Squarepusher
Ultravisitor

Disorganized sound organization.

By and large, and after about thirty listens, on March eighth, two thousand and four, Tom Jenkins' best work came out.

I approached this artist three years ago, they told me: "you know, squarepusher is cool, he's Aphex Twin's protégé". I took it just because if someone was called squarepusher, it was highly likely he was good. I got "Music Is Rotted One Note," an album that I struggled to listen to for months, then one day while biking on Dutch bicycles, I fully appreciated it, understanding the sense of that sound; I completed the discography and he entered the list of favorites, even though he hasn't always fully satisfied me.

I started to be confident in this "Ultravisitor" (Warp 2004) when I saw the cover in January: no one "puts" their face on something they don’t think is valid; it's like when you know you're right in an argument: you state your case, then you approach your opponent, point your nose against theirs and do: "well?, any replies?", because you know they won’t reply, because you are right. This cover is a photographic "well?", and I didn't reply.

Each of his albums is more or less oriented in all tracks towards a genre, from the sonic experimentation at 1000 kmh of his debut, to the distorted and synthesized sound of "Music Is Rotted...", passing through the delirious "Hard Normal Daddy." In 2001, he made many fans frown with "Go Plastic," where he leaned towards a slightly more dance-floor sound, but I believe it was derived from the fact that he was a bit tired of doing two shows a quarter while that idiot Ramirez was hitting it big in Europe; indeed the "success" came (quotes because it’s still underground), the shows ensued, leading to the live "Do You Know Squarepusher?" (recommended).

Now that he has more fame, now that Warp Records (of Afx Twin) has many more artists filling the coffers, now that he has gained the necessary experience, this extract of his career has come out: the juice and pulp of Tom Jenkins.
There's everything: Drill n Bass, Trip Hop, Acid Jazz, Jungle-cut Drum n Bass, melancholic experimentation, delirious experimentation, a little bit for the Club. If you really have to bring up the "however," it lacks the aggressive and obsessive track, but I don't think everyone agrees.

Listen to the pieces at the link. If it occurs to you to say "oh screw it..." (very likely), leave it there, but if you think "damn!, but, well, I don't know", don't give up: this isn't music to listen to in front of the computer, these are soundtracks for everyday life. The ideal moment for tasting this exquisite modern electronic overture I think is in the evening, walking through the city with a walkman: you let yourself be carried away by the thousand samples, and it's as if the piano of track 3 is the walk of the lady next to you, the anger of the beat of track 4 the car speeding past you, and the indescribable sample of track 6 the flashing of the traffic light; then you’ll pass it on to a friend and a few days later you'll enjoy going: "well?", and if they say it sucks, screw their significant other out of spite, so they learn... that ungrateful person.