New Music Alert!!

More details coming tomorrow, but today I got notice on (evil evil) Facebook that Mr. Tom Jenkinson, the inimitable Squarepusher, will have a new album on a new label THIS MONTH. This is incredibly exciting since the artist had been on Warp for ages. His sound wasn’t stale by any means, but I sensed a lack of excitement at the label on the last two releases. Today’s announcement is striking because it is accompanied by a single, which I’ll post tomorrow, and because the record will be in our hands before we know it.

Many moons ago there had been a rumor of collaboration between Squarepusher and Eno, which sounds mind-blowing in a cross generational way. Within the past week it was revealed that Eno will release an album of edited jams with himself, a guitar player and a drummer. I’ll post more on this tomorrow as well. While such a project is extremely exciting on it’s own (apparently recorded over several years of jamming), of note is that it will be released on Warp. That news briefly reawakened hope of a Squarepusher Eno project, but with the former moving on, I think it’s less likely. I, for one, will be perfectly satisfied with new music from each, even if not on the same record.

Finally, the Paul Gilbert album “Fuzz Universe” came out in the U.S. today, and I’ll be on iTunes bright and early to get my copy of shredding, shredding, and more shredding. Looking forward to reporting on that soon after.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the Progscape Podcast, which is new every Tuesday. That means you can download it at the Progscape page or from iTunes right now. I’m looking forward to seeing what treats Mike has picked for us this week.

Paul Gilbert – Fuzz Universe on sale in U.S. in August

Paul Gilbert is the shredder extraordinaire.  His licks take no prisoners, and they just keep coming at you like a barrage, an arpeggio assault.  And, of course, what I like is the unabashed prog influence. There is even a video of him playing Emerson Lake and Palmer on guitar, and he provided breathtaking pyrotechnics on Neal Morse’s epic Sola Scriptura.

Despite his ability and obvious discipline, Gilbert seems very loos and good-natured, like he doesn’t take himself too seriously.  This promo video gives a good example:

So, although the album is already delighting junior shredders in Japan, those of us stateside will have to wait till the heat of August before partaking of Mr. Gilbert’s instrumental delights.  In the meantime, I may have to console myself with his earlier instrumental effort ‘Get Out Of My Yard’, which sounds something like this: