Squarepusher, aka Thomas Russell Jenkinson, was feeling quite adventurous as the new century dawned. This EP release for 2001 was a bit different. Its parent album was Go Plastic, which was also released back in 2001. This EP features only four tracks. The first three are around the five-minute mark length for a song. The final track is well over half an hour, however, which is a bit of a surprise. However, the final track is mostly silence as it has a hidden track throughout it. In any case, this is Squarepusher doing his artistry through music. The EP was released on Warp Records on 21 May 2001 and was self-recorded and produced by Squarepusher. Let’s listen to this EP, and we shall hear how it sounds.

1. My Red Hot Car (Girl) begins with some subdued electronic instrumentation and launches into a very intelligent and minimal-sounding track. This has vocals and a brief dash of the Amen Break throughout. This is not dissimilar from the sort of stuff Skrillex has put out as of late, which indicates a big part of lack of originality on Skrillex’s part. This is a very spacey and warped listening experience that sounds cool, calm and controlled throughout. A really pretty and awesome tune, this is light-years ahead of many types of music forms at the time. The Amen Break and cut-up sections of music are really fantastic throughout, and this is a colourful, interesting and different listen to everything else out there. A supremely cool piece of music, this sounds absolutely futuristically fantastic. Squarepusher had obviously been busy during his quiet spell, and this track is mere proof of that. A great mixture of cut-up sounds, Drum and Bass, IDM and freeform sounds and singing. This is IDM for those of you who like to hear Psychedelic and intelligently inspired home-listening music. Nonetheless, this does sound sweet and excellent throughout. A wonderful tune to hear. Very, very good. Never dull or boring throughout its five-minute running time. It fades out at the end.

2. My Red Hot Car is a reinterpretation of the previous track. It begins with some interesting electronic sounds and launches into a smooth, sweet and interesting rendition of the main track at hand. A really interesting listen. This has some cut-up sonic montages that, quite frankly, sound really brilliant. Essentially a remix of the previous track, this sounds extremely cool to hear. A really interesting and dramatic tune that has some fluid and excellent sounds throughout it all. This does sound super cool. A warped, sweet and wonderful listen, this is just like listening to the future of electronic-based music in a Psychedelic hit. A really cool and interesting tune to listen to, this sounds very interesting and dynamic throughout. Better than anything Calvin Harris or David Guetta are up to these days, this is a masterwork of Psychedelic/Electronic sound. The cut-up beats and textures will make you want to hear every single moment here. A really awesome listen to complement the main track, this is sensationally good. It wraps up with much of the same sounds from the intro, sounding quite muted. Good work, dude. It ends with a plasma-type sound.

3. Hardcore Obelisk segues from the previous track. It sounds a bit like a 21st-century adaptation of The Rolling Stones 2000 Light Years From Home intro. This has some extremely dark and spacey textures throughout, which are very different. This sounds really dark and strange, but it is excellently brilliant all the same. You will not hear anything quite like this in the history of music, which is a solid point about how good this EP actually is. The layered, dark textures sound absolutely brilliant throughout, and this is a freaky piece of sonic engineering. Very, very unusual. Nonetheless, there are subtle changes in dynamics and pitch throughout it all. This is a masterpiece of soundcraft that very few will truly appreciate. This changes shape and form throughout. It is the sound of the 21st century progressing into a dark and uncertain future for many of us to hear today. This is a unique masterwork from Squarepusher. It sounds really fantastic and is underrated, just like much of his works. Not something light or cheery sounding, however. It fades out a little in the second half but continues to change shape, pitch and tonality throughout. A really cool listen and something that you will never forget hearing from start to finish. It fades out at the end.

4. I Wish You Obelisk begins with some cut up IDM beats and sounds really cool. It is a dark and warped-sounding piece that is like an LSD trip throughout outer space to meet creepy aliens. A strange liquid patch enters, and this tune progresses along well. A really deep, dark and disturbing-sounding piece of IDM, this sounds very, very weird. Nonetheless, this is a piece of brilliant music that few can actually say is genius. Which it is. A really awesome and sweet-sounding piece of music that is really swell. The creepy liquid noises sound like aliens talking, and that is proof of the intelligence of Squarepusher when making these sorts of tunes. A really great listening experience, all the same. A really interesting tune to listen to. This sounds really uptempo and powerful throughout. It ends after three and a half minutes, followed by silence for over 20 minutes. The hidden track then begins after this, and it launches into some dark and spacey sounds. Imagine the world in the year 2100, and you are there. This is somewhat like Techno, but less danceable and much more cold, creepy and mechanical. This music is certainly some of the darkest you will ever hear in your life. Darker than what most dark Metal or Electronic Music can ever offer. It has a lot of pseudo-bassline styled textures and sounds, which are, quite frankly, disturbing. It is ingenious, however. Some clanging chords then emerge, and this tune sounds truly scary in the world of music listening. If people thought that Black Sabbath were scary back in the 1970s, that has zero on this sort of music in that aspect. Nonetheless, this is truly amazing and brilliant to hear. A really interesting and wonderful listen, through and through. It just goes to show that IDM-based music can indeed be dark and brilliant. A good listen if you are prepared to be literally scared whilst listening to music. A good tune from start to finish and very creepy. It fades out with the menacing textures playing away.

Squarepusher was back at the top of his game with this EP release. Sure, it is not an entire album of work. However, it is a great combination of a sonic montage of intelligent thought, dark moodiness and surreal landscapes. This is the 21st-century music for those of you who are finding that this world under free market Capitalism is becoming like Cyberpunk 2077: a nightmare dystopia. Should you listen to this EP? Yes, if you dig IDM-based Electronic Music. Fans of more traditional music genres may wish to look elsewhere.

A stunning landscape of dark beauty.

9/10

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