Music review: Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir

44 and a half minutes is not enough for an album to become a sprawling epic like a number of Tom Jenkinson's previous efforts, such as Ultravisitor and more recently Hello Everything, however Go Plastic remains my clear favourite despite clocking in at a similar length to Just A Souvenir.

Now that Squarepusher seems to be moving further and further towards instrumentation and away from electronic wizardry, very much in unison with his label Warp Records, the playtime caused me to expect an album akin to Music Is Rotted One Note (my least favourite) rather than a burst of intense, tight drill 'n' bass.

Upon seeing the track lengths, I was further disappointed to see a majority of the tracks playing out in under two minutes, assuming they would consist purely of impressive but ultimately shallow bass-noodling. Imagine my initial relief then when I listened to the opener Star Time 2. An instant Squarepusher classic. Nostalgic yet original, playful yet incredibly intelligent, it is, for me, the best track of the year. As for the short tracks, it speaks for itself that I am struggling to find anything much to say about them.

The Coathanger and Delta-V are both strong tracks that reward repeated listens, but nonetheless fail to keep up the momentum gathered by the glorious starter. There is unfortunately one track which stands out a turd - I listened in disbelief as I came to terms with the fact that the horrifyingly cringe-worthy A Real Woman was produced by the same man who made Go! Spastic.

It is the centerpiece trio of Planet Gear, Tensor In Green and Glass Road that save this album from seeming like an A-side with numerous B-side fillers. These tracks each serve up similarly awesome doses of music which are better than anything you'll have heard this year.

Squarepusher has always been unpredictable and he has not failed to shock and split opinions again this time around. For me, it is another boundary-pushing experimentation with 4 standout tracks to cherish forever (each of which mix well with fast-paced online shooter action, I should add). Just A Souvenir is out now on Warp Records and the follow-up EP Numbers Lucent is out in January.

UPDATE: Numbers Lucent is a glorious return to the Squarepusher style I am most in love with - melodic drill 'n' bass. Five of the six tracks are absolutely brilliant, however sadly the closer is a poor attempt at gabba.

8/10