About

A "chamber concert" in which the performer plays every part himself: in electronic music, only a small handful of artists come to mind who might both a) have such an idea and b) carry it through in a meaningful way. One of them is certainly Tom Jenkinson, aka Squarepusher, who for decades has met a kind of inspired dilettantism with musical virtuosity. Admittedly, the opener "Advance" is still irritating, because restlessness and muso excess are its governing principles.

Things become more constructive on "K2 Central": over a gentle trap beat roll Jenkinson’s familiar late-night bass salvos, joined by brass parts. The track builds tension skilfully without ever releasing it. By the following piece, "K3 Diligence", it becomes clear that the album title is neither an empty threat nor a humorous disguise: Squarepusher really does draw consistently on classical music here, only to break its gravitas apart and offer a set of concertante miniatures instead.

The will-o’-the-wisp strings of "K4 Fairlands" leave behind a sense of disorientation and fray the nerves. The kind of brilliant moments that emerge from reduction and from the rigorous working-through of a single idea – one thinks of "Iambic 9 Poetry" from 2004 – are not really to be found on Kammerkonzert. What we have instead is an album of impressive craftsmanship, on which concept and radicalism prevail – sometimes to its benefit, sometimes to its detriment. — (via HHV Mag)

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Real name Thomas Jenkinson, Squarepusher has returned with his first album since 2024’s Dostrotime. However, Kammerkonzert is a stark departure. Drill’n’bass has been replaced with multi-layered compositions of jazz-cum-IDM-cum-orchestral essences. Currently it’s impossible to not relate the word ‘chamber’ to the triggering buzzterm ‘echo-chamber’, but in a time of complacent self-confirming trends, fads and vitality, Kammerkonzert stands confidently on its own two feet.

Kammerkonzert is cinematic, but not confined to one particular film genre. The intro track,’K1 Advance’, begins with plucky call and response phrases, as slightly off-kilter drums join the scatty symphony, creating an uncanny start to the album. Squarepusher continues to create a filmic atmosphere on ‘K5 Fremantle’, which could be a horror movie theme with its high pitched Psycho vibrato strings. ‘K9 Reliance’ too could soundtrack any big 1990s cinema car chase with its booming ascending and descending piano scales. You could even make a case for ‘K10 Terminus’ aligning with Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash</i. (2014) score.

As if returning more to traditionalist roots now, Kammerkonzert is cemented in the fundamentals of music creation, using orchestral music as its base camp. But of course, Jenkinson wouldn’t let you get away that easy, and as the music builds he washes his wonderful, abstract pigments all over those traditionalist forms – whilst maybe just hacking off a few musical purists along the way. — (via The Quietus)

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Label: Warp Records
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Released: 2026
Genre: Electronic, Jazz
Style: Experimental

File under: Leftfield
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