squarepusher wanting to give squarepusher a chance

Also check out squarepusher megamixes:

VLR's:

Mine:

  On 5/18/2010 at 12:53 PM, phudoshin said:

Also check out squarepusher megamixes:

 

VLR's:

http://bambambambambam.com/DJVLR/hisfuckingsound.mp3

 

Mine:

my fucking mixup mp3

I'm not the only one who thinks Ultravisitor is mostly crap, am I?

I really love all of Tom's stuff up to and including Go Plastic. And Square Window and Venus No. 17 are great. And Numbers Lucent is kind of fun too.

But man, Ultravisitor is like the worst impulses Tom has coming to the forefront, with a couple exceptions. It's a load of tomwank. It reminds me of the stuff I listened to when I was 12, when the biggest thrill I could imagine was watching Steve Vai masturbate a cheesy JEM Ibanez over Al Di Meola's bum, or some of the whiteboy funkyfast bass runs I heard all the time in the high school after school jazz band.

I know that's ridiculously harsh, but. . . blargh, Ultravisitor doesn't sit right with me. Sorry Tom. And I don't mean to impugn the taste of anyone who likes Ultravisitor; clearly something just doesn't click for me.

And I don't think Tom's really sorted that shit out yet.

  On 5/20/2010 at 11:34 PM, baph said:

I'm not the only one who thinks Ultravisitor is mostly crap, am I?

What exceptions are they?

I'd have to listen to Ultravisitor again to tell you definitively, but off the top of my head: Ultravisitor, Iambic, Steinbolt. The stuff that actually holds together as a composition more than a showcase.

I guess it's kind of just an aesthetic thing.

I haven't given it a chance for a while, admittedly, so I should probably listen again and try not to barf during An Arched Pathway.

haha, i love the start of that track

I haven't given a chance to those short tracks either, the main themes are incredible though.

I sort of like the start of Pathway too; it feels like it's going somewhere interesting in terms of composition/texture, but then. . . .

I guess it's the aesthetics of the "live big solo muscle flex" aspects of the album bother me, and those elements even seep into places where they just don't serve the music elsewhere on the album. I think Tom's a great musician, and I get the "replicating a live show" thing, but some of it's just so wanky, like he's catering to both his ego and a real/imagined audience merely out for cheap thrills and hot bass. Or something.

  On 5/21/2010 at 12:45 AM, baph said:

I sort of like the start of Pathway too; it feels like it's going somewhere interesting in terms of composition/texture, but then. . . .

 

I guess it's the aesthetics of the "live big solo muscle flex" aspects of the album bother me, and those elements even seep into places where they just don't serve the music elsewhere on the album. I think Tom's a great musician, and I get the "replicating a live show" thing, but some of it's just so wanky, like he's catering to both his ego and a real/imagined audience merely out for cheap thrills and hot bass. Or something.

i can see where someone can feel that the more "live" stuff like tetra-sync can be wankish. but pieces like circlewave are just fucking beautiful.

so what are your thoughts on tracks like 50 cycles and district line ii? those used to be some ofmy least faves on the album but they're now must-listens.

50 cycles was godly to me the first time i heard it.

  On 5/21/2010 at 1:59 AM, benc812 said:

  On 5/21/2010 at 12:45 AM, baph said:

I sort of like the start of Pathway too; it feels like it's going somewhere interesting in terms of composition/texture, but then. . . .

 

I guess it's the aesthetics of the "live big solo muscle flex" aspects of the album bother me, and those elements even seep into places where they just don't serve the music elsewhere on the album. I think Tom's a great musician, and I get the "replicating a live show" thing, but some of it's just so wanky, like he's catering to both his ego and a real/imagined audience merely out for cheap thrills and hot bass. Or something.

 

i can see where someone can feel that the more "live" stuff like tetra-sync can be wankish. but pieces like circlewave are just fucking beautiful.

 

so what are your thoughts on tracks like 50 cycles and district line ii? those used to be some ofmy least faves on the album but they're now must-listens.

Circleweave is good stuff, too, yeah. And I don't have any problems with 50 Cycles/District. I think just taking the album as a whole, all the good bits get dragged down so much by the wanky bits and the overall presentation/production of the album. It doesn't engage me personally. If some of the tracks were put into different contexts I might like them more.

I actually feel bad criticizing Ultravisitor, because it's clear that it was a particularly personal project for Tom. His puppy dog eyes look at me from the cover and I want to like it so much more than I do.

Just A Souvenir is actually really good outside of a trad 'pusher context, in hindsight. I think it's actually some of his best playing. He does really well when he imposes artistic limitations/rules/parameters on himself. And there were just too few on Ultravisitor. True artistic freedom comes from accepting the rules imposed, and working within them to subvert them, to get them to work for you. That's the basis for good free jazz and for the nifty mathrock in JaS. Exuberance presupposes a period of restraint. It's sort of what TS was on about in The Waste Land:

D A

Damyata: The boat responded

Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar

The sea was calm, your heart would have responded

Gaily, when invited, beating obedient

To controlling hands

But TS was also a bit of a fascist, so let's not apply that concept to politics.

Holy shit, I'm drunk.

  On 5/21/2010 at 6:21 AM, baph said:

  On 5/21/2010 at 1:59 AM, benc812 said:

  On 5/21/2010 at 12:45 AM, baph said:

I sort of like the start of Pathway too; it feels like it's going somewhere interesting in terms of composition/texture, but then. . . .

 

I guess it's the aesthetics of the "live big solo muscle flex" aspects of the album bother me, and those elements even seep into places where they just don't serve the music elsewhere on the album. I think Tom's a great musician, and I get the "replicating a live show" thing, but some of it's just so wanky, like he's catering to both his ego and a real/imagined audience merely out for cheap thrills and hot bass. Or something.

 

i can see where someone can feel that the more "live" stuff like tetra-sync can be wankish. but pieces like circlewave are just fucking beautiful.

 

so what are your thoughts on tracks like 50 cycles and district line ii? those used to be some ofmy least faves on the album but they're now must-listens.

 

Circleweave is good stuff, too, yeah. And I don't have any problems with 50 Cycles/District. I think just taking the album as a whole, all the good bits get dragged down so much by the wanky bits and the overall presentation/production of the album. It doesn't engage me personally. If some of the tracks were put into different contexts I might like them more.

 

I actually feel bad criticizing Ultravisitor, because it's clear that it was a particularly personal project for Tom. His puppy dog eyes look at me from the cover and I want to like it so much more than I do.

So you don't like the "interlude peices" such as Telluric Peice, An Arched Pathway, I Fulcrum etc? Some of them are cool, I'd say they all have their moments. I don't care for 50 Cycles, it's super generic... Plus I don't really care about the vocals. Menelec is a waste as well. Circlewave + Tetra-Sync = awesomeness! Plus the title track... fuck it's just pure lush beautiful win

  On 5/23/2010 at 4:28 AM, hautlle said:

 

So you don't like the "interlude peices" such as Telluric Peice, An Arched Pathway, I Fulcrum etc? Some of them are cool, I'd say they all have their moments. I don't care for 50 Cycles, it's super generic... Plus I don't really care about the vocals.

i somewhat disagree with your assessment of 50 cycles, but that's probably for more sentimental reasons. ultravisitor happened to be the first sp abum i purchased, and 50 cycles tore my head apart when i first heard it. plus, i love the part later in the song that sounds like a sped-up version of 'direct to mental' from alive in japan.

  On 4/6/2010 at 12:45 PM, Mcdergbit said:

start with feed me weird things. if you don't dig it, then maybe squarepusher is not for you.

posting in a maximus mischief thread

50 Cycles... ... "generic"?

f-train is in the same vein, i like it

If you like the warp20 set, i would say Selection Sixteen.

Other than that, you should check out the Nothing Compilation version of Big Loada.

But really, anything Squarepusher from 96 to 2001 is Gold.

  On 6/1/2010 at 2:44 AM, troon said:

posting in a maximus mischief thread

UFOs Over Leytonstone

Come On My Selector

Port Rhombus

My Red Hot Car

The Exploding Psychology

I Wish You Could Talk

Ultravisitor

Iambic 9 Poetry

Square Window

Venus No. 17

Hello Meow

Planetarium

Welcome To Europe

Plotinus

The Modern Bass Guitar

mutilation colony

i'm kidding

oh my god i forgot Tundra what was i thinking

  On 6/4/2010 at 6:46 AM, Calx Sherbet said:

f-train is in the same vein, i like it

If that had been my first Squarepusher track, I would've jumped off a building to my death. But I'd be smiling and laughing while falling.

which is too bad, because your last squarepusher track before you die should be Tetra-Sync

  On 6/17/2010 at 7:42 PM, Calx Sherbet said:

which is too bad, because your last squarepusher track before you die should be Tetra-Sync

That's actually brilliant. That would be the perfect track to listen to while falling through the air to your death. The way it evolves from organic, to electronic fuckery, and back again would perfectly (tetra) sync up with your mind racing through memories of your life. Hot damn, everyone should die to that track. I'm going to try it tonight.

you'd need a pretty good long fall