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'Trapped at Sea' Reviews

Mick Mercer (November 2009)
Source http://mickmercer.livejournal.com/994085.html

"I know nothing of folk music apart from the simple fact I recoil from the twee worldview I associate with anything reared from Steeleye/Fairport sap, but Butler is like a descendant of the darker moods evoked by John Martyn or Michael Chapman. And, why we’re contemplating this, he’s got ‘There's ghosts in the coaching house........’ written on his myspace page, and announces new song ‘Jack The Moment’ (or ‘Jack The Mommet’ according to the myspace player) as concerning, “a supernatural scarecrow that abducts young girls and transforms them into his straw brides,” which is definitely a direction we want to see him going in, tapping into a fertile territory. I figured I’d tip you off about this because it was released earlier this year and it’s a limited edition of only 100.

There is much to admire in the dramatic opener, ‘Painfully Slow’, from the opening guitar which sets a beautiful reflective atmosphere all by itself, to the unsettling lyrics spilling out, the imagery impeccably captured, the guitar moving into a more forceful flow. So here is an interesting mix of old and new right from the start, because the vocal styling, as backing vocals come in to ride shotgun/blunderbuss, is ancient, but the story is creepy, someone seemingly committing suicide on a railway line, caught by cctv. ‘Those Red Shoes’ then turns out to be a truly macabre thing, a mercurial, diligently plucked thing, with a woman hit by a car, examined, then shoved in its boot.

The reason the darker side seems so perfect for him is revealed by the more indie breeziness of ‘To Fly A Plane’ which is witty and strange, a bit like a nerdy early Billy Bragg. I’m assuming ‘Rising River’ was influenced by a firsthand encounter with rural flooding. It’s a frisky but plain entity and the muted musing of ‘It’s Been Long Enough’ is a plaintive dawdle. These are harmonious narratives, but they don’t grab your mind or swish around inside the ears. As the sweet-talker admits, ‘ruins of British industry remind me of you’ in the doleful ‘Light Blue Rendering’ the jaded strumming just moves easily into the scruffily lilting ‘Trapped At Sea’ which is well traditional, bringing in a bouzouki and reed organ, whatever that is. Some chap is on the run, and off on the ocean waves, unless I have missed obscure meanings, and that’s about as folky as you get and also, unfortunately, what thousands of others sing about.

Back to more imaginative ideas ‘My Siren’ is deeply attractive, ticking with a drowsy splendour, then ‘Save Us’ drifts and wails as the sea remains munching away, doing intentional things to claw at you gently. (I should say that even when trad they’ve got enough going on to keep you intrigued if not necessarily excited.) ‘Candles’ is seriously soppy, and all the more charming for it, with disquieting closer ‘Raise A Flag’ the total opposite, in that it has a rousing tone, with an inverted purpose, dovetailing doubt among the jubilation. It’s cleverly done, I’m not sure what it’s meant to mean, but that doesn’t matter, it gets under the skin.

Butler’s an odd one alright, a real talent who crosses genres with suave guile, which is why I hope he continues in the scarecrow direction, as the more imaginative he becomes, the more everything comes alive."

Mike Hough / Bright Young Folk (June 2009)
Source www.brightyoungfolk.com

" ‘Trapped at Sea’ is the debut album from Malvern-based Philip Butler and several guest musicians including Tom Collison. Butler previously played in several indie and punk bands and this album represents a first foray into the folk world.

The style of the album is based around Butler’s acoustic guitar with added folk elements (mandolin, accordion) as well as harmonica, bouzouki and one or two other instruments, resulting in a complex, layered and highly original sound. As might be expected from an artist who has influences from so many musical genres, there is a lot of variation in style between the eleven songs, from the rock/punk influences in ‘Raise a Flag’, the acoustic indie of ‘Fly a Plane’ but also notably the traditional folk tracks on the theme of coastal erosion and flooding exemplified by ‘Rising River’ and ‘Save Us’. It’s these more folky songs which I found the most powerful.

The strongest lyrical theme of ‘Trapped at Sea’ is a coastal one, with tracks about erosion and flooding expressing the resilience of coastal communities. This theme, together with the originality of the sound creates a contemplative album on the fringes of the folk scene. This is an interesting and engaging album which, while perhaps not for folk purists, would be a good choice as something a little different."

Mark S. Tucker/Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange (U.S.A.) (April 2009)
Source - www.acousticmusic.com

"Now here's a sound you don't often hear. Philip Butler has moved well beyond the punk scene to blend the Incredible String Band with early Strawbs, Pentangle, and Pearls Before Swine, ending with a quirky progressive folk sound that entirely eluded older prototypes like Keith Christmas and Colin Scott—even, frankly, much as I revere the guy as a writer, Pete Sinfield in his rootsier solo work. What Butler's doing has strong affinities with the Young God and Language of Stone labels as well as with the 'weird folk' movement, though he's not chasing quirky squibs as a pop grail but rather compositional and perceptual necessity.

No one would raise a note of doubt were I to play this blind and claim it was released in 1973. Trapped at Sea has the same finished/unfinished feel a good deal of the non-mainstream—and a lot of the mainstream (Elyse Weinberg, etc.)—releases had back then, a quality that avoided overproduction for a preference in tangibility. For a home job, the sessions are damn well captured, especially the choral vocals, while throwing mellotron, lap steel, and layers of instruments into the mix, often achieving airs of pastoral majesty.

Butler threw over any chance whatsoever at a shot at the charts and, in doing so, achieved a degree of rough and raw beauty no Billboard slab could hope for. The dreary grace of My Siren, for instance, climbs into a Goth chamber trance that ends in a curious triangle abbreviation before flowing into Save Us and its Jansch-y guitaristics and desperate hero's narrative set off by odd side effects and a rubbery slide. No matter where you go on this disc, you're going to run into a blend of the traditional and the unorthodox forming a tractor beam around the ears. So, beam me up, Erasmus, I'm ready."

Tim Carroll/Folkwords (March 2009)
Source - www.folkwords.com

"Recorded, according to its creator in a ‘basic home studio on the top floor of a bed and breakfast between guest check-ins’, ‘Trapped at Sea’ is the debut album from singer-songwriter Philip Butler. At this point many people will doubtless say: “Who?” Well there’s an even chance that with all being well with independent music, working hard to build a following and the odd lucky break you will hear more from him and in 12 months fewer people will ask: “Who?”

Let’s get the production out of the way for a minute – yes it’s a tad rough in places and there are moments when that roughness notices, especially when some of the instruments and voices are at odds with each other. However, this guy can write and play good music - he builds interesting tunes, plays an array of instruments and delivers curiously 'Martynesque' lyrics that need to be heard. One listen is not enough though, make sure that you repeat the process a few times to find the layers and depth that live inside ‘Trapped at Sea’.

The song collection on this album ranges widely and freely across acoustic folk. From the traditional English folk elements present in the stoically topical ‘Rising River’ and the title track’ Trapped at Sea’, through the caustic lyrical harshness of ‘Painfully Slow’ to the dark emotional narratives of ‘It’s Been Long Enough’ and ‘My Siren’. Then of course there’s the multi-layered barbed strangeness of ‘Raise a Flag’ with its rock flavour, insistent chanting and punchy guitars – as I said, you have to take some time to listen to this.

On ‘Trapped at Sea’ Philip Butler handles vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, reed organ and percussion. He’s joined by Tom Collison (guitar, lap steel, keyboard, vocals, percussion, drums) Dom Huxley (vocals, harmonica bass) Natasha Tranter (vocals) Andy Keith-Lucas (bouzouki, vocals) George Clarke (vocals) Joel Garabedian (drums) and Stephanie Trussler (violin).

A self-confessed migrant from punk to acoustic and folk, Philip knows how to create a good song. Fascinating layers of instrumentation combine with intricate and sometimes eccentrically crafted harmonies. Vocals that range from rambling and direct to celebratory and mournful convey the narrative intensity of his lyrics. Mould all these together and there’s an album worth treating your ears to - and you won’t say: “Who?” when someone mentions his name."

" I've noticed an interesting development over the last few years, in that a lot of artists and labels formerly associated with indie/noisepop have been moving towards folk music. With some it could just be a case of bandwagon jumping, as it seems like the fashion police no longer think folk is uncool - but in many cases it appears these people have gravitated towards folk completely independently of each other and not because they want to be part of a scene. This phenomenon is particularly interesting for me as my own taste in music started shifting away from indiepop, noisepop and related styles towards folk music a few years ago, so I find it interesting that a lot of others have been heading in a similar direction.

I mention this because Philip Butler is one such artist. Previously involved with noisepop, indierock and post-punk outfits including Toyskin and A Series of Wheels, he has now gone solo (with some guest performances from other artists for backing vocals and additional instrumental overdubs), opting for a more acoustic sound that successfully and seamlessly blends the less noisy side of indie music with influences from traditional British and occasionally American folk.
Painfully Slow combines the more adventurous side of indie music with folk and angular prog touches. To Fly A Plane is mainly old-school indiepop, but the addition of lap steel and some of the guitar style used in this track gives it an American folk touch. Rising River, a song about flooding and its accompanying chaos, is a mandolin and guitar-led piece with a strong influence from British trad folk. It's Been Long Enough is dark, melancholic and slightly off-centre indiepop with some unusual use of mandolin and folky backing vocals.Trapped at Sea is a traditional song, very impressively performed with mandolin and organ. Save Us deals with the grim reality of coastal erosion, set to a creative musical blend of folk, blues, and something much more off-kilter. Raise a Flag is an inventive mix of angry post-punk, drawn-out spacey guitar effects, Spanish-tinged acoustic guitar, and other pretty much uncategorisable bits; I don't know of anyone else making music quite like this.

Philip Butler hasn't completely left behind his indie roots, so this is not an album for folk purists, but for those who appreciate both forms of music, there is a lot to like here. Philip's own compositions show a great deal of originality, and his superb rendition of the traditional song Trapped at Sea makes me curious as to what a complete album of traditional music from this artist would sound like."

Toxic Pete (February 2009)
Source - www.toxicpete.co.uk

Having a maturely deep sounding vocal intonation Butler sounds older than his years. He has a peculiar habit of letting his voice err off the pure note at times that some might find somewhat distracting but, to me, just adds more colour to his quirkiness. His songs are superbly written and beautifully played; again Butler's maturity shines through beautifully. With a little help from some friends Butler fills his songs with bright instrumentation and nifty vocal harmonies, never cluttered but sensibly and sensitively arranged, Butler's songs demonstrate great compositional skills and amazing professionalism.

'Trapped At Sea' by Philip Butler is typically British folk music; Butler rarely strays from the musical roots of his homeland but injects sufficient 'world' nuances to make his songs globally acceptable. This is generally a gentle but cleverly persuasive album; it isn't really something that instantly smacks you in the face but, with repeat plays it slowly comes to you and you find yourself caught up and kinda swimming around in Butler's nu-folk ramblings. For a guy who's background tended towards the more fiery indie-rock scene Butler shows that if music's truly in your soul you can turn your hand to almost anything and make it work - music is the drug and Butler seems to be blessed with a 'master' key to unlock almost any genre door and make it work for him!

Philip Butler is quite clearly a great songsmith and a very accomplished multi-instrumentalist. 'Trapped At Sea' clearly demonstrates Butler's all-round abilities and artistic prowess. 'Trapped At Sea' may not be truly ground-breaking but it is a damn fine piece of eclectic folk creativity. Philip Butler will need help if he's gonna take this work on the road; he openly admits in his press pack that the inclusion of his 'friends' and the consequent layered recording will be difficult to reproduce in the live scenario - but hey, that's what 'friends' are for and I'm sure they'll all rally round to help him out on his travels. 'Trapped At Sea' by Philip Butler is a very accomplished album and suggests that Philip Butler has a great future in the music business - will he stay true to these folk beginnings or will he drift out again into other genre realms? Only time will tell and Philip Butler is the only one who knows the answer! Whatever, 'Trapped At Sea' by Philip Butler will win him many friends and get him loads of work - one to watch out for methinks!"