AYLI Podcast #63 - Russell E.L. Butler

Russell E.L. Butler is one of the Bay Area's finest. On Friday, April 21, Butler will be warming up the As You Like It dance-floor, opening for Umfang and Berlin legend Marcel Dettmann as they take over Public Works for part of AYLI's nascent Unabridged series. The Bermuda-born, Oakland-based producer has spent the last several years building up an unassailably fine catalogue of raw electronic music: first as Black Jeans, a short-lived minimal synth project that refreshingly did not trade in nostalgia, and recently under his own name, under which he releases stripped-down techno that carries potent emotional weight. The world is taking notice — his first album appeared on cult U.K. label Opal Tapes, and three EPs followed shortly thereafter, with more on the way this year. He’s just returned to the Bay after touring his live set all over the States and Canada.