squarepusher Squarepusher - Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator

  On 10/19/2010 at 3:59 PM, The Green Kingdom said:

  On 10/19/2010 at 12:37 AM, Dunderhead said:

My take? I love this lp, makes me smile like an idiot. Especially Laser Rock.

I dig his Jaco Pastorius / Herbie Hancock gurning, the Sunn0))))) style monks

hoods but acide gen'ed in day-glo.

 

Most fun since Welcome to Europe, which was the most fun since Big Red Car,

which was ditto since Journey to Reedham, and that since Central Line ;-)

 

I've been a fan of his work sibe the Spymania days, got the Bubble and Squeak EP

and Alroy Road Tracks when they came out, mopped up other earlier bits after

that quick as could find them (including the split 12 on dragon disc - for the

record I was named dunderhead for my dj work having forgotten about the canadian[?]

on the flip).

 

Only one I never really loved was Do You Know Squarepusher, but eve that has it's

moments. Like the Solo Electric Bass a little less than some, but taking it for

what it is that is pretty cool too.

 

Loving his new 'group' thing, hope he keeps the madness at that level.

 

But, bottom line, I want to hear him unfettered by the 'that is not what I want to

hear from Squarepusher' rubbish. That crap stifles creativity. He always surprises.

 

Tim

 

I agree on all counts! I think it's catchy and good fun if a bit (intentionally) cheesy (I like 'Souvenir' too though).

 

I don't get all of the Daft punk comparisons either- obviously I see the visual connection, but it's not like he's doing loopy disco/house stuff.

I hear no similarity to Daft Punk either, at this point any comparisons I just take as an example of someone who cares more about the image/artwork than the music.

Does anyone remember when I said Pitchfork would mention Daft Punk several times in their Shobaleader review? Sounds like the inevitable happened.

  On 10/19/2010 at 5:56 PM, Enter a new display name said:

Does anyone remember when I said Pitchfork would mention Daft Punk several times in their Shobaleader review? Sounds like the inevitable happened.

Superficial websites is superficial news at 11!

I'll just pretend Shobaleader never happened. And I hope this weird hokey flavor he's had since Just A Souvenir that came to its terrible fruition on this album is gone without a trace on all his work in the future.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14767-shobaleader-one-ddemonstrator/

  Quote

Shobaleader One just sounds lifeless. There's little thrilling, or perverse, about it, as if Jenkinson wanted to make a French pop-dance record without fully embracing the airy funk or noisy bombast that makes the Gallic innovators' music fun.

 

Squarepusher's usual bass frippery becomes sluggish when slowed down to a synth-pop pace-- too much "virtuosity," not enough boogie. And when Jenkinson takes on the brutal low-end cut-ups of the Ed Banger label, the results are a little too restrained to stand up. French house and synthetic R&B at Squarepusher's usual frantic tempos might have been enjoyably wacky enough for a few spins, but for some reason Jenkinson decided to play it straight, with very mixed results. Shobaleader One's not tuneful enough to pass for pop, not funky enough to satisfy a club, and lacks the wildstyle (if sometimes infuriating) excess of Squarepusher's other records. Whether hard or soft, there's nothing here that you can't hear executed with more joie de vivre by a half-dozen Frenchmen.

^ sorry, that's probably slowed down 800%, innit

hipsterfork fails again

  On 10/19/2010 at 8:04 PM, encey said:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14767-shobaleader-one-ddemonstrator/

 

  Quote

...Shobaleader One's not tuneful enough to pass for pop, not funky enough to satisfy a club, and lacks the wildstyle (if sometimes infuriating) excess of Squarepusher's other records...

There is truth there.

  On 10/20/2010 at 12:17 AM, sidewinder said:

  On 10/19/2010 at 8:04 PM, encey said:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14767-shobaleader-one-ddemonstrator/

 

  Quote

...Shobaleader One's not tuneful enough to pass for pop, not funky enough to satisfy a club, and lacks the wildstyle (if sometimes infuriating) excess of Squarepusher's other records...

There is truth there.

It may be difficult to market, but when did idmers care about music molding into categories or static artists that don't experiment? The fact that he compares this so heavily to Daft Punk makes me question whether he listened to the album at all. I mean I can see some Air sounding vocals perhaps, but this is very much a rock/r&b album. Daft Punk is house/techno.

Yeah I don't really get the whole Daft Punk thing either, even though I haven't heard much Daft Punk beyond Homework. I think it's just the image making them even think about Daft Punk.

And it's not that I think music has to fit into a mold or specific category...for me this just happens to feel a little lifeless and doesn't move me in any particular way, and I think that's what the review is saying as well.

I'm still just basing this on one listen though, it'll have its chance to grow on me...when I feel like playing it again. Probably later this week.

just a quick comment : i didnt heard the latest squarepusher but regarding daft punk, they're not just strictly house/techno. bit of electro funk + pop influence on their tracks (digital love, harder faster, make love etc etc).

fokken pitchfork

they're just wearing masks. that doesn't make them daft punk.

on flyinglotus's facebook status

"is the new squarepusher some kind of joke?"

it seems like he does like it though

  Quote

this record owes monsieurs Banglater and de Homem-Christo at least a nod of respect.

lol Banglater.

I really dislike the last couple of tracks on this album.

at first I was like

but then I was like

  On 10/20/2010 at 10:13 AM, vamos scorcho said:

on flyinglotus's facebook status

 

"is the new squarepusher some kind of joke?"

 

it seems like he does like it though

christ!

this is coming from the man who LOVES Mr Oizo.

  On 10/20/2010 at 10:07 AM, Backson said:

fokken pitchfork

 

they're just wearing masks. that doesn't make them daft punk.

i can hear similarities (distorsion/compression/vocoder) + mask with LED fx.

well even Warp is comparing the latest Squarepusher with Daft punk.

well i dont have any problem with that as i like both...

Well... I guess we should respect if a musician is trying out new things. Although for me the latest Squarepusher stuff is not a progression but a degression (does that exist in English?) it's development anyway. There are some nice cheesy tracks and some very very bad ones but it's rather a new artist than Squarepusher as most of us know and love him.

I went into Fopp today (film and music store) today and they were playing d'Demonstrator through. I took a slow look around because I wanted to hear it on a decent system and it sounded amazing. I love it more with every listen.

I'm enjoying the album quite a bit... I don't think there are any stellar stand-out tracks, but there are no bad ones for me. While it's pretty exciting now, though, I think it's the kind of album that will lose it's charm quite quickly. We'll see...

can't wait to get the vinyl. the last track has kinda run its course with me though. was kinda cool at first but now it's probably the most cheesy track on the album.

i just got the cd today... haven't listened to it yet, and probably won't until tomorrow, but one question... is this really a band or it is it just tom doing a different style and claiming a band played on it?

Its tom and a drum machine.

  On 10/22/2010 at 8:37 PM, Gocab said:

Its tom and a drum machine.

Until I see video of a band performing the songs live (together), I would tend to agree

  On 10/21/2010 at 3:26 AM, modey said:

the last track has kinda run its course with me though. was kinda cool at first but now it's probably the most cheesy track on the album.

I kinda feel the same way (if you're talking about Maximum Planck)... it just kinda drags on... and I loved it first listen or 2. I think THAT should have been the Japanese bonus track and On Fire Again should have been the real closer.

Definitely agree about Max Planck, but On Fire Again sucks too. Take off those plus Into the Blue, and Frisco Wave and it would be perfect