Ufabulum

Hate to start this review on a negative note but this needs to be said: I didn't like Squarepusher's last two albums, not even a little bit. I found the last record unlistenable, vocoder Zap! style vocals saying a whole lot of nothing over some technically accomplished but soulless funk and pop, nothing challenging or dangerous or new about it at all. The record before that, Just a Souvenir, had three decent tracks, the rest just didn't do it for me, I hated the vocals and the faux pop-rock style of it all. I did however enjoy the Numbers Lucent EP.

The new album is a refreshing departure from recent explorations. It's far more electronic sounding, the most all-out electronic Squarepusher album since Selection Sixteen, which is arguably his most solid album to my ears after Music Is One Rotted Note. It's not super-challenging like Ultravisitor, nor is it OTT and grating like Go Plastic. It's also really upbeat! Especially the first half of the record, tunes are downright happy, and although I like when Squarepusher is moody and dark and experimental, he knows how to make really joyful and happy music too. But don't worry for there is a little darkness and experimentation on here too, Drax 2 being a good example of that, and arguably the best song on the record. There are other great standout tunes like the album's opener 4001, the acid madness of Scopem Hard 303, or the amazing soundtrack to some non-existent videogame in Stadium Ice. Dark Steering needs a mention too, a mish-mash of race-car engine sounds, the roland 303, and SP's crazy timing.

So Squarepusher fans, if you really dug his previous two records then you might not like this one so much. If you like his more electonic-sounding stuff, and especially if you're into the 303, you will like this album. I'd say personally that it's his best record since Ultravisitor,and although it doesn't have anything like the incredible Iambic 9 poetry, as an album it's more listenable from start to finish than Ultravisitor and perhaps any of his other albums.

For people who are new to Squarepusher, this is probably an ideal starting place as it's rather accessible but still gives a taster of Mr Jenkinson's more extreme and experimental side.

Sometimes artists produce their most interesting work when they start to become influenced by the artists who they themselves influenced.

This may or may not be the case with "Ufabulum".

In my opinion, Tom Jenkinson is too clever for his own good sometimes. On this occasion, this sounding-a-bit-like-Daft-Punk-on-the-first-five-tracks business may be part of his cunning plan. Or it may not. As it happens I don't care, because this is perhaps Jenkinson's best LP ever. Unlike some of his other records it is, intentionally or not, a take it as you find it release (i.e. there's little in the way of irony).

"Ufabulum" is, as some previous reviewers have noted, an album of two halves - the first half being Squarepusher's surprising apparent new Judge Jules-friendly (well maybe not that friendly) direction and the second being more recognisably 'pusher in his original (Aphex-influencing?) form, with the (brilliant) final track "Ecstatic Shock" tying the two themes together. Either side of the divide, this is a CD (if you play it enough) whose melodies you will find replaying in the jukebox in your head at odd moments in the day (in my case, "Stadium Ice" on a Tuesday morning visit to the office vending machine).

When Squarepusher's on (clean, crisp, electronic) form, there's nobody to beat him. If you don't know Squarepusher then why not start here?

Squarepusher's latest album Ufabulum... It came out about a year ago and I've been listening to it on and off since. As a whole. the album feels very much an album of two halves, split right down the middle, showcasing arguably some of his best work and some of his most uninspiring.
The first track feels very much like it's designed to be euphoric and uplifting, but it fails to strike any sort of a chord with me. The next 2 or 3 songs follow similar suit with soaring synth parts and catchy (annoying) melodies. All of these songs get a similar sort of review from me, the first half of the album honestly sounds like a cross between a soundtrack to the worst Sega Saturn Game you can imagine and the kind of background music you hear when the league tables appear on Eurosport's coverage of the bobsleigh. And I cant stress that enough. Even though there are enjoyable moments hidden in there, I always get those sort of images in my head. I was very much surprised to hear the track 'Unreal Square' make an appearance during the BBC's coverage of the Olympics last year... so I can only imagine a couple of their producers had a similar feeling towards those tracks that I did. It almost feels like those songs were designed for that specifically, which makes for a rather offputting listen as an album.
'Red In Blue' acts as a sort of quiet before the storm and a significant turning point. All remaining tracks feel somewhat darker, noisier, more atmospheric, more energetic, chaotic... It's like an entirely different album altogether. Some of it could be described as an uneasy listen, but in a way that feels way more exciting and uplifting than anything the first half had to offer. Definitely 'edge of your seat' music, and each remaining track has an entirely different way off getting that across.
The track 'Dark Steering' is probably among my favourite songs from last year, and the fact I still listen to that and the rest of Ufabulum probably doesn't mean it's a bad album, I just think it's a confusing release as I love some parts and hate others... If the tracks from 'The Metallurgist' onward had been released as 'The Ufabulum EP' I'd give that EP 5 stars... no question, and if that questionable first half had been released as it's own EP with some nice colourful cover art, I dare say I'd look at that in a different perspective. But Maybe I'm over-analyzing things.
So in all, some very very good stuff, and some uninspiring 'annoying' stuff, but I guess i do find myself with a similar opinion with regards to Squarepusher's discography. I absolutely love some parts of it, and some parts don't do as much for me. But in a way I'm glad he does release his albums in the way he does. I'd chose extremes of good and bad any day over a discography of complete mediocrity.