Customer Reviews

Budakhan Mindphone

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It seems Mr. Jenkinson did things backwards. This mini-album would have been a nice segue from "Big Loada" to "Music Is Rotted One Note." As it is, "Music . ." came out first and was quite a jarring contrast. I've tried to give "Music . ." a chance, and can honestly say I like it a lot, although it's not nearly as enjoyable per se as "Big Loada."

That's where "Budakhan Mindphone" beats the previous ablum hands down. It still retains the experimental jazz touches ("The Tide," "Gong Acid,") but most of the tracks mingle the noodling with a strong beat and some very nice melodies.

The best tracks here, "Iambic 5 Poetry," "Fly Street," and "Varkotope" rank with the best TJ has released. The rest is solid. All in all, a very tasty release, and probably the one I would recommend to the curious.

This album and the original UK "Big Loada" make nice arguments for 'mini-albums' in general. You don't have to set aside a full hour of your time to digest them, and yet you still get a full range of the Squarepusher sound. I'd rather pay $8-9 for a good 30 minute release than $14+ for a mind-numbing 75 minutes. "Budakhan Mindphone" pulls the double coup of being high quality and the right length. Dandy.

"Iambic 5 Poetry" is sheer beauty. It IS the standout track, and at first I thought it was going to be the only one. This mini-album takes several listens to get engrossed and to appreciate all that it offers. At this stage, I can say that I'm thoroughly satisfied with this album. It uses some of the more accoustic jazz style of Music Is Rotted One Note, but this time it's less dark in tone. In fact, it's rather uplifting. There is more electronic sequencing involved here, but it is quite subtle in its execution.

The aforementioned track is the big melody track. Others are more experimental and free-form in nature, but easy to enjoy and complement the overall feel of the mini-album.

Budakhan Mindphone was my first introduction to the work of Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher. For someone new to Squarepusher this might actually be a good place to start. Although his catalog is wildly diverse and this album could be labeled "experimental" (then again almost all SP work could be), I think the listenablity and clearly identifiable Squarepusher aesthetic make this as good a place as any to start your SP collection. Although much is made of Mr. Jenkinson as a "drill'n bass God" his approach to music seems to share alot with improvisational jazz. There are plenty of electronic elements in Budakhan Mindphone, but one need not be a fan of electronic music (or any of it's sub-genres) to enjoy this album. For Squarepusher fans this album is, of course, a must.

Like others have stated, Iambic 5 Poetry is a standout track. Fly Street is another great, undefinable track. Varkatope is an awesome subteranean riff that explodes to life a minute or so into the track. The slap-happy bass in in Two Bass Hit is another favorite. There are no tracks that don't belong, and ultimately the album gels well as a whole. Not an easy task for music this diverse, but Squarepusher does it again, brilliantly.

Although some previous reviews have claimed that Budakhan Mindphone is really Music is Rotten One Note part II, I really cannot agree. Although B.M. certainly takes a large cue from Music Is Rotted One Note, it also brings back some of the beats of Big Loada and Hard Normal Daddy, although admittedly in a strange new form. Iambic 5 poetry is a very pretty song that is reminiscent of Tortoise; Two Bass Hit is a lopsided bass jam; and Fly Street and Varkatope hearken back to older Squarepusher sounds, while retaining the strange minimalism of more recent Squarepusher efforts. I could do without the tunelessness of The Tide and Gong Acid, but the tuneful-to-tuneless ratio here is much higher than on Music Is Rotted One Note, thus providing a more enjoyable listening experience. This is the sound of Mr. Jenkinson beginning to reconcile the old-school Squarepusher drill 'n' bass sound with the free jazz of his last effort, and it is a worthwhile excursion.

Very much akin to Mr. Jenkinson's last dive into acid jazz fusion, 'Music is Rotted One Note', Squarepusher has yet again returned to the seemingly lo-fi jazz statement against drum n bass in 'Budakhan Mindphone'. The last album was hailed as genius by some and a triffle by others, and this mini album will definitely garner the same reviews by critics: divided. Though some of this disc does delve back into the world of drum n bass for short sections, some of the songs get monotonous and weighed down by the jazz touch (the final song 'Gong Acid' for instance is a trail of percussion hits). My personal favorite track on here is 'Two Bass Hit'. If you enjoyed Jenkinson's last excursion, then this is the disc for you and if this is your first time listening to Squarepusher's latest material, this may be a cheap sampler to his full length release.

One first listen, "Budakhan Mindphone" seems to be seven tracks that didn't make it onto "Music Is Rotted One Note." Indeed, the album focuses on Mr. Jenkinson's latest trend in producing purely experimental jazz. However, I feel that the tracks included on this album have a tighter structure and can actually be considered 'songs,' as opposed to "Rotted"'s jazz experiments. The two tracks that stand out are "Iambic 5 Poetry" and "Two Bass Hit (Dub)." "Iambic" is rather dim and brooding, with emphasis on string progression and a continuing groove. In two words, I'd describe it as "Funeral Jazz." "Two Bass Hit (Dub)" is exactly that: it sounds as if two bassists totally oblivious to each other are jamming along with a common drummer. This makes for much harmony as well as dissonance. In short, expect up-tempo jazz, not wacky (but absolutely brilliant) breaks that can be found in "Feed Me Weird Things" or "Hard Normal Daddy."

Electronic music has come a long way in its development over the years. By incorporating technology and every other genre, new and old, it has created its own unique footprint in the music industry. In search of an album worth reviewing, I settled on Squarepusher's Budakhan Mindphone. Though short and sweet, this album speaks volumes with its "less is more" attitude in its composition.
Budakhan Mindphone is relatively experimental and abstract compared to your typical electronica. It starts out with "Iambic 5 Poetry," an acid-y piece with an easy-to-follow thought process with a light melody and steady progressing percussion, sprinkled with a slight and subtle reference to funk on the bass. A texturally more intricate "Fly Street" aids in the evolution of the album from something like "Iambic 5 Poetry" to a much more structurally abstract "Gong Acid." It has some structural similarities to Cujo's "Traffic" from Adventures in Foam. Next, the album leads to "The Tide," an ambient and percussive cloud-like piece with what sounds like a hi hat leading the whole way through.
Percussion is the main driving force of the album, but not in the traditional sense. Percussion is used to develop a narrative by building in layers, as in "Varkatope," "Splask," and "Gong Acid," leading to texturally complex music. In "Two Bass Hit" what seems like a snare and hi hat keep time to leave the basses to develop their own polyphonic and competing melodies. The bass is also used a in its usual percussive role in "Iambic 5 Poetry" and "Varkatope." While some of the pieces are bass-heavy, like "Two Bass Hit," just about all the pieces showcase the bass in some form or another.
The electronic presence is profound throughout the album and thought provoking. While I don't know exactly what equipment and which instruments were used to compose the pieces or what sounds were used and manipulated, I can speculate and exercise my poetic license in naming them (as I've done so far). In "Gong Acid" the foreground sound (seems to be a cowbell crossed with cookware - we'll call it a cowpot) is accented by the complementary hand drum sound, both increasing and decreasing their tempo throughout. It is all laid over an ambient electronic tone present in all the pieces. "The Tide" has an ambient pulsing sound throughout while "Varkatope" and "Fly Street" have synth-y component in the progression of their melodies. "Splask" has an echoing tinny decay that follows the attack in one of the components. The electronic presence is not overpowering but contributes to the overall texture of the album.
I think this album is a notable contribution to electronic music. It incorporates funk, acid, jazz, and electronica in addition to genres I'm sure I'm missing. Music is a dynamic art form that evolves with technology and builds upon itself, like all other art forms. Musicians like Squarepusher flesh out genres developed in the last few decades and aid in the growth of the vibrant music community that we all share today.

This disc is more experimental than Tom's other albums. At times it reminds me of some dreamy organic free jazz, as opposed to the digital cyberjungle heard on Selection Sixteen. Tom's bass playing is quite a strong presence on this album as well, which isfun because he has chops like no other.

Released in the wake of Squarepusher's masterful MUSIC IS ROTTED ONE NOTE, which combined electronica-derived studio wizardy with sturdy jazz-rock musicianship,BUDAKHAN MINDPHONE neither expands upon its predecessor nor returns Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson to his drum-and-bass beginnings. Instead, it travels down an entirely different path. While the songs incorporate a bit of MUSIC IS ROTTED ONE NOTE'S jazzy rhythmic feel, elements of dub, ambient and trip-hop are more prominent. BUDAKHAN MINDPHONE features some of the most swinging breakbeats you'll ever hear, with Jenkinson coming off like the Elvin Jones of the sampler. There's a greater amount of space in the arrangement here than on MUSIC IS ROTTED ONE NOTE, and consequently a more luxuriously textured ambience.

In a fit of uncontrollable anxiety, I bought this CD on the day it came out in March, and was most certainly NOT disappointed. The opening track was a flowing introduction to the staccato second, and the rest followed delightfully. Slightly more down-to-earth instrumentally than its predecessor, Budakhan Mindphone is a must-have for the true jazz-tech fiend.