Top Sellers - Vinyl
-
Release Date: 14/06/2024Visit product page →
Mike Paradinas, veteran producer and Planet Mu label owner has written a new album called ‘Grush' and it's full of weird bangers that reclaim the 'dance' part of the woeful term IDM. A back-to-first-principles record, inspired in part by the group of artists IDM was coined for; melodic dance music that didn't come out of urban scenes, but interpreted them from a distance.
The tracks on ‘Grush’ are all road-tested live favorites developed with feedback from Mike's touring partner and visuals guy Mora (Jan Moravec). It's a detailed and energetic journey which replicates the flow of a live gig. A lot of the tracks have been made in hotel rooms in response to shows, ‘Imperial Crescent’ is named after a Japanese Hotel, as is ‘Belvedere’ in Prague, while some tracks such as ‘Hyper Daddy’ were created specifically to play live.
Drums are confidently at the fore here and the album feels like it traces Mike's musical history and interests neatly around his sweetly nostalgic melodies, with atmospheres and structures which twist and turn with a charming softness which contrasts with the tension in the drums. Take ‘Hyper Daddy’s’ spiralling notes and twinkling piano which remind one of early Black Dog or Omni Trio rushing alongside splashy jungle drums, or the aquatic acid footwork of the title track with its drums softly bubbling and kicking.
Elsewhere there's territory which harks back to his Tusken Raiders pseudonym, like the heads down Drexciyan funk of ‘Windsor Safari Park,’ which transforms from moody electro into a sunny hardcore track midway.
The album is interspersed with Reticulum A, B and C at the start middle and end of the album which suggest a theme which carries across the music in an effortless and joyful way. ‘Grush’ is a strong album that works both for listening and DJing and a great snapshot of where Mike Paradinas musical head is at in 2024.
Tracklisting:VinylSide A1. Reticulum A2. Hyper Daddy3. FogouSide B1. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.4)2. Imperial Crescent3. Reticulum B4. GrushSide C1. Belvedere2. Raver3. Windsor Safari Park4. HastingsSide D1. Manscape2. Metaphonk3. Reticulum C
CD1. Reticulum A2. Hyper Daddy3. Fogou4. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.4)5. Imperial Crescent6. Reticulum B7. Grush8. Belvedere9. Raver10. Windsor Safari Park11. Hastings12. Manscape13. Metaphonk14. Reticulum C -
Challenge Me Foolish' is an almost lost album of µ-Ziq material circa 1998-99, an era that saw Mike Paradinas release Royal Astronomy'on the now defunct Virgin subsidiary Hut records, and also tour with Björk.Visit product page →
It's an era of his music that's definitely worth re-exploring, in which Mike went against the grain by producing music that was baroque, melodic and whimsical, while the IDM movement he was lumped with made instrumental music that was often neurotic and complicated. His taste for melody and dreamy beauty above roughness and intricacy confused people who were hanging on too tightly to the rules. He even brought in Japanese vocalist Kazumi, adding an extra human touch.
Challenge Me Foolish' is something of a companion to the Royal Astronomy record; arguably even better given the fresh ears selecting the material. It's imbued with a confident sense of pastoral colour, and a gentle optimism, utilising bells, studied orchestral arrangements and airy synthesisers that sit the album somewhere between, Jean Jacques Perrey (the French electronic composer whose whimsy was always balanced with serious innovation and chops) and the colourful, optimistic soundtracks of Joe Hisaishi. There's a strange sense of the old and new throughout, the sentimental and utopia, with nary a hint of darkness. Even when the album dips into the hyperkinetic rhythms of jungle, the melodies and mood still retain a sense of gentle warmth. Dive into peak time Paradinas.
Tracklisting:
Vinyl 2xLP
Side A:
1. Inclement
2. Undone
3. Challenge Me Foolish (ft. Kazumi)
Side B:
4. Bassbins
5. Robin Hood Gate
6. Perhaps
7. Durian (ft. Kazumi)
Side C:
8. Ceiling
9. Lexicon (ft. Kazumi)
10. Perfame
11. Playbox
Side D:
12. Sad Inlay (ft. Kazumi)
13. Peek Freans
14. DoDaDu (ft. Kazumi)
CD:
1. Inclement
2. Undone
3. Challenge Me Foolish (ft. Kazumi)
4. Bassbins
5. Robin Hood Gate
6. Perhaps
7. Durian (ft. Kazumi)
8. Ceiling
9. Lexicon (ft. Kazumi)
10. Perfame
11. Playbox
12. Sad Inlay (ft. Kazumi)
13. Peek Freans
14. DoDaDu (ft. Kazumi)
Release Date: 13/04/2018 -
Sold outVisit product page →µ-Ziq's new EP is a thing of joy and hazy childhood memories. The music of the future as it felt in the early eighties, filtered through the rhythmic shapes of more modern dance music innovations.
From the twinkling breakbeat 'artcore' of opener 'Taxi Sadness' to the early '80s kids children theme via dubstep of 'Rimmy'. 'PRG' is beatless, full of gentle whispy coiling melodies through a distorted lens.
'Blem' mixes trappy snares and twilight atmosphere with big melodic brushstrokes that remind one of John Foxx. 'Smeester's gentle metallic melodies give way to a menacing hip hop style bass and drums, and chords that drift and decay. Closer 'Tambor' rolls slowly on metallic percussion, a sad melodic figure that repeats into despair, finishing the EP.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Taxi Sadness
2. Rimmy
3. PRG
Side B:
4. Blem
5. Smeester
6. Tambor
