S.T.D. has summoned Squarepusher, one of IDM’s most polarizing yet legendary overlords, to take the stage at Arkham. As a shaman of chaos and virtuoso in musical production, Squarepusher harnesses the true brutality of dance music, taking his listeners somewhere they have likely never been, or have previously been too afraid to go. His performance is mind-warping, physically demanding and beautifully nightmarish, ready-made for Arkham’s dark cave packed with vibrating bodies.
Squarepusher’s career can be counted in decades. He established himself early on as an artist that paid no deference to compartmentalization, creating a style defined primarily by its creation process and visceral quality rather than its genre leanings. He has achieved sonic textures that are in-your-face raw, often utilizing custom-made software to generate unprecedented noises all in an effort to remain untainted by commercial forces and immune to genre limitations. The result is something so aggressively experimental as to be completely berserk at times; Squarepusher’s breakbeat robot frenzy is very much the nightmarish counterpart to Daft Punk’s disco dream. It’s a frenzied confluence of acid-jazz fearlessness and menacing drum and bass (for a close reference, think Aphex Twin). When listening to Squarepusher, one gets the genuine feeling that they are listening to something wildly inhuman.
Check out Squarepusher’s Ufabulum or Damogen Furies to get an idea, or check out his Music for Robots for a taste of his ingenuity (aka music for a 22-armed drummer, 78-fingered guitarist and more robots). There is immense passion and even greater talent here. This will be an unforgettable one. Come unprotected.
