Album Review - Squarepusher: Ufabulum

Squarepusher
Ufabulum
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

UK electronic produced Squarepusher (a.k.a. Tom Jenkinson) has had an interesting career since the mid-1990s where he made his name merging his love of drum and bass with jazz influences before spearheading a movement (along with other artists like Aphex Twin) known as drill'n'bass, a hyperactive form of breakbeat jungle music. Although the genre was fairly short-lived, Jenkinson never quite gave up the ghost, with drill'n'bass still a fixture on his releases. While it is admirable to continue with a sound you enjoy, it can be overly repetitive if you don't evolve and push that sound. For me, the last few Squarepusher albums have been pretty rote. His production and programming skills are still excellent, but I wasn't hearing anything new. Instead, I was being pummeled by more and more harsh, intricate beats. I longed for something a little more out of the ordinary from him, like his amazing jazz/drum and bass fusion Music Is Rotted One Note. Based on some tour promotions he released prior to the release of Ufabulum, where Jenkinson was before a huge light wall, dressed up in some futuristic Daft Punk-esque uniform, I was led to believe this would be more of a crowd-pleasing house record than his usual sonic trickery. The promos were a bit of a bait and switch as the record is basically a Squarepusher record, with a few interesting detours, but no great re-defining of his signature sound.

Initially, things start off status quo over a skittering drum and bass rhythm with low bass rumbles in the background on "4001," the programming getting more off-kilter as it progresses. As you begin to feel you have heard it all before, Jenkinson throws a bit of left hook with the addition of some shiny, ascending synth chords which changes the focus and mood of the song completely, making it sound fresh and new for him. While the programming remains brutally complex, the synth melody holds everything in place. When the programming threatens to take over the track, the melody always reasserts itself to bring it back down to earth.

Squarepusher - 4001 by Nikoloz Bionika

"Unreal Square" almost threatens to become a dubstep track with its 8-bit synth squeals and low bass rumble before, once again, some quite lovely, bright keyboard swells lighten the mood. Of course, Jenkinson once again throws the track into chaos at the end with some harsh drill'n'bass flourishes.



"Stadium Ice" also changes things up quite a bit, with acoustic guitar strums accompanying a woozy, dreamy synth melody over a relatively hushed programmed beat.

Squarepusher - Stadium Ice by vidaluk0

80s analog new wave keyboards spike "Energy Wizard" with a bizarre peppiness that is completely unlike Jenkinson, but is rather a nice touch. Which flows into the somber ambient centerpiece "Red In Blue," which, sort of acts as a bridge into the second half of the record, or, in my opinion, acts as the dividing line between the more imaginative, playful side of the record and the more brutal, drill'n'bass half. From this point forward, Jenkinson is quite happy to look back to the past for his inspiration. The remaining tracks are all textbook examples of Jenkinson's programming prowess. From the sci-fi B-movie buzziness of "The Metallurgist," the droning, sinister "Drax 2," the harsh electro of "Dark Steering," to the Transformers on acid scrape of "#03 Scopem Hard," the pace is relentless and oppressive. The tracks are so dense it almost becomes difficult to tell them apart. Even after several listens, the back half of the record just gets lost in layers of electronic noise. Closing track "Ecstatic Shock" appears at first to be heading down that same track, however, midpoint a twinkling synth melody emerges and saves the track from being another bash you against the head drum programming course.



Ufabulum is a frustrating record because there seemed to be a push by Jenkinson to finally push his sound somewhere new, and then got bogged down with a little too much same-old same-old. The first half of the record is thrilling because it is unexpected and keeps you on the edge of your seat, while the back-half, which is far less adventurous, sticks to his tried and true formula and ends up bashing you over the head with a blitzkrieg of electronic weapons. If anything, Jenkinson still shows that he is an amazing producer and drum programmer, but we already knew that. I just want to hear something I haven't heard from him before.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.