Tom Jenkinson, aka Squarepusher, presents Kammerkonzert, a riot of onyx-hard, hyperfast riffs, fiendish orchestral themes, and handbrake turns through varieties of progressive, ambient, electronic and experimental music.
The singular hardcore rave / IDM producer, experimental musician and creator of futuristic forms of fusion, has a three-decade-long back catalogue studded with a variety of jewel-like records. From the furious breakbeat acid and pulverising live bass guitar attack of Feed Me Weird Things (1996) to the literal and self-explanatory Music For Robots (2014) via the virtuosic live showcase of Solo Electric Bass 1 (2009) and the otherworldly concrète jazz of Ultravisitor (2004) few contemporary musicians have covered as much ground in as sure-footed a manner. But despite this reach, his three decade output is only typified by two things: unpredictability and rule breaking. Given that his new album on Warp, Kammerkonzert, is essentially a chamber concerto with him playing all of the parts it’s safe to say he has come a long way since his crystalline drum & bass debut for the label in 1996, Port Rhombus EP.
Twenty-one albums in, Kammerkonzert is the start of a new era for Squarepusher as a composer.