Squarepusher – Presents Shobaleader One “d'Demonstrator” (Warp)
2/5
By: Stephen Maughan
I don't know about you, but I get a little worried when a band announce they are making a record based on a dream they had. Particularly, in Tom Kenkinson of Squarepusher's case, if that dream was about a band playing in front of a giant glowing coat hanger. I can only take it this was a heavy metal band, for Tom Jenkinson has recruited a group, Shoebaleader One, who we are informed are all metal heads. God knows if any of this is true, but it makes a fun story to tell at a dinner party, along with the one about the guy who made the Ace Ventura films giving his millions away to the homeless and selling his Hollywood mansion to live in a caravan.
You may well wonder what a band who only play in front of a giant coat hanger sounds like. Well, it's a little bit like Daft Punk with all the lyrics being delivered through a robotic vocoder, a little bit R&B, a little bit spacerock, certainly quite heavy, and a touch cheesy. Some people have called this kind of music “fuzz-metal”. Others have called it “disturbing.” I'd go for a bit of both. It's difficult to get to the soul of this record, to figure out what exactly is going on - it can feel strangely lifeless, which will surprise many of us who so admired Sqaurepusher back in the late 90's when he experimented with musical texture so thrillingly on albums like Selection Sixteen.
‘D’Demonstrator has its moments though, in particular the stunning ‘Frisco Wave’ which brings in a soft acoustic guitar and a melody that is both dreamlike and innovative. The jazzy ‘Endless Night’ is quite fun too, or at least it is before those annoying 80's robotic voices kick in. Too bad it’s such a mixed result, for combining elements of French pop, blokey metal and the surreal and abstract talents of Squarepusher should be irresistible. As it is, it's surprisingly restrained.
Squarepusher Presents Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator by Warp Records
Artists in this article: Squarepusher
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