squarepusher Squarepusher X Z-MACHINES - Music For Robots

[kirm]

I like the concept but the track didnt do much for me. Interested to hear what the rest of it will sound like tho.

[delet...]

I'm more into music played by birds

 

http://youtu.be/8ZQ4VmicDeM

 

lol, that's pretty cool actually.

[delet...]

It actually could evolve into something more complex.

 

Look at this, nice guitar shredds

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRnyw0tsi58

 

Hey thanks for the explanation on how it works. sankyou [-;

[auxien]

The first half of the track sounds like a bad Metallica b-side. The second bit something like a Hella/Dream Theater baby. I liked the last minute or so at least.

[Bertolt Brechtakt]

id like to see what autechre could do with these, some kind of auto generated sequence that keeps evolving would be pretty cool. I like the idea of composing a really complex song for these like Tom has done, but imagine if you could turn it into some kind of real jammy band that improvised and riffed off each other.

 

I think they actually did that on Confield.

[FinePrimitiveSounds]

This is gonna be like...

[may be rude]

The first half of the track sounds like a bad Metallica b-side. The second bit something like a Hella/Dream Theater baby. I liked the last minute or so at least.

 

lol

 

you dont listen to a lot of music with guitars do you

[GraveGlitcher]

 

 

The first half of the track sounds like a bad Metallica b-side. The second bit something like a Hella/Dream Theater baby. I liked the last minute or so at least.

lol

 

you dont listen to a lot of music with guitars do you

lol

[DerWaschbar]

It feels sad to see robots playing human music.

[auxien]

 

The first half of the track sounds like a bad Metallica b-side. The second bit something like a Hella/Dream Theater baby. I liked the last minute or so at least.

 

lol

 

you dont listen to a lot of music with guitars do you

 

I listen to lots of music with guitars (I've also played guitar for 20 years). Why does my description make you think I don't?

[Hugh Mughnus]

It doesn't sound like anything you described.

 

In my opinion anyway. Not even remotely close.

[Squee]

Sounds like something those terrible 80s/early 90s progressive rock bands play.

[cruising for burgers]

[youtubehd]DXafRKe9klA[/youtubehd]

[Squee]

LOL! Precisely

[Guest Papillon]

Music by balls

 

[youtubehd]E4hjx3_A-cw[/youtubehd]

 

even this is more interesting hahha

 

[youtubehd]_sUeGC-8dyk[/youtubehd]

 

Skip to 10.30

 

[youtubehd]TPg4Vcr56F0[/youtubehd]

Is that Cylob in the last picture? Divided loyalties pt. 2?

[xyz888]

When you received the offer (to make a song for Z-MACHINES), what was your first image of the song for Z-MACHINES?
Squarepusher. My first idea was about the robots being sad because they are just treated by the public as entertainment machines, and all of their other qualities are neglected. And so this sadness comes out in the music they play, and strangely becomes one of the reasons why the public likes them because they seem to be able to evoke strong emotions in their audience. But when the public goes home, the robots play their own music which is more fun and to do with their playful aspect - they think back to being young robots, before they were employed in the sphere of public entertainment, and remember the silly antics they used to get up to. So the first section of the piece is them entertaining the public and being sad, then the second section is them having fun when the public goes home, and lastly the third section is when the public comes back and they are sad again.

What do you think about your song?
Squarepusher. I think that it explores some of the many fascinating possibilities of music-playing robots. I kept the guitar sound clean (i.e., no distortion) so I could freely explore the possibilities of polyphony. The majority of the guitar element of the piece is written to sound like four guitarists playing even though there are only two guitars in the actual performance. There are so many other aspects of the capabilities of the robots that I would like to explore.

[usagi]

 

i don't know where some people are coming from here (a spirit of trolling?). you never wondered what playing a guitar with electronic-precise timing and action would sound like? you don't think real string instruments and drums offer lush, analogue, and natural sounds? this innovative custom gear doesn't sound great? you don't think squarepusher is the perfect person to carry out this experiment? this isn't some nice new squarepusher music, with another inventive palette of sounds?

 

These are the things I ponder on this quiet winter's eve, smoking my pipe, sipping a snifter of brandy on my bearskin rug in front of a roaring hearth. My beloved children tug at my sleeves while my wife prepares a hearty feast but my thoughts are consumed with the one who pushes squares. What, ultimately is his intent? Will he rise to the occasion to create a symphonic robot extravaganza that my children's children will rejoice in after a hard day's work and a few puffs of a spliff? Will my forebears gaze down from the heavens and smile upon our good fortune then? The more I amass wealth, respect, and mistresses, my hunger for robo-jazz funk only grows in intensity, fiendishly consuming my dreams and adding vigor to my lustful romps in the hills. Will I be consumed by this terrible affliction or stay the course that was chosen for me? Proceed to page 86.

 

 

underappreciated post

[QBLA]

2:40ish and on sounds cool... other than that... I'm not interested in this.

[Tessier Ashpool]

When you received the offer (to make a song for Z-MACHINES), what was your first image of the song for Z-MACHINES?

Squarepusher. My first idea was about the robots being sad because they are just treated by the public as entertainment machines, and all of their other qualities are neglected. And so this sadness comes out in the music they play, and strangely becomes one of the reasons why the public likes them because they seem to be able to evoke strong emotions in their audience. But when the public goes home, the robots play their own music which is more fun and to do with their playful aspect - they think back to being young robots, before they were employed in the sphere of public entertainment, and remember the silly antics they used to get up to. So the first section of the piece is them entertaining the public and being sad, then the second section is them having fun when the public goes home, and lastly the third section is when the public comes back and they are sad again.

 

What do you think about your song?

Squarepusher. I think that it explores some of the many fascinating possibilities of music-playing robots. I kept the guitar sound clean (i.e., no distortion) so I could freely explore the possibilities of polyphony. The majority of the guitar element of the piece is written to sound like four guitarists playing even though there are only two guitars in the actual performance. There are so many other aspects of the capabilities of the robots that I would like to explore.

 

Nice! Although this isn't a song that I would actively listen to, purely for enjoyment of the track (I just don't like this style of music), it's still entertaining as all shit. My favorite part is the heads of the robots moving around - adds an air of verisimilitude that is totally unnecessary for actually playing the music. The interview stuffs above give an interesting take into the track - plus, it sounds like this could just be the beginning of other, interesting musical pieces.

 

At the end of the day, though - I mean, if some company came to you and said, "Hey, we built these BADASS ROBOTS. They totally look like some combination of Johnny 5 and some shit Chris Cunningham would make, and, check THIS OUT: They play live instruments like drums and guitars and piano so you can totally use MIDI and program them to play all sorts of shit you wouldn't be able to reproduce without live instrumentation + robots. Oh, and, we totally want to pay you some money to write some music for these robots to play, whatever you want. Oh, and the robot that plays the piano looks like an underwater deep sea creature except he has a friggin' LASER SHOOTING OUT OF HIS HEAD."

 

Why WOULDN'T you do this? Can't a Squarepusher just have a little fun getting paid to fuck around with some new toys?

[beerwolf]

Not sure if its my imagination but watmm sometimes seems a bit harsh on

[GraveGlitcher]

Not sure if its my imagination but watmm sometimes seems a bit harsh on

The WATMM massive is hard on everybody

[mcbpete]

massive hard on

[GraveGlitcher]

 

massive hard on

LMFAO

[beerwolf]

 

 

massive hard on

LMFAO

 

 

how very immature

[Herr Jan]

Quite looking forward to this release, the first track sounded pretty fresh (actually, the first track in years I réally like) and WAY better/warmer than the most recent tinny sounding distorted 'high-frequencies only' stuff of his.