Squarepusher

I have no idea what you should expect from Jenkinson. Depends what the new stuff is like (okay, it's probably drill'n'cliche, but he might surprise).

Squarepusher is good fun live, but I second the "it's gonna be fucking loud" warning...and if you can dance to his whole set, you get a special prize!

exactly! i think the disinterested audience thing comes from promoters or whoever booking them in unsuitable venues. it's not a rock show...

Plaid on the other hand are awesome in every way! Can't wait to see them live again!

bumping because I'd forgotten that I like "Kodack" of Feed Me Weird Things a lot

Been soo long since I've listened to Squarepusher.

feed me's nostalgia factor is huge right now

http://squarepusher.net/shobaleader-one/

WTF? this is pretty great. Is it really Squarepusher or what?

Too widdly. Is it not just an act he's endorsing, or possibly producing?

Apparently it really is him, just a pseudonym. He released a single under the same name on Ed Banger last month. I think its awful, the last thing Jenkinson needs to do right now is some whack Ratatat tribute shit.

I liked Hello Everything quite a bit, he should do more jolly breakbeaty stuff like that. I've never been particularly into the jazz-funk side of his work.

Having said that, this album description is pretty good:

Just a Souvenir is an album by Squarepusher, which was released to the general listening public on October 27, 2008. The album was made available to purchase as a download from bleep.com on September 15, 2008.[1]

The album's genesis came from a daydream, in which Tom Jenkinson envisioned a rock band performing a concert against the backdrop of a large, glowing coathanger. The performance quickly became surreal: among other things, a river forces the band to kayak whilst performing; the guitarist is able to accelerate or decelerate time at will; and every drum in the drummer's kit begins to switch places with one another.[2] As such, the majority of the album consists of Jenkinson's own version of jazz fusion, threaded through with classical guitar, math rock and funk recordings.

Am I listening to the same thing as everyone else? I don't hear any widdlyness or Ratatat or jazz or breakbeat - more epic horror kinda goth/new wave stuff. I hope I was listening to the right thing and not Tim Exile or something.

this is pretty alright (remix is better):

http://soundcloud.com/hypetrak/sets/squarepusher-cryptic-motion-edits

did y'all hear that shobaleader one thing yet?

Has he done anything of merit since the "Do You Know Squarepusher" single?

Yes, a fair bit.

I like the Shobaleader One single, but the Mr Oizo mix was best.

I am still trying to get my head around the Shobaleader thing. Every time I hear it, halfway through I keep expecting to go somewhere, and it doesn't, so I really just want to take it off and put on Chrome Hoof instead.

Has he done anything of merit since the "Do You Know Squarepusher" single?

― Mr. Snrub, Friday, October 22, 2010 1:20 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

Hello Everything.

if you ever get to see him in an improv / jazz situation dooo it. it's fucking cool when he starts playing some wacky squarepusher bass shit in that context. i think pretty much everything he does is worth a listen just not always worth revisiting.

I've never been into his jazz improv stuff. If I wanted to listen to something like that I'd seek out people who've dedicated their careers to it, not a moonlighting IDM producer.

tbf he has been doing the jazz improv thing quite heavily for most of his career, or at least since Music Is Rotted One Note, which was 98? 97? That said I know what you mean because a lot of it is tributary rather than truly innovative.

a lot of it is tributary rather than truly innovative.

You put it better than I did.

Then again, while a lot of it might be trying to channel Bitches Brew through a bunch of warped-out synths, the man knows his jazz and is a remarkable bassist and drummer, so it's maybe doing him a disservice to slate a good 50% of his career as "Switched On Miles" or something. Especially when every so often he comes out with a "My Sound" or a "Underwatertorch" or a "Iambic 5 Poetry", all of which are very beautiful with hardly anything ostensibly electronic.

oh shit I haven't thought about "Iambic 5 Poetry" in YEARS

one of my all time favourite tracks. first time i heard it i was in Paris, which fits nicely.

iambic 9 is my favourite

wait... which one is the one on Budakhan Mindphone?

Has he done anything of merit since the "Do You Know Squarepusher" single?

― Mr. Snrub, Friday, October 22, 2010 1:20 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

Hello Everything.

― A brownish area with points (chap), Friday, 22 October 2010 10:51 (Yesterday) Bookmark

hold up, surely you mean this one?
http://blog.nettribe.org/user_images/36/03/413fda2a10b6644c37ccada81f58d43a.jpg

actually the non 1-D sub-Lightning Bolt rawk shite on Just A Souvenir was fun, if more diverting than classic - but still fuckloads better than the tripe Tom's put out this year.

Been catching up with the last few Squarepusher releases. Not convinced by Shobaleader, but surprised how good his Solo Electric Bass Vol1 thing is.

I didn't really like either, but Just a Souvenir was pretty great
Still, I can't help but feel he's not really trying anymore...?

You would miss 'Don't Go Plastic', 'Beep Street' and 'UFOs Over Leytonstone' at least.

Just looking at Squarpusher LPs on wiki, hoo boy that Pitchfork review of Go Plastic is one of the wrongest things I have ever read.

returning to stuff I haven't really played since SOY (start of year), forgot how awesome Be Up A Hello is

so many good records (including this one) came out before covid and it literally feels like 2 years ago

yeah thought the same about Dan Deacon's new album, I was like no way did this come out in 2020

Feed Me Weird Things 25th anniversary edition coming out June 4th!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OySHlQzk8bY

enjoyable

they say that if you remember the 90s you weren't really there but that it's okay because you probably weren't doing anything that exciting anyway. but this guy was there and he remembers how many people have tried to yell things to him in a crowded club and he never heard a word they said and he's gonna play a bass solo on your heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTlSo_9Ef1s

It rips.

The solo bass tracks are lovely, I wish it was a whole album of that.

it does rip, but as usual, find it weirdly hard to digest for something that rips. squarepusher rips but doesnt stick, i guess.

Not heard the album yet but that's exactly how I've felt about the last several Squarepusher albums. I'd really like to be able to come back to them more, cos he's great, but it can feel like a task

the first single didn't really do much for me at first, but once I got into the whole album I really like it. My impression is that it's a bit of a throwback in some ways but there are moves in the production that he absolutely could not have done in the past. I think he's a total genius who has always made very sophisticated music.

Warp is proud to present an expanded and remastered version of Ultravisitor, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of its initial release.

This limited one-time pressing will be available as 3LP and 2CD editions, carefully remastered from the original sources by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering and overseen by Tom Jenkinson. Never entirely satisfied with the sound of the original release, Tom has taken the opportunity to bring out fresh dynamics and detail in the tracks.

Bonus album Venus No.17 Maximised is compiled from material originally released as part of the Ultravisitor promo EP, the Square Window 3” CD (a free bonus disc given out with WarpMart pre-orders of the Ultravisitor album) and the Venus No.17 EP. The accompanying booklet contains photographs, posters and recording documentation from Tom’s archive.

Ultravisitor (20th Anniversary Edition) can be pre-ordered now, and will be released on 25 October via Warp Records.

VINYL

- Limited to 5,000 copies worldwide; numbered sticker on outer packaging.

- All tracks remastered from the original sources.

- Black Ultravisitor 2LP in 5mm-wide spine sleeve; printed inner sleeves.

- Bonus Venus No.17 Maximised 1LP in a square die-cut sleeve; poly-lined inner.

- 16 page 12" x 12" booklet.

- All housed in printed O-card outer sleeve.

CD

- Limited to 2,000 copies worldwide; numbered sticker on outer packaging.

- All tracks remastered from the original sources.

- Two discs in printed card wallets: Ultravisitor + Venus No.17 Maximised.

- 20-page booklet.

- All housed in printed O-card outer sleeve.

DIGITAL

- On streaming services, the existing Ultravisitor and Venus No.17 will be refreshed as Ultravisitor (Remastered) and Venus No.17 Maximised, which includes the original EP as well as tracks from Square Window that have previously not been available digitally.

Fucking right!!!!

I just picked up the vinyl remaster of Ultravisitor (without the 3rd LP) - seems like this got a broader release? Regardless, it sounds amazing, and this might very well be my favorite album from Tommy J. FWIW I noticed the 3LP limited 20th anniversary version is still available from his web site, but not Warp though

he's doin stuff again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvdRtOdRcM

I Think this is the first time I've been genuinely quite excited about a new Squarepusher album since the early 2000s.

Sick track and video, this is maybe the most Tortoise he's ever been. Love how the drum machine beat gets gradually faded down in the mix.

Live/acoustic instrumentation is back? Felt like he deliberately eschewed that on the last few records.

"Kammer" translates to "Chamber" so indeed I think this might be more stripped back and acoustic

this is gr8 he's gone full scandiprog. jaga jenkzist

weirdly got hard into ultravisitor recently, superb album

same here thanks to the recent reissue. it strikes me now it's Tom at his most Zappa, mainly due to the collage-like nature of it and the fact that it blurs the line between studio and live, main difference is Tom shuts the fuck up

I still remember throwing that album onto my iPod knowing nothing about Squarepusher...I was going through an Aphex Twin phase at the time and he often got brought up as a similar artist. forgot it was on there until "Tetra-sync" came up on shuffle, I think I was playing Gamecube F-Zero while it was hooked up to the stereo so I didn't know what it was while it was playing only that it was the greatest shit I'd ever heard in that moment. that night I downloaded his entire catalogue off Soulseek

this is maybe the most Tortoise he's ever been.

ok damn this album is gonna rule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G78DRt25G_4

sort of a harpsichord mix of jazz fusion and prog rock

sounds like Zappa's Jazz From Hell to me. though I think Tom is probably more suited to this sort of thing than Zappa was

Neat!

Gotta say I don't like this as much as the first single. But he sure is pushing that square.

Feeling this one as well. Generally enjoy Squarepusher but when a new one rolls round I get a daunting feeling that I'm going to get exhausted by it. This feels like he's really pushing out with a different sound rather than choosing a point on the existing jazz-breaks spectrum he usually operates in.

Law and Order: Phrygian Intent

hyping myself up for this by playing Ultravisitor thanks to the lovely reissue. I know a lot of people dug it back then but I remember this consensus of like "too much showing off"...maybe '04 was just not the right time for this. listening now all I can hear is how advanced it is. since I think this new one might be his Jazz From Hell I'll say this is his Sheik Yerbouti. a broad mix of stuff, some live some studio, all blended together into one weird package, full of "are you fucking kidding me" moments though obviously for much different reasons. maybe it hits different removed from the era when you realize just how unique a musician he is, not just in talent but his willingness to outwork everyone else

it's really well respected but for me it's went from yumming-up everything he released to feeling like i'd finally hit a wall

to me all of his albums feel like a hodgepodge of amazing moments, low key gems, and truly impressive-sounding stuff that just doesn’t stick, but is admirable up until you are fatigued by its aggressiveness and/or relentlessly dour mood

yes i agree. it's like... i could compile a couple of absolutely world beating compilations that would be easier to navigate end-to-end than most of his studio albums. It's just that his output is so bumpy - none of it is BAD, I just don't find myself in the mood to have to overcome wild mood swings they present

yeah making your own comp is key, that’s what I ended up doing

sort of had to do the same thing with kompakt total comps, as they still have have great tracks in each volume but listening to any of the double CD comps all the way through is more than exhausting

Just hitting play on this and the previous Zappa comparison seems pretty fucking apt

Listened to this back to back with Venetian Snares' Traditional Synthesizer Music 10 year anniversary re-release and very much preferred the latter.

uhhh this rules. I actually laughed out loud when the drum n bass breaks came in on K4. and then the blasts of noise. admittedly up to that point you really do forget you're listening to Squarepusher

bassline on k2 is jaco tier

This feels like the album he's been gearing up to do for at least two decades

Exactly the kind of thibg I want to hear from him at this stage in his career

ridiculous album in all the right ways, loved it on first listen

Wow I'm really surprised by how much I like this, love the strings and piano palette.

I think that if he'd come up in the instagram era, he'd be Louis Cole.

K7 is probably my least favorite so far. K9 has a Warner Bros cartoon quality that's fun, and I really like the purely orchestral tracks. I wonder if this will ever get performed by an orchestra, or if he'll get any film scoring gigs out of it.

Would love to see him playing drums, has this ever been witnessed?

any idea on how he made it? did he play live instruments and record them? how much of what sounds love is synthesized?

I think it's all sequenced/programmed using virtual instruments except for the drums and bass (which I assume are both played by him), from what I can glean and how it sounds to me.

yea wouldn't be surprised if a lot of this was just impossible to play. the drums do sound real though.