Squarepusher

(This article’s English version was produced with AI-assisted translation)

In 1994, Squarepusher self-produced and distributed an EP under the name Stereotype, squeezing nearly an hour of music onto a single 12". Very few copies survived. Warp Records now brings that document back, remastered from the original tapes and released on double vinyl, CD and digital for the first time, with two bonus tracks. A conceptual twin to his debut as Squarepusher, "Feed Me Weird Things" (1996), recorded in the same period on Rephlex Records.

The sixteen minutes of "Whooshki" open with a synth loop repeating an ambient techno mantra wrapped in hyper-speed distortion. The pull lies not in force but in an early IDM melodic vein woven into an industrial rhythmic bed, with an acid line twisting over Roland 909 kicks in the hallucinatory spirit of early Richie Hawtin. "1994" pushes a pounding, claustrophobic tension, carving ten atonal minutes of industrial techno fury closer to Woody McBride than to the nu-jazz textures of "Feed Me Weird Things".
"O'Brien" opens sci-fi scenarios over blazing breakbeats, as if Global Communication had lost their way at an amphetamine-fueled rave. It is a record driven by distorted drums, modulated synths and long chords thin as digital smoke, distilled in "Greenwidth", a hypnotic journey for interstellar explorers. At the time, it was a minor flop. Thirty years later, Warp’s remaster does not soften anything, restoring clarity without dulling the abrasive energy.

25/10/2025