Warp is thrilled to announce the release of Squarepusher’s tenth album, HELLO EVERYTHING. Fitting in sound, Hello Everything celebrates Tom Jenkinson’s (Squarepusher) first decade as a pioneering musician, displaying a confidence and maturity from an artist who, in his uncompromising stance throughout his career has gained much critical acclaim and a devout following. This latest inimitable installment is an exhilarating compendium, effortlessly flexing his versatility as a producer.
As well as having a large and fervent fanbase, Squarepusher is a musician that elicits praise and respect from illustrious quarters. Andre 3000, The Neptunes and Thom Yorke have all publicly spoken in admiration, the latter who recently said “unlike the pop world, the real challenge in music today lies with artists like Squarepusher.” Or Flea from the Chili Peppers who after seeing Tom perform at the Hendrix tribute concert at RFH last year, announced he was the best bass player in the world (a great accolade whether it be hyperbole or not!) And of course Sofia Coppola, who has once again picked another of Squarepusher’s tracks for her forthcoming soundtrack Marie Antoinette.
Considered a contemporary composer, two pieces of Squarepusher’s work was arranged by the London Sinfonietta for the “Warp Works and Twentieth Century Masters” tour in 2003 and the follow up tour in 2004. As well as having his music played alongside that of Cage, Stockhausen and Varèse amongst others, Squarepusher also performed exclusive material with the London Sinfonietta on their follow up tour, receiving a standing ovation with each performance.
Squarepusher’s music resists categorisation, skipping freely across genres by what some have described to encompass two-step, hardcore, breaks, jazz, funk, contemporary classical and more. Squarepusher’s work from the off has combined intellectual force with a heart rendering melodic sense, his natural jazz sensibilities evoking technically dazzling time sequences that anchor the uninhibited energy and passion distilled in his music. His debut Feed Me Weird Things in 1996 was therefore a precocious one, altering the landscape of drum’n’bass with it. With such an idiosyncratic sound, his reputation has swelled with each release, with attention particularly drawn to the irresistible skittering lilt of My Red Hot Car or the mischievous neural explosion of Do You Know Squarepusher amongst others. His stunning versatility as a guitarist culminated in 2004’s Ultravisitor, which contained some of the most sublime, soulful melodies of recent memory. It was as the Observer Music Monthly said “a ride that bookends a breathtaking avalanche of extremity with alarming beauty” or simply put by the Daily Telegraph “Really extraordinary”.
At the heart of Squarepusher’s music is non-conformity, a desire to stimulate and challenge the listener. However this is always done within the parameters of integrity and virtuosity, the firm belief of delivering only the best. For instance an exquisitely played classical guitar is followed by a sarcastic barrage of noise. The purpose in creating such a divergence is to “make work that is a contradiction, work that critiques itself and the relation it has to the listener. Music often falls down for me in its artlessness, it seems to imply a one-dimensionality of character in the listener. Pure wig out material views that the listener exists only for the sake of admiring the technique of the performer.”
However, having gone to the brink in previous works, Squarepusher has come back in Hello Everything with an album that, as he simply puts, “is full of tunes! Its what you do after you’ve gone to the brink, have a laugh!”
Hello Everything brings together a prismatic array of tonal colours, harmonic diversity and carefully controlled rhythm. From the surreal and apparently unironic title onwards, we gain an impression of a man genuinely enjoying himself. In Hello Everything, Squarepusher sounds as if he is finally free of the “one-man cultural battleground” responsibility of his more opaque earlier work. Certainly it is a far cry from the psychedelic jazz-anoia of Music is one rotted note and the later vocal works 50 cycles and F-Train. Hello Everything is simpler than that, and no doubt some will think better for it. Either way, it is a joy to behold.
As well as having a large and fervent fanbase, Squarepusher is a musician that elicits praise and respect from illustrious quarters. Andre 3000, The Neptunes and Thom Yorke have all publicly spoken in admiration, the latter who recently said “unlike the pop world, the real challenge in music today lies with artists like Squarepusher.” Or Flea from the Chili Peppers who after seeing Tom perform at the Hendrix tribute concert at RFH last year, announced he was the best bass player in the world (a great accolade whether it be hyperbole or not!) And of course Sofia Coppola, who has once again picked another of Squarepusher’s tracks for her forthcoming soundtrack Marie Antoinette.
Considered a contemporary composer, two pieces of Squarepusher’s work was arranged by the London Sinfonietta for the “Warp Works and Twentieth Century Masters” tour in 2003 and the follow up tour in 2004. As well as having his music played alongside that of Cage, Stockhausen and Varèse amongst others, Squarepusher also performed exclusive material with the London Sinfonietta on their follow up tour, receiving a standing ovation with each performance.
Squarepusher’s music resists categorisation, skipping freely across genres by what some have described to encompass two-step, hardcore, breaks, jazz, funk, contemporary classical and more. Squarepusher’s work from the off has combined intellectual force with a heart rendering melodic sense, his natural jazz sensibilities evoking technically dazzling time sequences that anchor the uninhibited energy and passion distilled in his music. His debut Feed Me Weird Things in 1996 was therefore a precocious one, altering the landscape of drum’n’bass with it. With such an idiosyncratic sound, his reputation has swelled with each release, with attention particularly drawn to the irresistible skittering lilt of My Red Hot Car or the mischievous neural explosion of Do You Know Squarepusher amongst others. His stunning versatility as a guitarist culminated in 2004’s Ultravisitor, which contained some of the most sublime, soulful melodies of recent memory. It was as the Observer Music Monthly said “a ride that bookends a breathtaking avalanche of extremity with alarming beauty” or simply put by the Daily Telegraph “Really extraordinary”.
At the heart of Squarepusher’s music is non-conformity, a desire to stimulate and challenge the listener. However this is always done within the parameters of integrity and virtuosity, the firm belief of delivering only the best. For instance an exquisitely played classical guitar is followed by a sarcastic barrage of noise. The purpose in creating such a divergence is to “make work that is a contradiction, work that critiques itself and the relation it has to the listener. Music often falls down for me in its artlessness, it seems to imply a one-dimensionality of character in the listener. Pure wig out material views that the listener exists only for the sake of admiring the technique of the performer.”
However, having gone to the brink in previous works, Squarepusher has come back in Hello Everything with an album that, as he simply puts, “is full of tunes! Its what you do after you’ve gone to the brink, have a laugh!”
Hello Everything brings together a prismatic array of tonal colours, harmonic diversity and carefully controlled rhythm. From the surreal and apparently unironic title onwards, we gain an impression of a man genuinely enjoying himself. In Hello Everything, Squarepusher sounds as if he is finally free of the “one-man cultural battleground” responsibility of his more opaque earlier work. Certainly it is a far cry from the psychedelic jazz-anoia of Music is one rotted note and the later vocal works 50 cycles and F-Train. Hello Everything is simpler than that, and no doubt some will think better for it. Either way, it is a joy to behold.
