Squarepusher

  • Chelmsford, England
    hometown
  • Dance/Electronic
    genre
  • 1994
    started
  • Bio
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About Squarepusher


Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson makes manic, schizoid, experimental drum'n'bass with a heavy progressive jazz influence and a lean toward pushing the clichés of the genre out the proverbial window. Rising from near-total obscurity to drum'n'bass cause célèbre in the space of a couple of months, Jenkinson released only a pair of EPs and a DJ Food remix for the latter's Refried Food series before securing EP and LP release plans with three different labels. His first full-length work, Feed Me Weird Things (on Richard "Aphex Twin" James' Rephlex label), was a dizzying, quixotic blend of super-fast jungle breaks with Aphex-style synth textures, goofy, offbeat melodies, and instrumental arrangements (he samples his own playing for his tracks) that vaguely recall jazz fusion pioneers such as Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report. A skilled bassist and multi-instrumentalist, Jenkinson's fretless accompaniment is a staple of his music and one of the more obvious affiliations with jazz (although his formal arrangements are often as jazz-derived as his playing).

Jenkinson grew up listening to jazz and dub greats like Miles Davis, Augustus Pablo, Charlie Parker, and Art Blakey. The son of a jazz drummer, Jenkinson followed in his father's footsteps, playing bass and drums in high school. Introduced to electronic music through experimental electro-techno artists such as LFO and Carl Craig, Jenkinson soon began assembling his disparate influences into amalgams of breakbeat techno and post-bop avant-garde and progressive jazz. Claiming a closer affinity with jazz than jungle (although he draws from both equally in his music), Jenkinson's EPs as Squarepusher and the Duke of Harringay (Jenkinson moved to Harringay from his Chelmsford birthplace) were initially disregarded as misplaced perversions of jungle's more obvious compositional principles, but found ready audiences in fans of post-acid house experimental listening music. He inked a deal with Warp in 1995, releasing the Port Rhombus EP and three others through a variety of different labels. The aforementioned full-length Feed Me Weird Things appeared in 1996, followed a year later by Hard Normal Daddy.

Critical acclaim for Jenkinson's work peaked with 1998's Music Is Rotted One Note, for which he became a one-man fusion group -- multi-tracking himself playing drums, bass, and keyboards. The following year, he released two EPs (Budakhan Mindphone, Maximum Priest) and another full LP, Selection Sixteen. Go Plastic appeared in summer 2001, featuring the closest thing to a hit Squarepusher had ever seen with the single "My Red Hot Car." Subsequent releases such as 2003's Do You Know Squarepusher and 2004's Ultravisitor found him refining his fusion of composition, programming, and musicianship, characteristics that were also heard on 2006's Hello Everything and 2008's Just a Souvenir. After a record of solo bass (titled Solo Electric Bass, Vol. 1), he unveiled his next project, a masked foursome named Shobaleader One that released a 2010 collaboration album (Shobaleader One: D'demonstrator) consisting of throwback electronic pop with an R&B edge and synthesized vocals, not unlike Daft Punk. In 2012, Jenkinson returned with the coldly symphonic Ufabulum, adding an apocalyptic soundtrack feel to his already dense programming. ~ Sean Cooper & John Bush, Rovi

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Music

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  • Dark Steering
    squarepusher
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    Dark Steering
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    • My Sound
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/6/3/4/2/4/224342436.mp3
    • Chunk-S
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/1/1/8/1/4/224341811.mp3
    • Iambic 9 Poetry
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/9/8/0/5/5/224355089.mp3
    • Last Ap Roach
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/4/7/2/2/4/224342274.mp3
    • Shin Triad
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/5/1/1/2/4/224342115.mp3
    • Ill Descent
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/6/2/6/1/4/224341626.mp3

Photos

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  • Squarepusher
    Donald Christie

News

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  • Squarepusher
    Download new Squarepusher LP
    www.drownedinsound.com
    across Europe and the UK on the following dates: November: 19 Paris Trabendo 21 Graz Non Stop Cinema 22 Budapest Diesel 26 Berlin Volksbuhne Theatre 2...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    Watch: Squarepusher - 'Delta-v'
    www.drownedinsound.com
    and slaps rain down in a thunderstorm of fuzz." Seems about right. Pitchfork.tv have had the video up for a very little while but we also thought you'...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    Listen: World exclusive of new Squarepusher track 'Into The Blue'
    www.drownedinsound.com
    's well and truly HOT or FRESH. Whichever you prefer. I don't want to give too much away but it does contain vocals. Have a listen to it and two other...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    Squarepusher collaboration with Andre 3000 still on
    www.drownedinsound.com
    Super-collaborations, however unlikely, have often been the talk of the indie music world in the past few years. Like the whole of Montreal vs. Solang...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    New Squarepusher LP gets October release
    www.drownedinsound.com
    . Squarepusher presents - Shobaleader One - d'Demonstrator from Warp Records on Vimeo. Perhaps we can expect more Shoebladers in the next year or so? ...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    ATP benefit concert for Japan this Thursday ft. Squarepusher, details inside
    www.drownedinsound.com
    All Tomorrow's Parties have announced a special benefit show for the victims of the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami. It's happening this week, ...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    ATP benefit concert for Japan this Thursday ft. Squarepusher, details inside
    drownedinsound.com
    All Tomorrow's Parties have announced a special benefit show for the victims of the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami. It's happening this week, ...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    Squarepusher - "Dark Steering" Video
    stereogum.com
    has said it well.) And have you seen the crazy spatial light show construction of Amon Tobin's ISAM? Somewhere between all of that, short the dubstep ...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    Video: Squarepusher: "Dark Steering"
    www.pitchfork.com
    Here's the new visual for Squarepusher's "Dark Steering" from his forthcoming Warp release Ufabulum, out May 15 in the U.S. and May 14 in Europe. Squa...
    Read More
  • Squarepusher
    James Murphy, Danny Brown, Bloc Party, Skrillex, A-Trak, Squarepusher Set for HARD Summer Fest
    www.pitchfork.com
    The HARD Summer festival takes place at Los Angeles State Historic Park August 3-4. The lineup includes James Murphy, Bloc Party, AraabMuzik, Danny Br...
    Read More

Tour Dates

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  • Jun 7 Friday
    London, UK O2 Academy Brixton
    Buy Ticket
  • Jul 5 Friday
    Chicago, IL, US Metro
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  • Jul 7 Sunday
    Washington, DC, US Black Cat
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  • Jul 9 Tuesday
    New York, NY, US Le Poisson Rouge
    Buy Ticket
  • Jul 11 Thursday
    Mariaville, NY, US Indian Lookout Country Club Vip
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  • Jul 11 Thursday
    Mariaville, NY, US Indian Lookout Country Club
    Buy Ticket
  • Jul 13 Saturday
    Joensuu, Finland Ilosaarirock
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  • Sep 5 Thursday
    Arreton, UK Bestival
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  • Oct 12 Saturday
    Mexico City, Mexico Curva 4 Del Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
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Discography

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  • Ufabulum (2012)
    Squarepusher
    Ufabulum (2012)
    Warp
  • Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator (2010)
    Squarepusher
    Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator (2010)
    Warp
  • Solo Electric Bass, Vol. 1 (2009)
    Squarepusher
    Solo Electric Bass, Vol. 1 (2009)
    Warp
  • Just a Souvenir (2008)
    Squarepusher
    Just a Souvenir (2008)
    Warp
  • Hello Everything (2006)
    Squarepusher
    Hello Everything (2006)
    Warp
  • Ultravisitor (2004)
    Squarepusher
    Ultravisitor (2004)
    Warp
  • Do You Know Squarepusher (2002)
    Squarepusher
    Do You Know Squarepusher (2002)
    Warp
  • Go Plastic (2001)
    Squarepusher
    Go Plastic (2001)
    Warp
  • Selection Sixteen (1999)
    Squarepusher
    Selection Sixteen (1999)
    Warp
  • Music Is Rotted One Note (1998)
    Squarepusher
    Music Is Rotted One Note (1998)
    Nothing Records (Interscope)
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