Be Up A Hello
Once upon a time, Squarepusher’s Tom Jenkinson was hailed as the master craftsman of drill ’n’ bass. You don’t hear that term so much anymore, but on Squarepusher’s first album since 2015’s *Damogen Furies*, he revives the style’s dizzying spirit: *Be Up a Hello* is a tour de force of high-velocity drum programming, punishing basslines, and frankly mind-bending sensory overload. Recorded largely in single takes on a hodgepodge of vintage gear, it’s also flat-out fun, with a dynamism in keeping with its spontaneity. “Oberlove” cheerfully pairs relentless breaks and bass riffs with almost melodramatic melodic flourishes; the unhinged “Speedcrank” shudders like a tilting pinball machine. It can be surprisingly pretty: “Hitsonu” taps into a naive grace seldom heard since Squarepusher’s early releases on Aphex Twin’s Rephlex label. As a counterbalance to all that untrammeled adrenaline, the ambient “Detroit People Mover” and “80 Ondula” give the British producer the chance to explore his most cinematic inclinations. And the glowering “Vortrack” moves into darkly atonal territory—proof that even looping back to the sound of his early work, Squarepusher keeps pushing forward.
On his first proper album in five years, Tom Jenkinson patches together a passel of vintage hardware to revisit the breakbeat mayhem and drill’n’bass hijinks of his early years.
Electronic visionary Tom Jenkinson's work as Squarepusher is defined in part by his creative restlessness.
If the optimistic title of Squarepusher's latest record, Be Up a Hello, doesn't speak to its playful nature, then the briefest of listens wi...
It’s clear that Squarepusher's Be Up A Hello was written with the past in mind, but there’s nothing creaky or dated about it.
Discussing nostalgia and Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) feels both laughable and unavoidable.
Be Up A Hello by Squarepusher, album review by Adam Williams. The Uk electronic musician's full-length drops on January 31st via Warp Records
Tom Jenkinson goes back to his mid-90s moniker and makes use of old electronic hardware in a fun, if bumpy, ride