Squarepusher – Ultravisitor

Tom Jenkinson’s new one is certainly not for the light eared. Despite the often mellow pace and jazzy interludes, this CD often launches into a grating hell of catastrophic sound. When “50 Cycles” peaked, there was such an explosion of pure noise my flat became temporarily convinced Judgment Day had arrived: lamps cast shadow, chairs became flaccid, and my cat took out nine life insurance policies online, despite my protests that he really only needed one, before merging interdimensionally with a Smoking Baby® incense holder. He never was much into electronica anyway.
A relative departure from 2001’s lyrically intense Go Plastic, Ultravisitor is almost entirely an adventure in sound. Cascading synths roll behind a jazz-funk bass while fractured snares and the like accompany a truly gifted set of overworked, natural drums. The presence of well-timed crowd sounds give the album a sense of completion and comfort during an often bumpy ride. It also sucks the listener into a concert type feeling forcing one to pay more attention to the man behind the music and the creative process which helped bring this album to life as opposed to the dehumanized approach heralded by the likes of Kraftwerk.
As such, your enjoyment of this LP depends on your tolerance of generally menacing noise and patience during the many interludes. I, for one, find it to be a powerful, immensely enjoyable and moving piece of electronic art which should age well and influence many in the future.

He was never off form, he wasn't tryna big him self up or whatever with the title "Do you know squarepusher" he was tryna explain that he's not just about what he's best known for, and even the little lyric in the title track contained "makes all the different kinds of drum n bass" as a kinda pisstake, the rest of the album was just him rubbing in that you dont know tom jenkinson, just squarepusher, and now you don't really know squarepusher so well either. Now with Ultravisitor he's gone on to expand on that and innovate and he's created a goddam bloody brilliant load of whatever it is that he's created, at first listen a little odd, and i found my self picking out Ultravisitor Iambic 9 Poetry District Line II and Tetra-Sync, but after a fair bit more listening, i just sat there and listened to it all the whole way through, and when it finished i just sat there and thought... that was fkin brilliant. Since then i've happily appreciated all the tracks, but the best way is to listen to the album as a whole.

Wow! I've been listening to this record for days now. And it is clear that Tom Jenkinson is back in form! On this album you have classic squarepusheresque drill n'bass tracks, very mellow, harmonic stuff, incredible live tracks and extremely hard and noisy stuff. One track could even be described as some sort of hip-hop ("50 Cycles". This is what Stockhausen would have sounded like if he was into hip-hop).

"Ultravisitor" is basically Tom Jenkinson showing off all his skills. He runs through all the different styles he has dealt with during his carreer. And he does it well! I've always been a great fan of Squarepusher, but quite frankly I was starting to get a bit bored with all the records sounding more or less the same (hysteric drill n'bass with the occasional softish track). This record finally shows signs of renewal and progression, while keeping all the traditional trade marks of Squarepusher. If you're a fan, you won't be dissapointed. This is the record we have been waiting for.

Ultravisitor has quickly become my favorite Squarepusher album. The songs "Ultravisitor", "Tetra-Sync", and "Iambic 9 Poetry" are absolutely incredible, and represent some of Tom's finest work in nearly all styles he has touched on in the past. Essentially this release can be seen as a grand retrospective on Tom Jenkinson's entire career.

The only weak points to me are tracks 9 and 10, "An Arched Pathway" and "Teluric Piece", which are relatively boring and easily could have been removed to lighten the 79-minute running time. But this is only a small complaint; ignoring these two songs, the album is incredible all the way through.

Buy this if you want to hear some classical guitar. Maybe I'm not into jazz enough but this seems like a step backwards for Tom. The Aliens Are Not Proud. Someone must have stolen his supply of Acid and replaced it with Wine or something.