TL;DR: I listened to Squarepusher’s discography and ranked his albums. This is of course my own opinion and based on personal bias rooted in nostalgia. So, take from that what you will.
I have spent a lot of time working from home last week, in programming land, so naturally I had a lot of time for music listening. I took a leaf out of @Gadfly’s book and decided to take on Squarepushers discography while working. As he was the first “IDM” artist I accessed in my early teens via my older brother. I hadn’t really listened to or paid attention to is newest “Dostrotime” album up until now, so this was a good excuse to get stuck into it. I have a pretty awesome monitoring station in my studio/office so I get a lot of enjoyment listening to music there, however Squarepusher’s mixing (as far as “sonic signature” is concerned), has a lot to be desired, so I didn’t receive the same dopamine effects throughout my week of listening.
My process was to listen to every album and EP in chronological order, and to listen to everything. I couldn’t actively be making notes during the first listen, so I did a second run through. Not in chronological order but picking and choosing via my internal ranking system. On the second run through I did skip tracks on albums and some entire EP releases. I have ranked my favourites below. I used what was available on his Bandcamp. As such I haven’t made any playlists on Spotify or anything like that. I will eventually get to doing that when I’m back to driving a lot.
My List:
- Feed Me Weird Things – This was the first on of his that I heard, and it has always stuck with me. I don’t think it matters what he releases in the future, this will always be my no.1. If you’re new to Squarepusher but not necessarily a big fan of Jazz, I’d start here. If you’re new and love Jazz as well, defer to number two below to start. Favourite track: “Theme From Ernest Borgnine”
- Hard Normal Daddy – This would probably be my favourite if I heard it first. This album is TJ’s musicality at its best.
- Budakhan Mindphone – Such a weird album, but again it was one of the first I heard of his and I just really love its strangeness.
- Hello Everything – I didn’t expect this to be in the top 5, because I kinda lumped it into his “newer music” category, but relistening to all the albums in one go has brought back so many memories and it’s actually a fucking awesome release and not even “new”. It sorta marks a mid-point in his catalogue now and a transition period in his “sound” and style.
- Go Plastic – This album is just mental. Sometimes disturbing, and I love it for that. Some of the most quintessential SP melodies and anthems are nested in this release. Greenways Trajectory has to be one of my favourite tracks from him and the ending that starts at 5:15 mins is one of the best moments in IDM history. Plaistow Flex Out is just a superb ending to this album. Totally keeps to the mental theme, but it’s super chill, like a cigarette after sex. IMO it needs a remaster as it really would benefit from a punchier atmosphere.
- Music is Rotted One Note
- Do You Know Squarepusher – it’s really a 7 track to me, the live section never really got a look in as I have generally not been into live recordings through my life.
- Burningn’n Tree, Big Loda, Lamental EP – I’ve lumped this into number 8 together, because none of them are albums and the former two were collections of random tracks first released under a different alias I believe. That said, I only ever heard them released together on these albums, so to me personally, they are albums and have a good amount of nostalgia points. Lamental EP has Midi Sans Frontiers on it which was one of the few remix comps that he put out. I still have the stems on my google drive if anyone wants the link: MIDI Sans Frontiers STEMS
- Be Up A Hello - This is the best of his newer stuff. Quite a fun listen. Favourite track “Vortrack”
- Ufabulum – It’s “ok”. I think it has a good vibe in the background and nothing too offensive. It’s mixed better than his other albums, but doesn’t really “push any squares”. “Dark Steering” is the standout track on this album. The synthesised race car engine and how it’s incorporated into the music is quite awesome.
- Music for Robots – A well-executed experiment in midi-controlled robots playing real instruments. I love how he makes the robots do ridiculous shit, intertwined with the stuff that a human could theoretically play. Like it’s glitched. Thumbs up. Favourite Track: Dissolver
- Just a Souvenir – Not his best work, but has some interesting moments and some not so great ones too. “Potential Govaner” and “Tensor In Green” are worth a listen, but all-in-all I think that this album really is “just a souvenir”. Take it for what it’s worth.
- Ultravisitor – Again, not a live recording guy, I think I only like the first half of this album. I don’t know why it’s such a big fan favourite.
- Damogen Furies – I think Tom was trying to make a dubstep album? Not terrible. It’s more listenable to me than some of his work on Numbers Lucent and Ultravisitor but production quality is lacking for this genre and just doesn’t hit the mark. Favourite track is “Baltang Ort”.
- Dostrotime - Generally a pretty forgettable album. It’s not terrible, but I’ve listened to it 4 times now and nothing has stuck with me about it.
- Numbers Lucent – I admire Squarepushers ability to try out new styles and build nods to other subgenres into his aesthetic. But sometimes it results in music I simply don’t gel with. Heliacal Torch and Star Time1 are alright.
- Shobaleader One: d’Demonstrator, falls into the same category as Numbers Lucent. Tried to be Daft Punk, but without the production quality or finesse.
Hope this helps someone