Tom Jenkinson, aka Square Pusher, releases his latest album "Kammerkonzert" on Warp Records. The album features obsidian-hard, ultra-fast bass playing, ferocious orchestral sounds, and a series of rapid turns that traverse progressive, ambient, electronic, and experimental music.
The album is an ambitious work that, as its name suggests, is a "chamber concerto" and pushes the boundaries of musical structure itself.
Square Pusher is a one-of-a-kind hardcore rave and electronic producer, experimental musician, and futuristic fusion pioneer. His 30-year career is filled with a gem of a body of work. Feed Me Weird Things (1996), his electrifying debut album, Ultravisitor (2004), which presented another dimension of concrete jazz, Solo Electric Bass 1 (2009), which showcased his superbly skilled bass playing, and even Music for Robots" (2014), it is rare to find an artist who has traversed such a broad spectrum of contemporary music with such sure footedness. His latest work is an astonishing "chamber concerto" in which he performs almost all the parts himself.
This work, "Kammerkonzert," is a strong demonstration of his abilities not only as a producer but also as a composer. The fast-paced compositions recall the soundtracks of French progressive rock band Magma ("K1 Advance"), the flowing fusion of Weather Report's "Body Electric" period ("K2 Central"), and Ennio Morricone's bloody Jarreau film. The soundtrack of Ennio Morricone's bloody Jarrott film ("K7 Museum") is evoked in some moments. There are also moments of crossover with the UK jazz scene ("K3 Diligence"), ring-modulated piano from Stockhausen's epic "Mantra" and the ambient air of Brian Eno's work with David Bowie ("K11 Tideway K11 Tideway"), to the multi-layered interplay of influences.
But they never stop at allusions or homages. Every piece transforms, disappears, and is reconstructed before it can be applied to a genre or style. The listener is led to a moment when the whole picture emerges, as if peering inside a self-reconstructing device in which gears and microchips are reassembled at high speed.
This work has nothing to do with the maturity or prestige that the term "orchestral work" evokes.
The live drums, electric bass, guitars, and complex sound libraries coexist to create rhythms and textures that cannot be captured by traditional musical notation.
This work was originally intended to be performed with a chamber orchestra, but after a series of events, the result was elevated to a form in which he plays all the parts himself. This is neither a classical nor a conventional electronic work.
It is a new form that is different from either of these.
The title "Kammerkonzert" means "chamber concerto" in German, and its hard sound suggests the acoustic combativeness of the work. A mischievous challenge that pushes the limits of musical composition from within. The core of this work is the attitude that makes even the dangerous combination of breakbeats and string quartet possible. (From the label information)