Buy Squarepusher – Burningn’n Tree | listen to Squarepusher – Burningn’n Tree

And now for something kind of different.

Although this came out in 1997 it was referred to me almost a year ago when Still Machine was having our breakup night chat.  I still love those guys.  I also just found out when I was going to link to the page that they put up the album with 2 listenable songs on bandcamp.  Not sure if I missed that a while ago but if you’re curious in some non-metal-mike drumming check it out.  I’m curious to know what you think!

Being that this is one of his earlier releases there’s also a different feel to the music.  If you look at his spotify artist page or hear his newer albums you can see/hear what almost 2 decades of a small underground project can turn into when EDM is now on the main stage and played at festivals with hundreds of thousands of people in attendance.  This is a review of his earlier material.

Having now looked it up, this album is a compilation of the 2 previously made EP’s.  Although this video states the Amen Break, one of the most famous sampled drum beats ever is used on his song Vic Acid. However I swear it’s used on the opening track and even one of the later songs on this release as well. Heck, he might have even used the samples to piece together the drum sounds for most of these tracks.

Drum and Bass has been a style of music I’ve always enjoyed but have never been able to fully explore and admittedly my knowledge on the subject is fairly small.  However, I do enjoy this release for what it is. Finding out that this is a combination of some of his earlier works makes me appreciate the release even more as I feel like I’m going through that initial journey of audio exploration with him. Being an early in his career release it has the minimalist feel, trying not to overwhelm himself with too much going on at once and letting the drums breathe.

The drumming is the most constant throughout the release with keyboard and bass accompanying the beats with a few sporadic sounds and noises to add extra dimensions.  The keyboard and bass parts compliment the songs and you can feel that drums are his first instrument and he builds the melodies and bass truly around the beats, instead of the beats around the instruments.  Being a drummer I appreciate someone giving drums the first love instead of vice versa.

For those not too familiar with the Drum and Bass genre this is a good start to get your feet wet.  It could easily go on a Jazz or party playlist and could also be used at the gym or on a running playlist.

Buy Squarepusher – Burningn’n Tree | listen to Squarepusher – Burningn’n Tree