The Beat Surrender

Warp are one of those record labels that have always had a mixed output for me, while a large proportion of their artists turn out consistently good records, you always get the odd few turkeys in and amongst.

Still that’s probably the same for most labels and it’s only evident so much with Warp, because as the name implies they like to do things a little bit differently, they like to bend your thoughts away from the mainstream of any given genre and they like to house pioneers in their ranks.

Which is why they are home to people like LFO, Aphex Twin and of course Squarepusher who returns here with a brand new album Hello Everything, his first since ultravisitor, a record that mixed beautiful, elegant melody and his usual trademark psychedelic drill and bass.

Tom Jenkinson’s latest opus takes the things onto a far more accessible level than any of his previous offerings; it almost has a sunny quality to the jazzy, funk moments and is far easier on the ear than albums like Feed Me Weird Things (his debut album from 1996) or Do You Know Squarepusher.

This album proves that even at his most melodic he still remains as relevant and important as ever, so no wonder that people like Thom Yorke and Andre 3000 have been quick to heap praise on him, with the latter trying to pull out the stops to get a collaboration under way between the two.

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