Editing Squarepusher (section)

===1995–1999: Warp===
Jenkinson accepted a five-album record contract with [[Warp Records]] in December 1995.<ref name="LarkinDM"/> This led him to defer his studies at [[Chelsea Art College]]. Early in 1996, James completed the compilation process for ''[[Feed Me Weird Things]]'', which was made from over 50 tracks that Jenkinson had given him on [[DAT recorder|DAT]], which were recorded from late 1994 to 1995. Around the same time James and Jenkinson recorded two tracks together, one of which was subsequently edited by Jenkinson and released as "Freeman Hardy & Willis Acid" on the ''[[We Are Reasonable People]]'' compilation album in 1998. Jenkinson's contribution to the other track was reinterpreted and released as "Happy Little Wilberforce" on the ''Alt. Frequencies'' compilation released on Worm Interface in 1996. 1996 saw Jenkinson starting to be offered performances both in the UK and in continental Europe.

Early that year Jenkinson made the acquaintance of [[Talvin Singh]] who offered him a slot at his club night "Anokha" held at the Blue Note Club in [[Hoxton Square]], London. Jenkinson and Singh went on to play together on several occasions during this period, including improvised sessions at the end of the night at Anokha, one of which featured guitarist Guthrie Govan, and also at the first [[Big Chill Festival]] in 1996.

Shortly after the release of ''[[Feed Me Weird Things]]'' came "Port Rhombus" which was Jenkinson's (by now known as Squarepusher) first release on Warp Records.<ref name="LarkinDM"/> The title track was initially a remix of a track{{Which|date=November 2023}} by Ken Ishii, commissioned by [[R&S Records]] in Belgium. However, the remix was rejected on the basis of it having insufficient similarity to Ishii's piece. "Significant Others" used the DR660 drum machine running through a spring reverb, that Squarepusher found at a jumble sale.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Using the same equipment from the sessions that produced the majority of ''Feed Me Weird Things'', Squarepusher now set about working on the material for his first album for [[Warp (record label)|Warp]], ''[[Hard Normal Daddy]]''. His broad conception for this record was "to push away from the jazz influence that was being felt at the time to a more soundtrack-type of sound". According to Squarepusher, he was listening to—amongst other things—early [[Lalo Schifrin]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} and the "Deathwish" soundtrack by [[Herbie Hancock]] around this time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blanning |first=Lisa |date=2012-08-08 |title=Interview: Squarepusher |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2012/08/squarepusher-interview |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=Red Bull Music Academy |language=en}}</ref> However, the album also contains some abrupt diversions into quite different musical territory, evidenced in what Squarepusher calls the "Industrial Psychedelia" of "Chin Hippy" and "Rustic Raver".{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Squarepusher's electric bass work becomes apparent on this record. He states that he was "still battling with the influence of (Jaco) [[Jaco Pastorius|Pastorius]]." He wanted to "make the styles interrogate each other, such that one track would question the premises of another and vice versa. As such I suppose it might indicate tentativeness, but in my mind at the time I liked the idea of bringing musical assumptions into question by smashing stylistically divergent elements into each other".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.djbroadcast.net/article/120655/squarepusher-the-hermit-and-the-digital-beast|title=Squarepusher: The Hermit and the Digital Beast|website=Djbroadcast.net}}</ref> In this he follows a precedent set by [[Frank Zappa]], who Squarepusher claimed is "always hovering in the background" for him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Squarepusher interview: The Software Behind Damogen Furies |website=Digitaltrends.com |date=21 April 2015 |url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/music/squarepusher-interview-the-software-behind-damogen-furies/}}</ref>

The sleeve artwork was generated from a set of images taken by Squarepusher wandering about [[Chelmsford]] town centre. The front cover image is based on a view of the gasometers situated at Wharf Road, near where he lived as a teenager. The [[8-bit]] graphics reflected Squarepusher's resurgence of interest in old video consoles and home computers at that time. This location was subsequently used in some of the press shots in the ''[[Hello Everything]]'' promotional campaign.

In January 1997, Squarepusher moved to a flat on Albion Road in [[Stoke Newington]], London. This particular residence was shown in the [[Jockey Slut]] "All Back to Mine" article from that year, and it was also where Squarepusher's appearance in the "xxx" documentary was filmed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

"Journey To Reedham" brings the 8-bit computer influence right into the foreground. The piece was the first to be recorded of the set and was originally commissioned to be used in a computer game, but Squarepusher decided it was too important to hand over to somebody else's project. The track immediately became a favourite at live performances and was still making appearances as an encore in Tom's run of live shows in 2013. "The Body Builder" was Tom's favourite of the set. This exemplifies a more abstract take on the [[8-bit]] aesthetic, with sounds constructed to deliberately resemble computer game sound effects. "Come on My Selector" has become one of Squarepusher's most well-known tracks, partly due to it having a video by director [[Chris Cunningham]]. Doing the video led Squarepusher to develop a friendship with Chris Cunningham.

This period also saw the release of the ''Burningn'n Tree'' album,<ref name="LarkinDM"/> which was a compilation of Tom's [[Spymania]] releases. The set includes three pieces that were recorded in late 1995 during the ''[[Feed Me Weird Things]]'' sessions that were not originally released on Spymania.

Squarepusher started considering new ideas about how to put music together. At this time James introduced Squarepusher to the music of [[Tod Dockstader]], an American composer who had worked extensively in the 1960s, principally realising his compositions by tape editing. Alongside this Squarepusher was becoming interested in the work of 20th Century composers such as [[Stockhausen]] and [[György Ligeti|Ligeti]], specifically their [[electronic music|electronic]] and [[electroacoustic music|electroacoustic]] works.

After ''[[Budakhan Mindphone]]'' was completed in May 1998, Squarepusher went to [[South East Asia]] for two months, and on this trip acquired a selection of [[Gamelan]] instruments. He stated that he was keen to carry on with the method of making music he had developed making the "abstract jazz" elements of ''[[Music Is Rotted One Note]]''. Given that the "abstract jazz/musique concrète" idea had in Tom's view been proven by ''[[Music Is Rotted One Note]]''. He decided to switch focus slightly and approach the following phase with a less rigorous aesthetic in mind.

This is the first record where Squarepusher started using effects processors in such a way that values for the available parameters would all vary as the piece progressed.
Squarepusher relates that "Iambic 5 Poetry" is "apparently one of [[Björk]]'s favourite songs".{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} This period also produced the "Maximum Priest" EP. "Our Underwater Torch" was partially inspired by a developing obsession he had for the sounds of water. He stated that this piece was obliquely inspired by the films ''[[Solaris (1972 film)|Solaris]]'' and ''[[Stalker (1979 film)|Stalker]]'' by the Russian director [[Andrei Tarkovsky]]. The organ in this piece is triggered directly from an electric bass. "Decathlon Oxide" carried on the ideas initiated in "Fly Street" and "Varkatope" from ''[[Budakhan Mindphone]]'' and features a [[Gamelan]] gong. The record also contains remixes by [[Luke Vibert]], [[Autechre]] and [[Matthew Yee-King]].
Very few live shows happened around this time, although Squarepusher claims he did in fact do quite a few performances unannounced:
He did organise two shows for an ephemeral organisation known as the "Squarepusher Ensemble" which amongst others featured [[Jamie Lidell]] on vocals, Mick Beck on saxophone and Squarepusher on bass. The idea of the group was to try to approximate some of the aesthetic of ''[[Music Is Rotted One Note]]'' and ''[[Budakhan Mindphone]]''. The improvisation took place with no guidelines.

In March 1999, with the ''Budakhan Mindphone'' and "Maximum Priest" sessions wrapped up, he found himself in quite changed circumstances. He had made new friends in [[Sheffield]] and found himself a regular DJ and punter at various club nights around Sheffield. At this point he became quite skilled at tape editing. Another element that he was keen to bring back was the usage of sampled [[breakbeats]]. At this time, Squarepusher was frequenting a Manchester-based club night called "Schizm". It was run by friends of [[Sean Booth]] and [[Rob Brown (musician)|Rob Brown]] from Autechre who themselves had played there on occasion.