Oli (4 November 2009). "Hudson Mohawke - Butter". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ Gieben, Bran. "Warp Week: Hudson Mohawke Melts Genres Like Butter!". The Skinny. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Welsh, April Clare. "Joy Fantastic: An Oral History of Hudson Mohawke's Butter". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
- 1 2 3 Bamberger, Seas. "Hudson Mohawke: "I was never really a fan of hammering shit in people's faces all the time"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Butter - Hudson Mohawke". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ Pattison, Louis (2009). "Hudson Mohawke - Butter - Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ Murray, Robin (26 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke - Butter". Clash. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- 1 2 MacInnes, Paul (22 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke: Butter". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ Richards, Sam (9 October 2009). "Album review: Hudson Mohawke - 'Butter'". NME. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ Sisson, Patrick (12 October 2009). "Hudson Mohawke: Butter". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- ↑ McFadyen, Alex. "The 20 Best Scottish Albums Of The 21st Century". Clash. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ↑ Hudson Mohawke (2009). Butter (booklet). Warp. WARPCD188.
Further reading
- Jama, Zainab (1 December 2009). "XLR8R's Favorites of 2009: Hudson Mohawke". XLR8R.
- Martin, Felicity (14 July 2015). "Spotlight Special: Hudson Mohawke - Butter". Clash.