Bleep

Squarepusher, presents Kammerkonzert, a riot of onyx-hard, hyperfast riffs, fiendish orchestral themes and handbrake turns through varieties of progressive, ambient, electronic and experimental music.

A singular hardcore rave/electronic producer, experimental musician and creator of futuristic forms of fusion, Tom Jenkinson has a three-decade-long back catalogue studded with jewel-like records. From the furious breakbeat acid and pulverising live bass-guitar attack of Feed Me Weird Things (1996) to the self-explanatory Music for Robots (2014) via the virtuosic live showcase of Solo Electric Bass 1 (2009) and the luxurious and otherworldly concrète jazz of Ultravisitor (2004), few contemporary musicians have covered as much ground in as sure-footed a manner. Given that his dazzling new album for Warp is essentially a chamber concerto with Jenkinson playing all of the parts, it’s safe to say he has come a long way since Port Rhombus EP, his crystalline drum & bass debut for the label in 1996.

Kammerkonzert displays Jenkinson’s strength not only as a producer but as a composer, shown by the album’s mercurial juxtapositions which can fleetingly remind the listener of the visionary French Zeuhl band Magma (‘K1 Advance’), the liquid fusion of Weather Report in their Body Electric phase (‘K2 Central’), and the baroque blood-drenched giallo soundtracks of Ennio Morricone (‘K7 Museum’). Elsewhere the more contemporary north London jazz riffing of Sons of Kemet (‘K3 Diligence’), the ring-modulated piano of Stockhausen’s Mantra and even the atmosphere of Brian Eno’s ambient work with David Bowie (‘K11 Tideway’) all make themselves felt.

Kammerkonzert – whose tough-sounding name reflects the sonic militancy of the music it presents, while literally meaning chamber concert in German – pushes mischievously inward at the extreme boundaries of music composition itself.