Squarepusher: is Tom Jenkinson

BY VIJITH ASSAR

I suppose music technology is just like any other niche in that as you disappear deeper down the rabbit hole, it gets harder to find the other rabbits. Tom Jenkinson would probably qualify as an actual mole by this point were you to fully consider his 15-year reign as the premier virtuoso figure in glitchy drum and bass. But his albums as Squarepusher have also reached into other territory — most famously Music is Rotted One Note, on which he played every instrument himself; a one-man band without any sequencers hosting a jazz-fusion cafeteria food fight. Starting with 2008's Numbers Lucent EP and its follow up, Just A Souvenir, he moved into a friendlier version of digital music. But 2009's Solo Electric Bass is exactly what it implies — and the guy's got some serious chops. All this constant reconfiguration points to a generally restless and adventurous nature, but what's especially impressive is just how deep his reach extends when it's finally time to change course. He writes his own software for MIDI and audio processing for most of his digitally-minded projects using the deepest nether regions of audio creation platforms, like Native Instruments' Reaktor Core Technology. It's quite astonishing to think that Jenkinson can create music in this fashion at all, let alone come up with something that's truly beautiful.

Kevin Ratterman: Louisville's Loudest Funeral Home

BY NICK THIENEMAN, JASON NOBLE

Kevin Ratterman is a musician and engineer living in Louisville, Kentucky. He plays drums in the psychedelic rock trio Wax Fang, and was a member of the well-loved punk band Elliott. For the last decade he's been recording bands and currently runs The Funeral Home studio. In keeping with Louisville's morbid charm the studio really does occupy the top two floors of a working funeral home. Ratterman recently worked with the bands Coliseum, Parlour and California Guitar Trio, and co-engineered the forthcoming My Morning Jacket album Circuital (with producers Tucker Martine and Jim James). He recorded the new album In And Out Of Youth And Lightness by Young Widows and is currently mixing a project with Joan Shelley (produced by Daniel Martin Moore). Ratterman doesn't have many days off, but he generously shared his time to talk about his working process. We were joined by Evan Patterson from Young Widows.

An Introduction to Squarepusher

BY VIJITH ASSAR

Tape Op issue #89 features a rare interview with Tom Jenkinson, a man known to the world as Squarepusher. Below is an "introduction" of sorts for someone that might be new to the music this man has created over the last 15 years. I've been lobbying for years for the enigmatic British IDM genius to grant Tape Op an interview as a rare lens into his bafflingly technical creative process, and it finally happened when he decided to swing through New York in March for his first U.S. show in at least as long as I've been watching his career. This was an extremely intimidating undertaking, as Tom Jenkinson composes his tracks from deep below the surface of his DAW, diving deep into fundamental DSP via audio programming platforms like Reaktor in order to build his own tools before he gets to use them. One has to assume that he doesn't actually get to discuss this stuff with other people too often, but because his approach is so carefully considered philosophically, he nonetheless made for a fascinating interview, even for folks who don't instinctively know how to make an LFO do anything useful. This guy is a magician, but for some reason only a legend in very specific circles. So, for the rest of you: we are really excited about this, and in the hopes that you'll jump on board with our enthusiasm, here's a quick introduction to help you prep yourself.

Trevor Horn (bonus): On the Therapy of Being In A Band...

BY LARRY CRANE