Music Is Rotted One Note

Amazon.com
A perpetual workaholic, Squarepusher (a.k.a. Tom Jenkinson) released three albums in rapid-fire succession in 1997. While his complex compositions stayed admirably fresh over each disc, by the end of the series it was evident that he had exhausted every trick in the abstract drum & bass book. On Music Is Rotted One Note, Squarepusher wisely expands his musical palette by sidestepping the conventions of electronic music. Relying primarily on minimalist jazz patterns and contemplative rhythms, he creates a low-key freeform soundtrack that is accented beautifully by electric guitars and moody bass lines. --Aidin Vaziri

Alternative Press
This 15-track LP is a brave ... departure from Squarepusher's patented hyperkinetic fusion/jungle antics.... The main difference with Music: Squarepusher ... plays all the instruments live, leaving out the samplers and sequencers.

Music Is Rotted One Note

Tracks:

Chunk-S
Don't Go Plastic
Dust Switch
Curve 1
137 (Rinse)
Parallelogram Bin
Circular Flexing
Ill Descent
My Sound
Drunken Style
Theme From Vertical Hold
Ruin
Shin Triad
Step 1
Last Ap Roach

Amazon.com

A perpetual workaholic, Squarepusher (a.k.a. Tom Jenkinson) released three albums in rapid-fire succession in 1997. While his complex compositions stayed admirably fresh over each disc, by the end of the series it was evident that he had exhausted every trick in the abstract drum & bass book. On Music Is Rotted One Note, Squarepusher wisely expands his musical palette by sidestepping the conventions of electronic music. Relying primarily on minimalist jazz patterns and contemplative rhythms, he creates a low-key freeform soundtrack that is accented beautifully by electric guitars and moody bass lines. --Aidin Vaziri

Customer Reviews:

Miles Would Approve.......2005-10-31

Squarepusher revisits Miles' most controversial album "On the Corner" in Music is Rotted One Note. At one time bands would not touch that album, now everyone wants to say they were influenced by it. However, Music is Rotted One Note uses Miles music as a sketchpad for something even darker and disturbing. Unlike Miles this is not a continuous jam. Some tracks are in the vein of dark ambient and one track even sounds like Morton Subotnick. Despite the variety, the album is cohesive. Each track feeds into the next. Though Squarepusher is known for drill 'n' bass, this to me is his best album because it takes Miles' music to new hights that it could have reached.

This Arguably Deserves to be Ranked alongside 'Squarepushers' Finest Work.............2005-08-04

Squarepusher (like his contemporary "Aphex Twin") is an artist, that isn't explicitly tied to one musical genre. Stretching across a multitude of genres in the electronic field, his albums can touch upon: Experimental, Jungle, IDM, Ambient, Drill'n'Bass, Electronica. And all the more surprising is the fact, of exactly how proficient he can be when he turns his attention, to a chosen field. Although, something frequently referenced by Squarepusher in his music, which pushes him within the best in his field, amongst his contemporaries, is his love of 'Jazz' music, and the way that various tracks throughout his career make certain references to it, unquestionably noticeable in some of his tracks.

With "Music is Rotten One Note", Squarepusher has gone one step further than merely having an album, that has a couple of tracks that reference Jazz in some way, and instead has created an album that, is (in part) in tribute to the Jazz artists that have influenced him. (in particular "Miles Davis"), and crafted an album of delicate instrumental arrangements, and the cerebral and complex structure of Jazz-Fusion and Progressive Jazz, coupled with Freewheeling and occasionally reflective electronic compositions.

The mood is one that isn't reliant on frenetic breaks or abrasive beats as such, and instead is more informed by hypnotic grooves, minimal instrumentation, and reflective keyboards, and possibly some of the most soothing and intimate sampling, that Squarepusher has committed to record. There are still the warped flourishes of sound and Avant-garde approach to experimentation that squarepusher is known for, but here it for more subdued and considered and veers more towards a spookily articulate and spiralling composition, that works wonderfully against the slow moving and shimmering melodies and shows that squarepusher is arguably as brilliantly creative taking things slower musically, as he is delivering breakneck rhythms. But its his re-evaluation what jazz instruments could be, that is what impresses most here, obviously a committed Jazz fan, everything feels like its Strangely influenced by Miles Davis to some degree. Almost as if merely taking the progressive sound of Miles continuingly evolving music, and bringing it firmly up to date, or indeed reinterpreting it as Miles may have, had he still been around today. 'Music is Rotten one Notes', best moments come from examining the potentially limitless stream of ideas that taking Jazz, and imbuing it with a heavily textured musical framework seems to offer. Fender Rhodes piano, and subtle electronic arrangements flesh the music out beautifully, give the music the sparing ethereal groove of Jazz, coupled with the mellow brooding of the electronics, makes for an almost low-key electronic-Jazz Soundtrack, of the highest order.

Anyone entering into this album, hoping for the Electronic breakbeat brilliance of say: "Hard Normal Daddy" or "Feed Me Weird Things" would do well to look elsewhere, as you'll be disappointed. It's a far too subtle, Poignant and broadly sketched piece of work, to intice those looking for something more energetic. But if you approach the album from the required perspective (I.e. one of a generally slow moving electronically enhanced Jazz album), you'll gradually come to truly love this album. Granted it's not an immediate album....think more something that you'll grow into, and probably work at its best, when reflecting certain moods. Sure, there'll be those (Like me), that also listen to a fair bit of Jazz (in it's many, many forms)...and are pretty much be able to dive straight in. And I'll make no secret that this is proably amongst my 2 favourite Squarepusher albums (next to the seminal "Hard Normal Daddy"), but provided the idea of a Squarepusher devised 'Jazz' album doesn't fill you with horror, and you are prepared to give this one a try. (and considering you like the experimentation of Squarepusher...why shouldn't you), You just might (Just might) like me...come to the conclusion that this is possibly one of Squarepusher's most criminally underratted albums, and deserves to be regarded in the similar acclaim, as Squarepusher's finest work.

This is the cd you buy it slowly grows on you till you go in.......2004-06-12

the way Tom did this was absolutely brilliant. definately alot more jazz, some micro-sound. Hypnotic bass lines. Absolutely brilliant. I almost love it more the "Feed Me Weird Things"

Gone Plastic.......2004-04-20

Something happened a few years ago, when techno artists wanted to make more album length type music. Some music is for the dancefloor, but has disco ever been taken seriously? I can't think of listening to Aqua between Pink Floyd and Steely Dan, and somehow thinking of its merits. There is a place for cheesy disco, and rightly it's not for the progressive or the gentle couch dwellers. Squarepusher has gotten more and more unlistenable to those who have grooved to the likes of Joey Beltram or Paul Van Dyk. But for those who have Jaco Pastorius deficit, who wondered what happened to Bill Nelson, have come to love Squarepusher. Even those who are open to these fast beats, probably would be stretched to tell the difference between this and Aphex Twin. If Squarepusher seems too much of a prog rocker, maybe you would like the more purist Autechre. Their landscape is cold and devoid of humanity, and they make Kraftwerk look like a barrel of laughs. Autechre is the sound of machines falling apart, while Squarepusher is like an Ornette Coleman with a Roland 808.

someone turned a bunch of squirrel monkeys loose.......2004-03-06

This is not the squarepusher I remembered.
No cool techno beats, no sweet bass n drums. Just crap.
This is a bunch of monkeys beating on instruments with the record light on.
If I wanted chaotic 70's fuzion jazz, I would go buy it.
This just sucks.
rhythm? none.
just a bunch of unrelated sounds that sound bad together.

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