so uh, hello everything leaked.

oops, now it's fake again.

I can't believe the "it's fake!" dispute is still going on. Unbelieveable. I cannot grasp how anyone with functioning ears can hear earlier Squarepusher then hear this and yet still question its validity. It could not sound more like Squarepusher unless it were an exact copy of an earlier release. That is the only way it could be more obviously Squarepusher.

Besides that, I think this his best collection of songs yet. Sure the programming's pretty lackluster, but the music is the best its ever been. I've listened to it twice so far, and the second time through it sounded about twice as good. Hopefully my listening pleasure will continue to double with each successive listen.

Go Tom!

  Zephyr_Nova said:

I can't believe the "it's fake!" dispute is still going on. Unbelieveable. I cannot grasp how anyone with functioning ears can hear earlier Squarepusher then hear this and yet still question its validity. It could not sound more like Squarepusher unless it were an exact copy of an earlier release. That is the only way it could be more obviously Squarepusher.

 

Besides that, I think this his best collection of songs yet. Sure the programming's pretty lackluster, but the music is the best its ever been. I've listened to it twice so far, and the second time through it sounded about twice as good. Hopefully my listening pleasure will continue to double with each successive listen.

 

Go Tom!

lol

hmmm...

  CBrown said:

appreciate your response techdiff. (no sarcasm)

Cheers dude. Im glad that we can simply discuss our differing opiunions like grown ups rather than simply arguing over who is right like children.

I cant wit till the digital sinples are released.

i've come to the conclusion that its some kind of sick inside joke

  Lindrum Larry Cocopipe said:

i've come to the conclusion that its some kind of sick inside joke

yawn. mebee. lets wait n see.

Do you like the album, squarepusher or otherwise?

there might be a need to compare track timings. i know that the album i'm listenening to is at least 50% squarepusher:

4:31

2:57

2:53

6:09

6:02

3:53

0:48

7:48

4:32

7:36

5:38

10:54

are we all on the same page men?

The album just gets better the more i listen to it, Plotinus and Planetarium leave me slack jawed. But then i am from the country, Fruity Loops seems exotic beside a Lambeg.

  TechDiff said:

  Lindrum Larry Cocopipe said:

i've come to the conclusion that its some kind of sick inside joke

 

yawn. mebee. lets wait n see.

 

Do you like the album, squarepusher or otherwise?

i cant say i do.

tbh theres a few tracks which actually make me cringe.

i really dont care how many people confirm this as the genuine article. I will never believe that squarepusher would ever make music like this unless i have the cd in my player and hear it.

  TechDiff said:

@Cbrown

 

I can appreciate what your saying, but to be honest I couldnt disagree more.

 

As has already been said, the fully tweaked out stuff has been heard hundreds of times before, and as good as it is, I'm genuinely relieved to hear an album which concentates on aa different aspect of his musicianship. He's done it before and I cant understand why its caused such a fuss this time around.

 

I think that a lot of the time, really intense programming and editing is more of a masking for a week idea. If you took one of those sorts of tracks and stripped all the window dressing away, you wouldnt be left with anything that remarkable. Obviously this isnt true with every track, but the majority. A good melody or a tight groove work for themselves and sound great without any serious editing and to me, thats what this album is about.

 

I think that over the top programming can sometimes ruin a track since it often distracts the listener from the melody and chord structuring, which takes a lot more soul and thought to get right IMO. I really like Tundra 4 for example, but I'd really like to hear a simplified version of it because its the arrangement and chords that I really enjoy (not to mention that bassline)

 

It seems like every album he releses annoys someone, on the one hand youve got people who like the "check out my DSP and granulizer mess about with FM bassline" stuff, and some people prefer the "Time to break out the rhoads and drumkit and slap my bass over it" stuff. I personaly think his best stuff is the soundscape stuff on DYK, so I'm probably the least catered for, but thats not the point.

 

What makes good music for me is emotion and mood. As much as I love go plastic, there isnt a shread of emotion on it, HND has some but its still an unashamed wig out. Ultravisitor has bits but a lot of it is masked away by DSP fuckery. Bt I think hello everything has a lot of emotion and feeling on it. A little bit of soul to make up for the souless-ness of go plastic, (most of) DYK, and Ultravisitor.

 

I can only imagine that after all these albums, he's sat back and decided to be a musician for a change instead of a programmer, and fair play.

 

At the end of the day, these are only my opinions and I dont suppose many will share them. On the contrary, I expect a couple "your talikng shit" responses since th8is thread doesnt seem to be about opinion, but rather more aboiut stating opinion as fact.

 

I really like this album, it keeps growing on me as all of his other material has. I like this regardless of whether its squarepusher or not because it has something which so much of todays music is laking. Emotional depth, and soulful ness.

 

Continue this argument as you all see fit, I cant be fukt anymore since its getting extreamly dull and repetitive. Ther are so many people here who have stated little more that, "Its not squarepusher because I dont like it, I like all squarepusher but Idont like this, therfore its not squarepusher" fuzzy logic or what?

Music is purely interpretive. Different people like or dislike music for different reasons. The only really definitive thing that can be said about this new album is that many people on this board DO NOT LIKE IT. (Some do though....)

Regarding your comments about Go Plastic, I take it you find the album lacks "emotion" due to its absence of melody. Although I understand why you say that, I disagree thoroughly as I find it to be VERY emotional. The chaotic and fast paced rhythm and beats stir up very intense and real feelings within me. Makes me want to run a fucking emotional marathon.

As far as shitting on Squarepusher goes, I'll agree it's just a pointless past time for most, but the fact still stands that many are unsatisfied with his new work, and in the long run, I think that will justify calling the album a failure.

imo this is his most honest album yet. we all know by now that tom can do insane beatfuckery better than 95% of musicians in the genre. i think the fact that he didn't feel the need to do that on this album is admirable. the melodies here are good enough that they can be appreciated without the need to hide them behind DSP smoke and mirrors, unlike some other people *coughsnarescough*

wow.

i wonder why theres so very very very few people in here that know what the hell they're talking about. oh yeah, its that whole 'communal understanding' of what dsp and dsp wankery is. and how the way its used in conversation here doesn't seem to apply to anything that the musician did in their music. thats right.

HEY GUYS FIND ME ON SLSK IVE GOT THE PRE-DSP VERSION OF STEINBOLT, ITS WICKED ACOUSTIC HOT.

oh and fuck off if you think go plastic has no melody. thats like my dad catching me listening to jamie lidell's muddlin gear and telling me that theres no sounds. he did that. dont be like my dad.

this whole "melody" thing is really annoying now.

everyone is talking as though this is the first time they have ever heard anything melodic from squarepusher and that all he does is make complex beats and noise.

i dont know what squarepusher you lot have been listening to but i can tell you that the squarepusher i know and love makes the most amazing and beautiful melodies in almost all of his work and this album doesnt come within any near distance when it comes to squarepusher chord and melody structure.

dude i was listening to classical music one day and i was all like "wheres the melody? this is just a whole bunch of pitches. wtf"

i fear i've been misunderstood.

essentially, the comments (or in some cases, veiled accusations) that this is tom's 'pop' album are pretty accurate. i can see myself playing this album to people who have never heard of squarepusher, and having some new squarepusher fans after. the only other album i could see that happening with is hard normal daddy, and this is more accessible again. i'm getting pretty fucking sick of the drill sound to be honest, and i'm very happy that tom seems to be as well.

in fact i've already done so.

I'm very curious to know what the majority of people here think about hardware/software used on this album.

somebody name a synth or drum machine they can hear on this album please.

oh yeh and some people have suggested that its not weird for squarepusher to use all softsynth instead across an album.

lol

actually that would be very very weird. it would never ever happen.

which of these 2 cars would you drive if you had both?

well there's a whole pile of standard dnb/jungle samples all over the fuckin shop

  kaini said:

well there's a whole pile of standard dnb/jungle samples all over the fuckin shop

yep

pretty much unprocessed and un chopped too.

squarepusher?

SQUAREPUSHER???

I dont think so

*sigh*

  Lindrum Larry Cocopipe said:

this whole "melody" thing is really annoying now.

everyone is talking as though this is the first time they have ever heard anything melodic from squarepusher and that all he does is make complex beats and noise.

i dont know what squarepusher you lot have been listening to but i can tell you that the squarepusher i know and love makes the most amazing and beautiful melodies in almost all of his work and this album doesnt come within any near distance when it comes to squarepusher chord and melody structure.

this is exactly what i'm talking about. it's not so much the trademark drum programming styles that are gone, or other complexities, it's the lack of well done melodies. the stuff on this album is completely dumbed down and the first time i heard it i said "this CANT be squarepusher..."...ok to be fair, i can hear stylings like his, but it doesn't sound REAL to me. never in the past have i listened to a squarepusher album and thought this, there's never actually been doubt in my mind as to whether something was phony or truly "uncharacteristic" when i heard a release by him. and a good point was made, if this material really was par for squarepusher, there wouldn't be vehement arguing like there is from either side.

it's not even about expectations here, it's about something sounding so uncharacteristic and simple that it's unbelievable. to me at least.

when i think of squarepusher dumbing down or getting more simple or focusing more on melody, i think of the abacus track on that 3" bonus cd. wouldn't you agree that basically fits the basic bill in terms of what the yes-sayers are arguing? then why does it shit all over basically any track on this album?

and further, after 13 years of making music and becoming as talented as he is he's going to release this? I hope this is some grand scheme to dupe the market before he does a frontal assualt on his audience when it gets released.

that's just crazy talk tho. makes no sense to me

look, i'm gonna do my best to apply logic here. listen to the bass guitar;

a) it's a fake made by somebody who is not only has similar mad skills to tom on the bass, but has the sound down to a T. rebuttal: who is this guy? why hasn't he a record deal?

B) it's a fake made by tom to fuck with people. rebuttal: if that's the case, the album is going to be the best album in the history of drill'n'jazz. if this is the case, i can't wait.

c) it's a fake made by lindrum larry cocopipe or phillie t or andy jenkinson or some shit. rebuttal: if this is the case, these people need better agents.

d) it's the real deal, and tom doesn't feel the need to do the mad beatfuckery. rebuttal: OH NOES IT CARNT BE TRUE

chuck: i haven't heard someone do a lovely major/minor key ambiguity as well as that on circlewave 2 since maybe miles davis' fusion output.

  CBrown said:

  Lindrum Larry Cocopipe said:

this whole "melody" thing is really annoying now.

everyone is talking as though this is the first time they have ever heard anything melodic from squarepusher and that all he does is make complex beats and noise.

i dont know what squarepusher you lot have been listening to but i can tell you that the squarepusher i know and love makes the most amazing and beautiful melodies in almost all of his work and this album doesnt come within any near distance when it comes to squarepusher chord and melody structure.

 

this is exactly what i'm talking about. it's not so much the trademark drum programming styles that are gone, or other complexities, it's the lack of well done melodies. the stuff on this album is completely dumbed down and the first time i heard it i said "this CANT be squarepusher..."...ok to be fair, i can hear stylings like his, but it doesn't sound REAL to me. never in the past have i listened to a squarepusher album and thought this, there's never actually been doubt in my mind as to whether something was phony or truly "uncharacteristic" when i heard a release by him. and a good point was made, if this material really was par for squarepusher, there wouldn't be vehement arguing like there is from either side.

 

it's not even about expectations here, it's about something sounding so uncharacteristic and simple that it's unbelievable. to me at least.

 

when i think of squarepusher dumbing down or getting more simple or focusing more on melody, i think of the abacus track on that 3" bonus cd. wouldn't you agree that basically fits the basic bill in terms of what the yes-sayers are arguing? then why does it shit all over basically any track on this album?

 

and further, after 13 years of making music and becoming as talented as he is he's going to release this? I hope this is some grand scheme to dupe the market before he does a frontal assualt on his audience when it gets released.

 

that's just crazy talk tho. makes no sense to me

agreed 100%

this past week has been really fucking bizzarre.

a mate of mine described it as being like some weird glitch in the matrix.

we sat and listened through this album all night on repeat and when we wasnt sitting with jaws dropped at so many people believing this we were cracking up laughing at it.

Performance, production, talent, songwriting and just about every single aspect of squarepusher standards are completely missing from these songs.

absolutely insane.

  kaini said:

look, i'm gonna do my best to apply logic here. listen to the bass guitar;

 

a) it's a fake made by somebody who is not only has similar mad skills to tom on the bass, but has the sound down to a T. rebuttal: who is this guy? why hasn't he a record deal?

B) it's a fake made by tom to fuck with people. rebuttal: if that's the case, the album is going to be the best album in the history of drill'n'jazz. if this is the case, i can't wait.

c) it's a fake made by lindrum larry cocopipe or phillie t or andy jenkinson or some shit. rebuttal: if this is the case, these people need better agents.

d) it's the real deal, and tom doesn't feel the need to do the mad beatfuckery. rebuttal: OH NOES IT CARNT BE TRUE

 

chuck: i haven't heard someone do a lovely major/minor key ambiguity as well as that on circlewave 2 since maybe miles davis' fusion output.

that sounds like squarepusher bass to you does it?

i'm thinking maybe i should start posting some sound clips of real squarepusher just to refresh your memory.

whatever about anything else, if you think the production on this is shoddy, you['re fucking insane. the production on ultravisitor; now that was shoddy. it was what ruined an album that was pretty marvellous in most other aspects.

meh, horses for courses. this discussion is getting pretty frustrating.

larry, if you can play bass like that, post a clip.