MU ZIQ Vinyl & CDs

Review: Back in 1996, Richard D. James and Planet Mu boss Mike Paradinas collaborated on a bizarre self-titled album under the name Mike & Rich. A cult addition to their respective highly-regarded canons that saw the pair applying their braindance template to easy listening and funk, the album soon came to be known as Expert Knob Twiddlers thanks to the excellent cover art. Newly reissued on Planet Mu, the album has been "carefully cleaned up, re-edited and remastered from the original DAT tape [and] put into a more fitting order." Some twenty years on the album remains a playful listen made all the more compelling by the addition of seven previously unheard tracks. A must for any fans of Aphex Twin and u-ZIQ.

Review: Mike Paradinas is a veteran producer and owner of Planet Mu but he keeps on serving up thrilling new sounds. Grush is his latest, a new album packed with energetic tracks that he hopes reclaim the "dance" element of IDM. Inspired by the melodic dance music of the genre's early pioneers, Grush blends sweetly nostalgic melodies with dynamic, road-tested rhythms. Many tracks were developed during times on the road and from the spiralling notes of 'Hyper Daddy' to the aquatic acid footwork of the title track, Grush traces Paradinas' musical journey with signature style and invention. With influences from early Black Dog to Drexciyan funk, it's a vibrant, live-inspired record that works in a wide range of contexts from the club to the sofa.

Review: When electronic musicians invent new words, you know you're in for an accompanying sonic treat. u-Ziq aka. Mike Paradinas' latest record Grush aims at something between a crush and a grunt - as if to suggest the violent hydraulic floorings of the former and the cave-manic disinhibition of the latter. Sonically, this follows suit with Paradinas' as-ever ascendant, wompy-breaksy sound, which this time comes peppered with additional flavours of black MIDI and generative sound-spurts honed at live shows; the ultimate aim of the album is to replicate the nonstop feel of a live tour, with each track here having been meticulously road-tested and polished for home listening (or not - get out there and dance to the thing, couch potatoes!)

Review: The past is on the mind of Mike Paradinas aka Mu-Ziq here. 1977, as its name suggests, looks back, but not to punk but to the equally siesmic year zero of the 90s ambient revolution. Definitely showcasing the more mellow side to his productions, the album glides gracefully through clouds of sugar sweet melody, his grasp of which remains as distinctive and recognisable as anyone's in the game. 'Allegro' sounds like a Philip Glass track trapped in ice and sprinkled in snow, 'Houzz' is a low key groover like The Black Dog used to make... But ultimately all you need to know is that another 15 great new prodeuctions by Mike Paradinas are in existence - and on vinyl to boot - and that alone should be enough to send you scuttling off to buy it pronto.

Review: Mike Paradinas is well known these days as the man behind peerless label Planet Mu but of course he was also a core part of the IDM firmament back in the 90s. He had a super run of albums that sat right up there with the best of them in their own way and now many of them are being reissued. But Magic Pony Ride is an all new long player and his first for his own label since 2013. It has his signature happy melodies and wordless vocals - he was writing it while mastering an anniversary version of his Lunatic Harness classic - with wide open spaces sucking you in to their midst as the jungle beats ride on.

Review: Chewed Corners represents the first u-Ziq album from Mike Paradinas in six long years, a period where the electronic music landscape has shifted considerably. A shift thanks in no small part to his own role at the head of Planet Mu that has established itself as one of the most formidable names in electronic music, documenting the ever fracturing dubstep genre as well as steadfastly championing the Chicago footwork scene. This new album sees Paradinas embrace the dual influences of 80s synth pop and Chicago footwork across a suite of 14 tracks filled with luscious analogue sounds that feel like the logical extension of the sound explored on the recent u-Ziq EP XTEP.

Review: XTEP marks the first u-Ziq material from Mike Paradinas in some six years and precedes the release of a full album later from the Planet Mu boss due out this year. Having been coaxed away from his fine curation of Planet Mu over recent years with the Heterotic project done in cahoots with wife Lara Rix-Martin, Paradinas returns to his universally recognised u-Ziq project with this five track EP which seem to present a diverse and accessible snapshot of Paradinas' production palette, veering through smudged out analogue funk, gauzy piano house, pulsing electronic disco and more rhythmically diverse material. This would seem to justify Planet Mu's claim that Paradinas has abandoned "the furrow-browed quest for cutting-edge exploration, exchanging it for an altogether more carefree fun approach".