As big a Tom Jenkinson fan as I am, I have to admit this one is lacking in substance. Unlike many, I loved "Budakhan Mindphone", but you have to ask why he chose to release "Maximum Priest." Having maintained a fairly constant stream of releases over the past few years, Mr. Pusher didn't need to rush this out to appease starving fans, yet it's hardly substantial enough to stand on its own.

That said, "Song: Our Underwater Torch" is stunning. The "underwater" noises are somewhat distracting, but the melody is deceptively complex and beautifully constructed. The live percussion adds texture to the track's hymnal tone. This could have been the highlight of a killer future Squarepusher full-length, but Tom chose to rush it out attached to mediocrity.

The other TJ tracks are OK, but nothing that'll bring in hordes of new fans. Likewise, the remixes are fair at best. It was somewhat interesting to hear the somewhat free-form "Shin Triad" and "Circular Flexing" tied to more-or-less conventional rhythmic patterns. However, it also served to emphasize that each of those tracks (like most everything else on "Music is Rotted One Note") were initially made up of one "hook" amidst a bunch of noodling. Not that I didn't like "MIRON," but it's definitely not for everyone. The remixes basically extract the hook from each track and lay down a beat around it.

So, this is a decent value for a single, but it has to rank as the most unnecessary Squarepusher release to date. Buy it for track one.

2 1/2

Scattered sampler doesn't have enough selling points to be anything more than fan-fare, but one or two tracks do at least justify why Jenkins was ahead.

I love Squarepusher, i must admit, and this particular CD is certainly more accesible to me than both Music is rotted...and Budakhan Mindphone. For all of you on the fence out there, the first song is called song:our underwater torch and it sounds a bit like iambic 5 poetry on budakhan but more sparse than that. The next song is called decathalon oxide and it has some weird almost jungle like drums and kind of sounds like the squarepusher of old, but not exactly. you're going down, the third song sounds like another iambic 5 but then goes into this wild funked out bass part where tom goes wild on his electric then it settles back into the same nice groove it was in before. the fourth song is not a song really just 32 seconds of noise of some sort and then the mixes start. the autechre is good but i wasn't very keen on the yee- king one of circular flexing. and to top off the the record comes wagonchrist with his brand of funky hip hop on a mix of shin triad. overall very good but i wish there had been more than only 30 minutes or so and only 15 from mr. jenkinson. email me if you have any questions or comments.

the other reviewers have got it all wrong. with this ep, tom jenkinson surpasses all genres and makes an original, mind-twisting, and moving record. dont get me wrong, he is not afraid to rock out. but when he does,he does so in style. this record is squarepusher at his abstract best (with a couple jungle tracks thrown in for good measure).

Squarepusher bugs the hell out of me lately. He changes his style so rapidly he seems like two different artists trying to make peace. I didn't like "Music is Rotted One Note" because the songs had no structure and didn't build themselves up quite like "Big Loada". The sound was okay but the songs were dissapointing. "Budakhan Mindphone" was good--it had it's ups and downs between both styles and was satisfying overall. "Maximum Priest" however, seems like Jenkinson trying to be even more experimental, almost like a "jazzy" Autechre. The first two tracks are different, but good. The rest in my opinion has the same structurelessness as "Music is Rotted One Note". Autechre's mix is repetitive and boring and the other two are okay but not impressive. Buy "Big Loada" because it is Tom Jenkinson's high point between all of his many releases.