Squarepusher’s Stereotype, originally a 1994 underground release, captures the raw beginnings of Thomas Jenkinson’s genre-defying sound—where fretless bass meets electronic chaos. Now reissued by Warp, it remains jagged, urgent, and emotionally charged, a vital document of ‘90s UK rave culture and a bold statement of artistic freedom.
A raw, foundational blast from the ‘90s underground
Thomas Russell Jenkinson, better known as Squarepusher, turned his self-taught multi-instrumentalist nature into a unique and inimitable path, where the fretless bass and electronics coexist in a jagged, unstable yet absolutely vital balance. in his complex rhythmic weavings and improvised melodic lines chase each other drum & bass, acid, IDM and jazz fusion, shaping a language that holds together the living matter of the instrument and the almost surgical precision of the machines. his artistic gesture, let’s call it that, even if it sounds frightening, stirs and trembles between the freedom of improvisation and the strict discipline of programming, never sacrificing one for the other.
The encounter with Rephlex and with Warp Records, in the heart of the nineties, led him to define a space of his own, a feverish laboratory where rhythmic fury coexisted with lyrical suspension, with an energy that still pins you to the listening. Squarepusher has never been a disciple of technical exercise for its own sake, speed and detail do not erase the emotional root, on the contrary, they exalt it, giving back a warmth that remains impressed and continues to vibrate in repeated listening’s. in that period, when British electronic music was finding new paths through IDM and drum & bass, Squarepusher was beginning to shape what would become his personal universe.
An almost clandestine document ::
The reissue of Stereotype, now released by Warp, brings back to the surface a precious and until now almost clandestine document. recorded in 1994 under the pseudonym Stereotype and self-produced in a limited run, it circulated as a hidden relic, destined for the few lucky owners of the release. today it returns as a double vinyl, finally available also on CD and digital, with the dignity of a fundamental piece of the 90s electronic scene. that hour of music, rushed and furious on tape, is a direct daughter of raves, pirate frequencies, weekends consumed between warehouses and the Essex countryside, it was an urgency impossible to control, a jagged scream capable of fragmenting sound, without caring about market rules or stylistic coherence.
Broken rhythms, corrosive basses, synthetic lines cut sharply, a raw, unripe material, and yet already marked by the personal imprint that would later define Feed Me Weird Things and the rest of Squarepusher’s career. a continuous game in trying to surpass the unlistenable, a matter that does not fear excess and in excess itself finds a new language, still able to speak today to those who love experimental electronics.
Deeper into the grain ::
The remastering work does not sweeten anything. on the contrary, it seems to dig deeper into the grain, returning clarity without dulling the abrasive energy that runs through every track. the sound gains definition, but remains rough, direct, jagged as then. the physical edition, enriched with posters, sleeves with photographs, flyers from the time and scattered notes, builds a small tangible archive, not a simple collector’s accessory, but a bridge with that era, with the smoky rooms and improvised dance floors where everything took shape.
Listened to today, Stereotype does not sound like a respectable but aging record, its unstoppable nastiness still attacks, as if to remind us that before order there was chaos, and in that chaos a vision was already living. it is the memory of a time when ideas ran faster than the supports that contained them, when the musical gesture was not filtered by planning but by the pure necessity of expression. Warp Records reissues it without makeup, with respect, letting the raw voice of the tapes speak again to those who still want to listen without filters.
The return of Stereotype is therefore more than a reissue, it is an act of historical restitution. it is the sign that certain roots must be preserved not out of nostalgia, but because they continue to say something to the present. it is an album that demands attention, asks for immersion, gives back vertigo. in that set of raw and vital tracks lies the origin of a path that would change the very boundaries of British electronic music. and above all, one perceives the echo of a boy who, armed only with bass and machines, had already decided that music could be a universe without boundaries.
Reprinted with permission courtesy of Lost In It.
Stereotype is available on Warp October 24, 2025. [Bandcamp | Site]
