Composer Reacts to Squarepusher - E8 Boogie (REACTION & ANALYSIS)

Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on E8 Boogie
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0:00 Intro
00:43 Reaction
08:52 Analysis - Jazzy Techno?
13:00 Analysis - Comparing to Jazz
18:12 Analysis - Interesting Timbres
25:45 Analysis - Fun Track
27:51 Outro
#reaction #squarepusher #electronic

[@Dechral]

Tom Jenkinson uses a lot of traditional electronic drum machines and synths, but also on a lot of tracks like this one, all the instrumentation you hear(multiple bass guitar tracks/drums) is all sampled by him. He plays his bass live sometimes, and even formed a live band to recreate some of his classics. He is a legend.

[@JoshBratton]

The album that this is on (Hard Normal Daddy) is probably one of his most complete works. So phenomenal for the time it was released - 1997. I could be wrong, but I think Tom Jenkinson grew up around jazz as his father was a musician.

[@michaels8607]

he is a bass prodigy who got bored with bands who get locked in a box

[@tchoupitoulos]

Yeah pops was a jazz drummer.

[@SpeedOfThought1111]

yeah this was definitely one of his more chill jazzy tracks which is definitely something he does, but he's well known for being one of the most creative and intense electronic artists of the era so definitely check out more. it's been a long time, but from what i remember, Aphex Twin is his very good friend and was inspired to create his music from hearing Tom's stuff and would play him tape demos early on. Also, his brother creates very cool music too (Ceephax Acid Crew). And as far as IDM goes, yeah it's a huge umbrella of sounds and styles focusing on creativity and experimentation and composition like you were saying versus just 'dance' or trance music with repetition and vocals. It was doing new stuff with the equipment of the time like a lot of music. Different artists in many ways represent different masteries of various synths or gear that they prefer along with their techniques in their setup.

[@shakimbush8827]

A lot of the songs on that album were definitely more jazz, but Squarepusher has openly criticized the custom of assigning a genre classification to music, or needing to stay inside a particular genre.

[@jda1069]

Squarepusher plays the bass, the rest is digital.

[@SpeedOfThought1111]

he's also a great drummer

[@bauke420]

pretty sure most is analog

[@bauke420]

as in analog synths, drum machines etc

[@MaartenT]

This was a cool surprise, I love Squarepusher. Hard Normal Daddy (his second album) and his first album are probably my favourites and E8 Boogie is actually one of my favourite tracks by him. I am a little less a fan of his latest couple of albums, but I still enjoy them. On his first couple of albums he uses his real bass regularly (I think this intro was bass driven as well as the weird sounding bass sound on the right, but electronically altered) and some of the tracks on those albums certainly have jazz influences. I know he also has a live album that is purely him noodling on his bass (called Solo Electric Bass 1, very original name). You can hear he knows his way around a bass on that album, I think it's rather interesting even though completely different compared to any of his other albums. His later stuff has less bass and more pure electronica including him creating his own synths I believe. He also has played some of his tracks live (including this track) with a couple of other musicians (with real instruments aided by electronica) under the name Shobaleader One. I am relatively sure some of these videos can be found on youtube, but I'm not sure if this one can be found with actual live video or only the live album version.

[@5thearth]

There is a live recording hosted by The Boiler Room on YT that has 3 songs including E8 Boogie.

[@liamshanley_21]

Love love love Squarepusher

[@liamshanley_21]

I saw Squarepusher live in 2012 and he played his Ufubalum album which was recently out at the time, it was entirely electronic, and probably the danciest thing he's ever done, and then followed it up with an extended fuzzed out bass guitar solo, and both the album and bass solo were synched up to massive light walls and a suit he was wearing. I had been listening to electronic music for years but had never seen it performed in person until then. Incredible experience.

[@CriticalReactions]

That sounds like a wild show!

[@ryanschindler923]

first time hearing this person. I loved it. Crazy future cyber Jazz. I know Tosin Abasi (animals as leaders) references this guy a lot as a influence and now i see why

[@XORISHE]

As I am also a composer with an extensive library of HQ music, I can tell you this. Music is entirely subjective. You get out of it what your brain makes of it and it's different for every person. In the same way that many people can look at, say, a work by Jackson Pollock and come to different conclusions about how good it is and what it means. I didn't like Hard Normal Daddy when I first heard it, because I was expecting something else and got something different (In the same way that when you take a sip of coffee and it turns out to be coke and your brain rebels against it). But, I came back to it later and realised what a superb piece of work it is. As composers, we should strive to understand our our limitations and biases and try to counter them to move to more objective listening - it's quite hard to do, but that doesn't mean we shouldnt try. John Cage's 4m33s is a good extreme example of how music challenges us and wether it's meant to fit into a box or just be an experience that is supposed to wash over you. Listen to this and try to work out how objective you are being. I fair like the whole album, including E8 Boogie. For me it shows an artist exploring a palette of sound and I dig that. Interesting factoid: The cover art for Hard Normal Daddy, was one of Tom's (Sqaurepusher's) Photos, it was taken at roughly 7, Wharf Road, Chelmsford, UK. You can still see the Gas silos on google maps, but they have since been demolished and you can't see them on street view. I've been there.

[@davidbonar5190]

i really liked how albums were once considered as a cohesive whole, like a book being a specific and cohesive order and set of chapters. hard normal daddy is a wild variety of tracks, with quirky lead-ins and -outs that IMO don't really work like glue, they're like bridges that confuse the hard stylistic boundaries between the tracks :)

[@shacharh5470]

You should listen to Amon Tobin. Guys, whoever suggested Squarepusher and other IDM artists in the past - come on, give him an Amon Tobin suggestion next time. You know that's where it's leading.. :)

[@machinegunhippy]

Aphex Twin and squarepusher are Miles Ahead of Amon Tobin. I like Amon Tobin he has really good sampling but his composing is lacking big time his songs don't even really have much structure anymore barely any drums a lot less accessible.

[@machinegunhippy]

Also find it weird that you're sitting here suggesting that other people suggest what you're suggesting😅

[@tsalvlaxitov9594]

@@machinegunhippy I like all three guys too, and I'd agree that Squarepusher is ahead but I wouldn't say that about Aphex Twin. If you really follow both, Amon Tobin's style and sound quality is constantly evolving drastically. Richard D's style and sound pretty much stays the same. It is true that Amon Tobin puts out a lot of abstract beat-less tracks, but musically I'd put his more recent stuff ahead of Aphex Twin and closer to Plaid. I agree that Amon Tobin is less accessible though. That's my one complaint about Tobin, its like everything he does has to have excessive commercial viability, that is in making sure its easily usable in movies, games, commercials, ect. Its almost like he's fishing for that.

[@lostinspace_yt]

Great video! I would love to see you react to his track "Papalon". It's so overlooked but it's a track where I believe his talents really shine. :)

[@user-io7kl7io6j]

Not sure if he's ever acknowledged it but I've always thought Thundercat must be very influenced by Squarepusher, his overall bass sound and playing style is so close to some of his tracks. Not everyone realises it but the basslines aren't programmed, they're all played by Squarepusher and there's plenty of videos of him playing them live if anyone doubts it.

[@Kostly]

I'm surprised you didn't notice the electric bass sooner.

[@MrSlimfinger]

Please just listen to his song Tetra-Sync. The most amazing merge of acoustic/electronic music there is, I can’t believe there isn’t a single reaction to that track anywhere.

[@Mandibularmenace]

Idk if anyone mentioned this to you, but Squarepusher is also friends with Guthrie Govan.

[@AllCloudsAreBunnies]

How do I submit wagon Christ/plug/luke vibert? More Acid jazz for you to listen to!

[@CriticalReactions]

The most direct way is through Special Selections. You make a one time donation and your request is guaranteed on the channel. The list is only ~4 weeks long now so it's a rather quick turnaround between donation and seeing your selection on the channel. Currently I take donations through PayPal and Ko-Fi and both links can be found in linktr.ee/CriticalReactions

[@Kostly]

Watch the 1998 Squarepusher interview FYI lol

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

Really enjoyed the jazzy elements in this, but perhaps it's because I've been on a jazz kick for the last month-or-so but I kept finding myself wishing it was pushing more into that direction rather than just being quasi-jazzy electronic dance music. I wonder if the band (artist?) has any music that plays up the jazz element more, because I do think the combination is interesting but the electronic element in isolation didn't do much for me so I think whatever potential I'm hearing is in the jazzy element.

[@CriticalReactions]

Yup, to me this is bridge track in either direction. Not really pulling in the more distinct elements of either but instead tying into the surface level sound of both.

[@michaels8607]

Some folks are different, and never will be in a box...I know for me, I can care less about the so called rules, about being validated, and about even being seen. Tom is skilled in bass, skilled with making his own path, and bending sounds....Yamaha QY700,,,i also have one and it's soooooooooooo far past it's time and price...Boss drum machine he hacked...Roland SH101...303...about three basses,and I think one is fretless...software might be Nuendo..Max/MSP...other titles that are wide open and able to be programmed...Euphonix mixer he bought after like several LPS.....Yamaha CS80, which is it's own monster..I believe some older Akai samplers...yes, hardware samplers...,If you can try hardware samplers for sampling and EFX,use Nuendo, Reaper, and REAKTOR(which i think he uses)..mix that with PD, CSOUND,VCV,BUZZ,etc.. STOP buying 'new' software and computers,and use open source plug ins if you have to..Oh, I met someone who knows him, and he told me, guys like Squarepusher and Aphex Twin are math gurus, and use math to make compositions...For example...the ASR10 is a sampler you can use to make effects chains..So let's say you take a hall reverb, gate, compressor, and change the parameters, then save it, and use it live while you record. Then you take Reaktor and create a chain of 23 OSC, 23 VCF, 23 reverbs and then make the same chain and invert the settings. Does that work? maybe...if not, try something else, and include some samples you made from objects in the house. I use my gear for what it isn't supposed to do,and a few of us don't run and get more and more gear just because. If you watch his interviews, he is always trailblazing because there's always something to learn. equipboard.com/pros/squarepusher

[@Kostly]

hard normal daddy album went balls to the wall

[@-wellthen-]

you look so depressed on the thumnnail