Things are bright and shiny out on the edge of the electronic horizon. This is by far the most colorful example from the catalogue of Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson) thusfar, in terms of encrusting pop idioms with an otherwise offbeat, left-of-center IDM sensibility. In its fractured theme Do You Know Squarepusher a living/breathing rouse marries these electro-twidlers to lapsed “Hey, Hey We’re The Monkees” fare. Gone are some of Jenkinson’s former drum+bass hooks, and though most effective within that tired genre, manages to keep the essential aspects of what he designed flowing freely throughout this superb exploratory disc. This is most noticeable on “Anstromm-Feck 4” with its machine gun sense and appetite for speed. Clocking in at only about a half hour the first disc on this set is nothing but filled to the gills with heart racing madness and less expected sensitive moments in repose as witnessed on the eleven minute “Mutilation Colony”. Here we have the less logical, and more luminous side of dramatic flare that sharply goes from sweet symphony to eerie experimentalism. It’s almost a short story where there is a cliffhanger that keeps teasing you over and again. Of course no record would be complete without its own rendition of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, right? Who knows why this is included (and in its pretty much unaltered state) – but the song is timeless people (and Tom’s voice isn’t bad)! Since the sleeve notes are basically only black-on-black graphics, the mystery will be sealed in the vaults of postmodernism forever.
OK, so now we are up for another ride on disc 2. This is Alive in Japan and was recorded in July 2001. All the wires are in place, knobs aplenty, the crowd seems ready and steady-go. Tthe sound is clear, and captures the place and its enormous reverberation. The light din of the crowd is present throughout arresting the real live experience. This crowd hangs on every buzz, rephrasing and siss-boom-bah. This provides an apt document of the event – but I think I might be happier to be included in the sights and smells of the Bic lighter crowd! Or perhaps this will become available on DVD? One thing is certain, feedback does remain king.
Do You Know Squarepusher? is out now on Warp Records. [Bandcamp]
