New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Following the release of his album Be Up A Hello at the end of January, and the follow up Lamental EP last Friday, Squarepusher presents a poignant and eerie portrait of the city in his video for "Detroit People Mover," the cinematic synth odyssey that is present at the heart of both recent releases.
There had long been an intention to shoot a video for this piece on the
Detroit People Mover itself, the neglected mass transit system in the US city from which the track takes its name. As production got under way, it was apparent that the typically empty train has a peculiar resonance with the desolation settling on urban areas across the world.
Director Jacob Hurwitz-Goodman explores our new-found isolation on a driver-less journey through the city, contrasting it with human contact in images from Detroit's history produced by an correspondingly autonomous printer.
This bleak urban portrait serves as a drastic contrast to Squarepusher's last visual representation for "Terminal Slam," which with its bustling street scenes was shot just three months before, at the busiest crossing in the world in Shibuya. These varied aesthetics not only reflect the sudden change of conditions but two very different sound worlds that co-exist within this project. The title of Lamental itself refers to each track being a form of lament.
Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher) says "I like the way both of these videos articulate salient points about our urban environments - in "Terminal Slam" about the prevalence of advertising and possibilities for its subversion, and here regarding our zombie cities that despite the lack of everyday human contact continue marching on. The track itself is part of a series begun in 1993 inspired by the music of Detroit."
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:
November
Mon 23 U Street Washington DC
Tues 24 Union
Transfer Philadelphia
Fri 27 Brooklyn Steel New York
Sat 28 Sinclair Boston
Sun 29 SAT Montreal
Mon 30 Danforth Toronto
December
Wed 2 Majestic Theatre Detroit
Thu 3 Metro Chicago
Sun 6 Gothic Theatre Denver
Tue 8 Neumos Seattle
Wed 9 Wonder Ballroom Portland
Thu 10 Regency San Francisco
Sat 12 1720 Los Angeles
