Damogen Furies - Squarepusher (2015)

Every month for the decade plus that I’ve been primarily streaming music, I’ve kept lists of what I liked that month. I look back at them to remind me of things I might have forgotten. This week I’m going through some of my “best of April” lists and picking something off of each.

This is off the “best of month, April 2015” list. Other things on this list: Undertow by Drenge, White Men Are Black Men Too by Young Fathers, Cherry Bomb by Tyler The Creator

Squarepusher was part of the wave of “intelligent dance music” (IDM) and drum n bass in the second half of the 90s that got me deep into the genre, but he always stood out. Compared to a lot of DJs and bedroom programmers, he’s a little more musician-minded (he’s a big jazz fan who plays live bass on a lot of his records) and a lot more willing to do things nobody thought of before. His jazz- and funk-informed approach makes a lot of his music distinct, and he’s found ways to stay inventive over the years.

The beats are always at breakneck speed, thanks to his roots in the drum n bass scene. And he can get sounds out of a synth that most people would never have thought possible. But you’ll always find interesting bones to the pieces underneath the squalls and skitters. This album probably isn’t as groundbreaking as some of his 90s records (I’ll get to writing those up someday) but it’s still a wild tour through a unique musician’s process.

Tracks I liked

Stor Eiglass - The allmusic review also notices that the hook in this track is basically the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” so I’m glad it’s not just me.

Kontenjaz - one of the more melodic and methodical compositions he’s ever put together, I think. It gets a little dubsteppy in places, but that’s not all bad.

Baltang Arg - Sounds a bit like an old Yes song thrown through a distortion pedal. But in a good way, if that wasn’t clear.