Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher?

The genre of Drum n' Bass is a strange beast: defined by high-speed beats, rapid-fire bursts of percussion, erratic blips and off-kilter basslines, yet incredibly formulaic. Upon first listen, you're struck by the craziness of it all, but by the time the 10th minute of do-do-chick-da-dada-chick-chick rolls around, you're sick of it. Listening to Squarepusher is not like that. Built upon the same basic structures as Drum n' Bass, Tom Jenkinson's music consistently finds new ways of mixing it up, fucking with your head and surprising the hell out of you. Take, for instance, the album's opening title track, which begins with a heavily vocoded vocal intro (something about being "sexy on the mike") over a funky, staccato beat. After a minute or so, the track screeches to a halt, starts up again, slows down, gets funky and adds a nice keyboard melody. More vocoded lyrics are added as the song maintains its leisurely pace. Or so it would seem -- listen closely and those drums are still going at full speed, Drum n' Bass style, only in time with everything else. I don't know, it's hard to describe, but the track is simultaneously relaxing and unsettling. If you know Squarepusher, however, you know that he's not just all about the crazy-fast beats. For example, in 1998, he released a jazz album (Music is Rotted One Note) completely devoid of electronics. This jazz influence shows heavily in "F-Train", which is a chilled out track that features a cut-up rap and bouncing percussion. "Kill Robok" is a bit more fast-paced, but just as jazzy (we're talking Miles Davis jazz here, not some Kenny G shit). "Astromm-Feck 4" is another speedy number, probably the most fast-paced on the album. Imagine watching a car chase seen on fast-forward -- this track would be a good soundtrack for that. Of course, in unpredictable Squarepusher style, the next track is a completely beat-free atmospheric interlude. And then "Mutilation Colony", a 10-minute noise experiment with the occasional abstract percussion. Finally, there's an uncharacteristically lush rendition of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart". When I saw the song on the album's tracklist, I figured it would be either some sort of Kik606-style crazy remix or maybe just a joke track, but instead I found a sincere, melodic cover. I have to admit that the vocals aren't my cup of tea, but otherwise the track is quite good. Overall, this mini-album (it's only 32 minutes long) serves as a good survey of of what Squarepusher is all about -- hence the title, I'd imagine. It's a good start for someone unfamiliar with his past body of work, but there are enough surprises (like a bonus live disc) to interest those like yours truly who already know Squarepusher. [www.warprecords.com]