Just a Souvenir

iTunes Review

Just a Souvenir was inspired by a waking vision that Tom Jenkinson had, in which he saw “a crazy, beautiful rock band play an ultra-gig; they played instruments either of their own design or conventional ones that were modified such that they could be used to generate a range of sounds not typically associated with a rock band.” He later said his memory of the vision was his only souvenir: hence the title of this wildly creative recollection. Just a Souvenir is his most amusing and accessible album, yet it’s also his strangest. The music is true to its dreamlike conception. While it builds on previous Squarepusher innovations, it seems disconnected from historical trends in electronica, as well as Squarepusher’s own catalog. While it integrates elements from such unlikely and disparate genres as '80s boogie funk, smooth jazz, and even thrash metal, Just a Souvenir most resembles the kind of 8-bit music heard on early Nintendo games. This feels more like the work of a band of microscopic aliens, virtuosic but visible only within the deepest recesses of some long-abandoned circuit board.