tankt

Continuing with this week’s homage to Squarepusher (see the post from Monday), today’s song is from his very first Warp single in 1996, entitled Port Rhombus EP. Given that it was packaged in the iconic purple Warp bag, and had an exquisite rounded rectangle die-cut in the middle, I didn’t listen to it first, I simply bought it on sight. I knew nothing about Squarepusher, but the name elicited all kinds of amusing connotations, and I just had to have it — just thinking about it makes me want to retrieve it from my storage closet!

I never really made it past the first song, as you’ll soon know why. It’s simply one of the most astonishingly beautiful songs ever created, in fact I defy you to find anything at once as intense as it is sublime. This song is a masterpiece, but just the first of many for Squarepusher.

To be fair, in the beginning I listened to this track on 33 RPM (it wasn’t marked on the label, and the sedate pace was a more natural fit for me at that time, for various reasons). It wasn’t until I heard it on CD many years later that I realized Jenkinson intended it to be played at 45 RPM. Suffice to say I can’t imagine it any other way now:

This song was a big part of my transition away from anything you might hear on the radio to the more esoteric sounds of artists such as Squarepusher. I never really found a way to talk about these songs, or anyone to talk to about them either, but I really enjoy sharing them now. I hope you do as well.