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squarepusher hello everything

Squarepusher: Hello Everything

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by Mike Diver

Tom Jenkinson’s brain, like yours or mine, is neatly divided into two halves. On one side, he hears his music, recorded under the guise of Squarepusher, to be glitch-riddled electronica wholly in the traditional Warp vein, beats skittered and speedy; the other side, though, interprets his output as neo-jazz workouts, structurally unbound by genre constraints and technological limitations. Hello Everything is the natural collision of these separate sensory consumptions, and it’s as all-embracing as its title implies.

Jenkinson’s abilities with the bass guitar are showcased magnificently here – Theme From Sprite finds wandering notes underpinned by crisp drumming, beats born of man and skins rather than buttons and circuitry. These particularly organic tracks (‘Circlewave 2’ is another), devoid of squeaks and bleeps, are neat diversions from the expected electro-spawned frazzles and fizzes, but rest rather awkwardly against more propulsive offerings.

‘Bubble Life’ is one track that attempts to strike a balance between the two worlds – acoustic guitar is plucked, its contributions high in the mix, but it’s the underlying crackle of burning wires and black boxes full of tricks and ticks that really catch the listener’s attention; thus, when ‘Planetarium’ arrives, its semi-standard formula – those aforementioned beats and steadily building synthesizer washes – comes as something of a relief. It’s sad to fall back on the conventional when alternative options are readily available, but it is the more obvious moments that comprise Hello Everything’s highlights.

Of course, Jenkinson is renowned as an adventurous musician, and Hello Everything certainly backs up any critical opinion professing as much. But, this album’s lack of solid punch and maintained velocity sees certain tracks slide into background noise territory. Granted, nothing approaches the dreaded elevator music status, but by committing so very much, style-wise, to the same disc Jenkinson has rather soured his usually so satisfying milk.

Aficionados will find much to love across the twelve tracks of Hello Everything, but newcomers to this well-established and rightly-acclaimed purveyor of fine electronica sounds may wish to begin their adventure into vibrant musical territories elsewhere. Perhaps Go Plastic? It’s a fine starting point.

This, though, might just be too scatterbrained for its own good…

  • Squarepusher 7 / 10

more like ultravisitor...

agreed tho, the 'cliched' faster tracks do stand out but think his obvious all round musical talent is better spread through these 12 tracks than the 18 of ultravisitor! winner! although, the 3" that came with it is....interesting


Go Plastic....

... is acutally one of squarephusher's poorest albums.... both this and Ultravisitor walk all over it...


Nah met

Go plastic is quality!!! very underrated! it's all about hard normal daddy and feed me weird things, the new album is excellent!!!!


I love this album

Although if I listen to that bonus CD ever again, I think I'll cry blood.


that bonus cd is a joke

what the hell is the point of it!
i think a 7 is fair for this album, better than ultravisitor i think. just


this is a bit of a let down

i really rate Ultravisitor and also to an extent Go plastic, though i lost my copy three years back. there seems to be too much filler here, not in style, but in structure, to my mind he has moved things forward within each tune more in the past and the programming of the hectc beats seems far more rooted in a basic two step. i do like the album and it is better than selection 16, but i still think he is best on music is rotted one note, though i havent heard hard normal daddy or feed me wierd things which i need to sort out quite soon


Alabaster Crippens...

This is one of the more interesting reviews I've read...

http://www.thedirtysnake.com/disp.asp?article=70&num=355341

Personally I think it relies a little too much on previous ideas..still pretty good though.





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