Ufabulum, good, bad or meh?

[BCM]

I don't like this album

[mcbpete]

It sure looks all shiny when all charged up huh ?!

 

[modey]

I tried so hard to get a photo of my shirt glowing but FAILED! I did notice that even the non-logo dots glow a little as well.

[drewheasman]

In b4 Fletcher-Munson curves

 

I looks like the 'everything is at the same level so the bass seems quiet in comparison' is definitely correct. I've just ran the frequency response of the opening track (4001) through Izotope Ozone and couldn't believe how flat the curve was -

 

 

So that's why on reference phones the album does indeed sound so flat, it looks like the album was mastered for systems that normally have their bass whacked up a bit.

 

This. Sounds better with the treble rolled off a bit.

[Guest myosis]

am i the only one whose ears hurt when listening to drax 2 ?

the track is cool but something's wrong ...

[Suffocate Peon]

I find this album ridiculously overwrought, over-elaborate, ostentatious and contrived and -apart from 303 Scopem Hard- completely unengaging. It's just aesthetically fat and ugly.

 

It's probably just not for me*. I tend to like electronic music that's really pure, free of ego, and when it's blistering craziness, genuinely is so, not obnoxiously so.

 

 

*I'm joking, i think it's awful shit.

[modey]

Really? I can think of at least 5 electronic albums more obnoxious than this one.

[lumpenprol]

I don't like this album

I find this album ridiculously overwrought, over-elaborate, ostentatious and contrived and -apart from 303 Scopem Hard- completely unengaging. It's just aesthetically fat and ugly.

 

It's probably just not for me*. I tend to like electronic music that's really pure, free of ego, and when it's blistering craziness, genuinely is so, not obnoxiously so.

 

 

*I'm joking, i think it's awful shit.

[Herr Jan]

Unreal Square must be one of the worst track I've ever heard from Squarepusher. What was he thinking? I'm a real pessimistic conservative oldschool purist, maybe that's the problem, but this sounds like he is totally in today's electronic music trends of American bro/dubstep. The production is also really hurting my ears, damn modern loud mastering. Squarepusher was never the best production wise, but this is just horrible.

 

(Ok, good first rant on the first listen. now on to the rest of the album. I did like the first track though.)

[Guest yikes]

his ears are aging and he is pumping up the treble because it's missing from his own eq curve

same thing with the perceived loudness and compression that everyone is complaining about

my biggest gripe is the lack of melody

i fear we will never get another beep street or tundra ever again from old tom

[Hugh Mughnus]

his ears are aging and he is pumping up the treble because it's missing from his own eq curve

same thing with the perceived loudness and compression that everyone is complaining about

my biggest gripe is the lack of melody

i fear we will never get another beep street or tundra ever again from old tom

 

The mastering works quite well in a large setup where the bass is usually cranked.

 

Sounds like the treble and mids were bumped up to level with cranked bass on the live tour (I haven't seen any complaints about the sound quality live).

 

I guess what I'm saying is the mastering probably worked great for the live setup but maybe didn't translate to the album version so well? Not sure how that works exactly.

 

I find on my home setup with 2 subs and speakers with 15" drivers it sounds great, but in my car not so much.

[Ivan Ooze]

yeah there is nothing wrong with the sound, get an amplifier and some decent speakers, cant believe so many people critize it here on an electronic music forum, i think its a great mindblowing album DIY motherfuckers

[Audioblysk]

Yeah, I torrented it.

 

Glad I didn't pay, sorta. I like the album aesthetically, if he had been releasing this 5 years ago, I would have been all over it. I get the feeling he was listening to "do you know squarepusher" then looked at his master tracks from Shoebladerunner or whatever and turned it into an album. It lacks emotion, but makes up for it in just general energy. <--- Modern Music

 

But, having said that, it sounds like the same song a few times in the album. The albums mastering and mixing is so harsh that I listen to it quiet unless its over monitors. Also, FFS, someone get him to use a different bass synth.

[Guest Fishtank]

Really digging this new album

 

303 Scopem Hard is my favorite

Unreal Square my least favorite

 

can't wait to see the show!

[gaarg]

I find this album ridiculously overwrought, over-elaborate, ostentatious and contrived and -apart from 303 Scopem Hard- completely unengaging. It's just aesthetically fat and ugly.

 

It's probably just not for me*. I tend to like electronic music that's really pure, free of ego, and when it's blistering craziness, genuinely is so, not obnoxiously so.

 

 

*I'm joking, i think it's awful shit.

 

you put some of my thought into words. Still it's enjoyable and I might grow to love in in time.

 

I hate it when I feel, there is a multitude of sounds there just to astound me or to be aesthetical. Conceptually kinda poor.

[modey]

I don't understand when people complain about music that is based on aesthetics.. Isn't that the point? Do you not want it to be aesthetically pleasing? Or am i missing some definition of the word..?

[YEK]

people complain about certain aspects of the new album but the thing is he is still doing stuff fresh... really raw digital drums, mixed with trance synths.... doing his take on dubstep and such.. if you think this stuff is too played out go listen to some pop music or whatever

squarepusher will continue to evolve until the day he dies.

[Hugh Mughnus]

people complain about certain aspects of the new album but the thing is he is still doing stuff fresh... really raw digital drums, mixed with trance synths.... doing his take on dubstep and such.. if you think this stuff is too played out go listen to some pop music or whatever

squarepusher will continue to evolve until the day he dies.

 

Exactly. Every album is completely different from the next. Maybe that has something to do with the fact he's making music for himself, not to appeal to the masses or whatever.

 

Ufabulum is great, just like JAS was great, Hello Everything was great, and all the albums before that were great. If people can't hear the quality or appeal, I just don't know what they're listening to that is better. Chicago footwork music I guess? lol. Or Rustie-Glass Swords?!?

 

:cerious:

[gaarg]

I don't understand when people complain about music that is based on aesthetics.. Isn't that the point? Do you not want it to be aesthetically pleasing? Or am i missing some definition of the word..?

 

Of course you want it to be aesthetically pleasing, but these pleasing bits need to be well articulated in the whole form, otherwise their meaning is just being their happy selves.

 

This is why this guy is so popular while in the same time a crappy artist:

 

[Audioblysk]

Super Hero Tom.

 

 

I don't understand when people complain about music that is based on aesthetics.. Isn't that the point? Do you not want it to be aesthetically pleasing? Or am i missing some definition of the word..?

 

Of course you want it to be aesthetically pleasing, but these pleasing bits need to be well articulated in the whole form, otherwise their meaning is just being their happy selves.

 

This is why this guy is so popular while in the same time a crappy artist:

 

 

LEAVE ROSS OUT OF THIS, MAN.

[gaarg]

Bob Jenkinson

[fenton]

I wasn't sure.

 

Then it was 'quite good'.

 

 

Now I think it is mind blowing.

 

 

About 30 listens in, can't wait till Bloc!

[chenGOD]

It's great.

Red in Blue is a clear tribute to Blue in Green.

 

Agree on the mastering re: the highs being a bit grating, but it's not unbearable.

Also those pads on Drax 2 sound reallllly familiar.

[Boxus]

I have only listened to this album as a continuous piece and it's Wagnerian when consumed like that. I couldn't even tell you track titles right now but I know exactly when the rhythmic and melodic codas come about and it feels like a 51 minute...well, vamos went there but I'll drive the final nail in: dubstep symphony

 

Anyway, "Red In Blue" is like an intermission/thematic shift that gears me up for the second movement. It could be the bias of banging the whole thing out in full each time but it feels like his most cohesive album yet

 

I definitely think of it as one big composition - the melodies can seem weak when you listen to a single track, but they give each other context as the album unfolds.

 

Unreal Square is sure getting a lot of hate. I like it! It's not the best track on the album, but I like it more than Stadium Ice and maybe more than Energy Wizard. I usually hate that dubstep growl synth, but the goofy beauty of this track overcomes my bias. I like the soft string synths that come in giving the track some comfortable cushioning, and I think the fucked up breakdown is just as effective as most of the other fucked up breakdowns on the album.

[gaarg]

I listened to Venus 17 yesterday and it killed Ufabulum for me a bit.

 

I'm afraid little older Tom bits will eventually kill his own new record.