Customer Reviews

Selection Sixteen

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This album truly is Tom Jenkinson at his peak. There are plenty of overlapping synths complementing each other as if if were a day at the symphony. There are funk elements scattered throughout the recording in the form of Jenkinson's highly conceptualized bass style, and there are free-form jazz interludes that lead into the extreme beauty of the full-on electronic onslaughts.

There is something that sets this album apart from Squarepusher's other albums. In most of Squarepusher's discography, the drums are brought to the forefront to precisely compliment the melodies. Here, they are subdued, giving Jenkinson's melodical skills a chance to shine. The complexity in the drum work is on par with the rest of his albums, but for some reason, he seemed to turn down the volume on them. This is a very good thing when speaking in terms of an album such as this. This is the album where Jenkinson went straight into composing melodies as if it were to be played by an orchestra. There are so many synth tracks working together on this album that a turned up drum track would only hinder their splendor and beauty.

I am sure that there are some people out there that do not like this album or would not like it if they bought it. I do not really see how a person couldn't like such a classic example of beauty, but an opinion shouldn't be criticized. I don't really think it matters what type of music you are used to listening to, beauty is beauty no matter what form it comes in, and this is truly an album the conceptualizes it well.

My, how did people with such a low intellect even come to find who Squarepusher is? Bone Thugs, trying to edit the work 'heck', and lack of vocals? Why are you even in this genre? What wanks.

This album, which isn't his best material, is still a very nice listen. The bonus tracks seem to give more of a fulfilment when finished. Compared to his newer, and even some of his older, works, this seems very thin. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just that his later albums have more of a personality to them. Kind of a completist's thing to get, really.

My favorite two titles by Squarepusher are "Hard Normal Daddy" and "Music Is Rotted One Note", and I was surely not disappointed in either realm of those styles upon hearing "Selection Sixteen". The mixture of breakbeats with melodies, follwed by a quick jazzy tune is a pattern found repeatedly on this album. Despite the short 35 minute length of the 'official' first 13 tracks, "Selection Sixteen" is a great listen for anyone looking to sample Tom Jenkinson's total body of work in one album, or for any fan of anything he's done in the past.

This is definitely the best Squarepusher Cd. I recommend Selection Sixteen to anyone who has not yet experienced Squarepusher. This CD is a trip. Eacg track is unique in its own weird way and it is good from start to finish. If you like Aphex Twin- I know you will love this- it's on my top ten list of favorite CDs.

After listening to a lot of his music, spanning from his first stuff to his newest, I like this one the best, right next to Big Loada. It's more straightforward than a lot of his stuff, but it got a great feel to it.

Those reviews above about the fact that there is no lyrics is hilarious. Vocals don't always make better music. I prefer no vocs, hence this is a great disc, buy if you like Drum and Bass/Jazz, and otherwise unique and creative music.

Bone thugs,... hehe.

This CD (which I bought in a Missing shop in Glasgow, U.K.) was quite surprising to me. I found some of the techno tracks humourous and other drill 'n' bass tracks to be difficult in access. Overall I like it though.

This cat is what is missing from electronic music today. Mind Rubbers is what DnB is lacking and needs desparately. If there was ever a CD to bug out to, this is it. Inspirational...

This is obviously Squarepusher, despite what the first reviewer claims. It has some of the "Rotted Note" self-sampled abstract jazz style, but has more of an acid house influenced electronic style, somewhat similar to the CD he released under the name Chaos A.D. "Selection Sixteen" does not have the unique drum 'n bass sound he created a few years back, so don't expect another Hard Normal Daddy or "Squarepusher Theme". Also expect even less "songs" than were on "Rotted Note". That said, it is challenging and cool, some very good tracks and some wankering filler. Is this the birth of real "acid jazz"? Whatever it is, it is about as different from just about everything out there released in 1999, as anything whatsoever.

my introduction to squarepusher was big loada, and although i wasn't an immediate fan, i grew to appreciate his style and layering the more i listened to it. now it's one of my most frequently played cds. selection sixteen was like that for me... the first listen wasn't easy, but now on my fourth i'm finding more and more to like in it. i also listen to aphex twin, daft punk, crystal method, and wagonchrist... if you are into those, you'll probably enjoy selection sixteen. less vocal sampling than big loada, i think, but still the sweet melodic loops, edgy drums, and rich textures i've come to associate with tom jenkinson's work.

Squarepusher's work from Big Loada and earlier found Tom Jenkinson ridiculing the excesses of the drum 'n' bass genre. On Music Is Rotted One Note, he shifted to fusion jazz, and since then has been moving back towards drum 'n' bass. However, until Selection Sixteen, no post-Rotted Squarepusher releases could truly be considered drum 'n' bass. Now, Tom Jenkinson delivers like crazy. There are three main styles present: Insane Drum 'n' Bass, short Jazzy ditties, and Acid House-ish tracks. The Drum 'n' Bass work here is among his best and most difficult/interesting. The Jazz bits are similar to the style of Moondog in that they are short, simple themes that don't require much elaboration. On this album, they are used as segues between tracks. But the acid house tracks are terrible filler. So, on the whole, the album is excellent and points to an amazing future. Bottom Line: 12 out of 17 tracks are five-star-worthy songs.