Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Squarepusher

Hello Everything

Label: Warp Records Release Date: 16/10/2006

17369
Mike_Diver by Mike Diver October 16th, 2006

Tom Jenkinson’s brain, like yours or mine, is neatly divided into two halves. On one side, he hears his music, recorded under the guise of Squarepusher, to be glitch-riddled electronica wholly in the traditional Warp vein, beats skittered and speedy; the other side, though, interprets his output as neo-jazz workouts, structurally unbound by genre constraints and technological limitations. Hello Everything is the natural collision of these separate sensory consumptions, and it’s as all-embracing as its title implies.

Jenkinson’s abilities with the bass guitar are showcased magnificently here – Theme From Sprite finds wandering notes underpinned by crisp drumming, beats born of man and skins rather than buttons and circuitry. These particularly organic tracks (‘Circlewave 2’ is another), devoid of squeaks and bleeps, are neat diversions from the expected electro-spawned frazzles and fizzes, but rest rather awkwardly against more propulsive offerings.

‘Bubble Life’ is one track that attempts to strike a balance between the two worlds – acoustic guitar is plucked, its contributions high in the mix, but it’s the underlying crackle of burning wires and black boxes full of tricks and ticks that really catch the listener’s attention; thus, when ‘Planetarium’ arrives, its semi-standard formula – those aforementioned beats and steadily building synthesizer washes – comes as something of a relief. It’s sad to fall back on the conventional when alternative options are readily available, but it is the more obvious moments that comprise Hello Everything’s highlights.

Of course, Jenkinson is renowned as an adventurous musician, and Hello Everything certainly backs up any critical opinion professing as much. But, this album’s lack of solid punch and maintained velocity sees certain tracks slide into background noise territory. Granted, nothing approaches the dreaded elevator music status, but by committing so very much, style-wise, to the same disc Jenkinson has rather soured his usually so satisfying milk.

Aficionados will find much to love across the twelve tracks of Hello Everything, but newcomers to this well-established and rightly-acclaimed purveyor of fine electronica sounds may wish to begin their adventure into vibrant musical territories elsewhere. Perhaps Go Plastic? It’s a fine starting point.

This, though, might just be too scatterbrained for its own good…

  • 7
    Mike Diver's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

Charger, The Abominable Iron Sloth at Camden Barfly, Camden Town, Sat 14 Oct

Mobback
17381
17371

The Holloways

So This Is Great Britain?

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND