Squarepusher: Shobaleader One EP

Squarepusher’s latest two-track EP is a leaden one. It’s been released on the French house-heavy label Ed Banger. The man behind Squarepusher, Tom Jenkinson, gives us “Cryptic Motion,” a slow bass noodling over a preset beat, the same 909 crash cymbals you’ve been hearing for years, and some bland Sesame Street synth-ery. Jenkinson must have taken a liking to SebastiAn, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. and his other francophile label mates at some point. Shobaleader One is not danceable, only picking up a few BPMs when fellow funk-man Mr. Oizo steps in on the EP’s second track, “Cryptic Motion (Mr. Ozio Remix). Unfortunately, Oizo’s work here isn’t anything useful. He spares us his standard groove-embedded bass and works Squarepusher’s half-stepper into boring 4AM filler, including all the wispy, cut-up standards that have ruined French house in the shadow of Daft Punk.