REVIEW: MUSIC HAS FAILED US BY IB — (SPOKEN WORD POETRY ALBUM)
September 27, 2023
“Nigerian spoken word poet IB reflects on the ultimate question: “What is the Nigerian dream?”.”-Chris L. Butler
Chris L. Butler
Chris L. Butler is an African American and Dutch poet, essayist, and historian from Philadelphia, PA living in Calgary, AB.
MUSES Vol. 3: STETSON BENNETT AND THE YEAR OF THE QUARTERBACK
January 27, 2022
“I was once told by an editor that I “don’t write real poetry”. How is this any different from people saying that Bennett had a mediocre arm”? – Chris L. Butler
REVIEW: GROWN OCEAN – MATT MITCHELL (WORD WEST)
January 26, 2022
“Grown Ocean is a collection about love as much as it is a collection of disenchantment with the world”. – Chris L. Butler
MUSES VOL. 2: THE 90’S SILVER SURFER ANIMATED SERIES
December 7, 2021
“The poetically crafted inner monologues of the Silver Surfer that must’ve entrapped my consciousness back then. I realize now he was a poet on this show”. – Chris L. Butler
MUSES VOL. 1: ANDRE 3000 REMINDS US OF THE POWER INSIDE HEARTFELT ART
October 20, 2021
“Rappers like Andre Benjamin remind me that poems are the tender glove we need during despair, and the spiked bat of words that can be wielded against injustice” – Chris L. Butler
REVIEWS: “THE DANDELION SPEAKS OF SURVIVAL” QUINTIN COLLINS (CHERRY CASTLE PUBLISHING)
June 19, 2021
What makes The Dandelion Speaks of Survival special is that it is more than a collection by a Black writer, but rather an Ode to Blackness.
REVIEW: BODEGA NIGHT PIGEON RIOT – AMANDA DEUTCH (ABOVE/GROUND PRESS)
December 3, 2020
REVIEW: BODEGA NIGHT PIGEON RIOT – AMANDA DEUTCH (ABOVE/GROUND PRESS)
Like riding in the car, riding the subway is a moment where many people wrestle with their thoughts. Sometimes these thoughts are a diagnosis of the self, other times they are external, a commentary on the troubles of the world around us.
REVIEW: GRAVITY – LYNNE SCHMIDT (NIGHTINGALE & SPARROW)
October 21, 2020
REVIEW: GRAVITY – LYNNE SCHMIDT (NIGHTINGALE & SPARROW)
In that moment of vulnerability we are often not our best selves ultimately becoming lost. but sometimes we overcome these bad relationships, saving ourselves in the end.
Review by Chris L. Butler