Squarepusher

From the total effect, Do You Know Squarepusher (a brief LP or a good-sized mini-LP) doesn't just pose the question in the title, but practically demands compliance with the fact that Tom Jenkinson can't be pigeonholed. After moving from jazz fusion homage to 2-step satirist during previous years, Squarepusher turns in a record of radically different sounds, all of them well-intentioned but also difficult to focus into just a single statement (or two, or three). The title track is the best one here (in his usual vein), as close to a game of the dozens as a drill'n'bass producer is going to get; Jenkinson cues a monotoned vocal to repeat the title before moving into Aphex Twin territory with digital-piano melodies accompanying a series of brilliantly timed breakbeat trainwrecks. "F-Train" cuts up a vocal that sounds like DJ Spooky reading one of his favorite abstract textbooks, while "Mutilation Colony" comprises eight minutes of musique concrète that would sound familiar to any admirer of early tape-music composers Edgard Varèse and Vladimir Ussachevsky. And coming right on its heels is Jenkinson's first cover, a surprisingly straight reading of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (using multiple overdubs of bass/guitar/drums), with a vocal so understated that Ian Curtis sounds like Ian Astbury in comparison.

Electronic visionary Tom Jenkinson's work as Squarepusher is defined in part by his creative restlessness. Where his early work in the '90s pushed drum'n'bass to its limits, Jenkinson's drive for new sounds would see him experimenting with electro, demented funk, live jazz, and music composed with the help of artificial intelligence. Squarepusher's 15th studio album, Be Up a Hello, manages to be both a sharp about-face from recent pursuits as well as a return to some of the fundamentals of his weird genius. The process informs the direction of Be Up a Hello to a degree, with Jenkinson turning away from more cutting-edge music creation technology and going back to the gear he recorded some of his first music with. Vintage hardware synthesizers, outdated software, and even a computer from the early '80s all contribute to the nostalgic character of the album…

For this, his 10th album in as many years, Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson is in playful mood. He has said Hello Everything is him "having a laugh" after recording several albums that were, at times, frustrating and difficult listens. This CD may divide his fans - which include Andre 3000, Thom Yorke and Flea - as some prefer his material to sound more like a drum kit and a bag of cats being kicked down a flight of stairs. On the other hand, others will be glad to hear an album brimming with tunes. Dazzling chord progressions override fiendishly intricate beats as Jenkinson combines the elation of rave with the complexity of jazz…

Verified electronic music legend Tom Jenkinson has been a pivotal force in his field as Squarepusher since the mid-'90s. Taking constant risks and shifting styles dramatically without batting an eyelash has panned out for him more often than not and has resulted in some of the most definitive moments in the evolution of IDM and electronic music as a whole. It hasn't all been unquestionable genius, though. Ufabulum follows a string of disappointing missteps in the Squarepusher story, namely 2008's fusion-funk meltdown Just a Souvenir; 2009's Solo Electric Bass 1, a collection of unaccompanied bass noodling/soloing; and 2010's half-baked experiment Shobaleader One: d’Demonstrator. Even the best moments of early albums were shelved between multiple phoned-in tracks or clearly less-inspired variations on the same theme…

A concept album that sticks straitjacket tight to its concept throughout, Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator is a record of throwback electronic rock, with an R&B edge and synthesized vocals, performed by a hooded band - and if Daft Punk springs to mind, it should. After a record of solo bass (titled Solo Electric Bass, Vol. 1), Squarepusher's Tom Jenkinson soon unveiled his next project: the masked foursome named Shobaleader One. (Jenkinson's claims that the group consists of real people is certainly possible, but the omnipresent masks make one wonder if the producer is playing puppetmaster here.) A combination of stark electro and swinging funk, most tracks featuring vocals, the album will have listeners thinking of Daft Punk one minute and stark '80s television themes the next (read Knight Rider)…

After releasing more than two hours worth of material in less than a year, Tom Jenkinson returned in late 1999 with what looked to be another full LP, comprising 17 tracks and clocking in at 45 minutes. In fact, it's regarded as a "mini-album" and plays the part well. Similar to the 1999 Squarepusher EPs Budakhan Mindphone and Maximum Priest, Selection Sixteen alternates what sounds like outtakes from his last LP (Music Is Rotted One Note) – that is, short organic fusion cast-offs – with a set of hard-edged acid tracks, most of which chart the hyperkinetic drum'n'bass programming that fans expect. The album comes off surprisingly well, given both the glut of Squarepusher material in 1999, and the fact that Jenkinson is mixing'n'matching crazed drill'n'bass and more stately jazz-fusion, with little regard for album flow. The highlight here, "Square Rave," takes a little bit from both camps and ends up sounding like Aphex Twin (circa Selected Ambient Works 85-92) if he'd been working with jungle breakbeats. In addition to the 13-track album are four remixes, including one on which Jenkinson recruits his brother Andy for remixing duties.