A Very Warped History 14: 2006 (3 Of 4)

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Another entry, another LP that I really love, as before this one has some tunes I've been told appear on [adult swim] ads so look out for them. Funnily enough I picked this one up shortly before I started writing so it's still quite recent in my mind, especially because I pretty much always have at least one track from it in my rotation. Hello Everything marks the end of the out and out experimental thrashing that made up his last few albums, it has some jazzy bits in common with Ultravisitor (notably Tetra-Sync) but is a new sound direction that I really, really like.





Hello Everything wastes no time in kicking off things while at the same time establishing that for the most part this record is a lot lighter than the speedy claustrophobic nature of Ultravisitor even with that classic 'Pusher Amen Break styled beat running alongside it.



As always, what Squarepushing LP is complete without a lil' jazzy interlude? Theme From Sprite is another instalment in the Theme From X series that we last saw on 1998's Music Is Rotted One Note which is the Sqaure man's album of Jazz which I didn't cover in this series because I didn't own it at the time, but I might go over it at some point.



The third track plays out like a combination of these two: it has the light jazzy stylings of the previous track, and the hypnotic backing rhythm of the first. It takes a bit of time for it all to come together, but when it does it's pretty great, even if it is all over too soon. Again it's much much more easy going than anything on Ultravisitor



See that last line there? yeah that kinda stops being as relevant here. We take a dive into more "proper" Squarepusher tracks as it were; Planetarium also highlights one of my favourite sounds ever that crops up a whole lot on this album, that distorted springy sounding thing just makes these tracks for me, every time.



I wasn't too impressed with Rotate Electrolyte at first, it just didn't seem to go anywhere especially considering it's length. Then one day I decided to listen to it all just to see what was in there. After a nice & interesting breakdown I was treated to perhaps my favourite moment on the whole album: when those same sounds that made up Planetarium's main melodies return in spectacular fashion at around 3:35 or so. I love that part so, so much. Even more when the drums come back in.





Welcome To Europe was the first ever track I posted here, and it fills the same niche as the last two. I just love it every time that elastic sounding synth (or whatever it is) comes up, though unfortunately this is the last time it appears on the album.



This track always stood out as a bit of a wildcard to me. In a blind test I'd probably guess it was from Ultravisitor and it's not until a while later in the song that it sounds more like stuff we've heard so far on this album. It's still Squarepusher on very good form though, stay tuned for the bass guitar!



The same applies for this, although it sounds more like a mix of Go Plastic era 'Pusher combined with the new sound. It's very all over the place, but it has it's own moments: the first minute or so is just great all round, and the light ending arpeggio is sweet as.



Rounding it off we have the two Japanese bonus tracks (that were released as singles along with Welcome To Europe) shortly before the release of Hello Everything. Hanningfield Window is interesting in that it sounds an awful lot like the sounds the Square man would adopt for his next album Just A Souvenir



Exciton however, is exactly the opposite. The only way I can really describe this is if you imagine Squarepusher soundtracking an arcade side scroller or something like that. It's by far the harshest sounding track here, but that's more than alright because it's a quality tune.



Hello Everything is by no means a perfect album (I don't really care for this album's two drone-y ambient styled tracks: Vacuum Garden and Orient Orange) but it's still a very good place to start if you're looking to get into Squarepusher mainly because it has a nice blend of all the elements that make that iconic Squarepusher sound, be sure to check it out if you like what you hear.

Give Us A Snare Rush,
- Claude Van Foxbat