CD Review
By Mark Tester
Squarepusher- Ultravisitor
With the decline in quality electronic music as of late, particularly in the IDM/glitch field, "Ultravisitor" is an album that truly needed to be made. Tom Jenkinson (aka Squarepusher) has made quite possibly one of the most brilliant and eclectic electronic albums in the last five years.
Often overshadowed by label mate Aphex Twin, Squarepusher's new album destroys Aphex Twin's last release, "26 Mixes for Cash" (a collection of remixes and unreleased material). Although Squarepusher has released several excellent albums, including 2001's breakthrough (and my favorite) "Go Plastic" and earlier works such as "Hard Normal Daddy," Jenkinson has really found his niche with "Ultravisitor."
Squarepusher's brilliant bass playing really comes through in many of the tracks on his new album and they compliment his knob turning and circuit bending beautifully. The album plays more like an orchestrated symphony than a traditional electronic, or IDM, album.
The album is so eclectic that some tracks, "I Fulcrum" and "Lambic 9 Poetry" amongst other songs, even bring to mind (dare I say it) Miles Davis' jazz-fusion days; which is sure to please fans of the "Budakhan Mindphone" album. Then there are just as many tracks that will make the hair on any IDM/glitch fan's arms stand straight up. There are also noise layers delicately placed through most of the tracks that make nerds like me nod my head with approval. "District Line II" and the title track are reason enough to buy this brilliant album, but the rest of the tracks are very nice, too.
In a perfect world, everyone would like the same music that I do, and I would give this album the full five stars. However, I recognize that this album is probably not for everyone. If you do have the urge to buy a really great electronic, or even a great experimental album, do yourself a favor and buy what is easily the best electronic release of 2004 thus far.
-á
RATING: 4/5
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