µ-ziq: Chewed Corners – review

(Planet Mu)

Six years on from his last, unsettling album, Duntisbourne Abbots Soulmate Devastation Technique, electronic pioneer Mike Paradinas returns with a radical change of pace. Two decades ago, µ-ziq conjoined Aphex Twin and Autechre in making rhythmically abstruse digital music. More recently, Paradinas's own label has released compilations of Chicago footwork, a raw and minimal dance subgenre. Chewed Corners, though, finds Paradinas being neither abstruse, nor unsettling, nor minimal. Rather, it joins in the fashion for analogue retro-futurism (see Daft Punk, Boards of Canada). Lush synths play at near-human chorales. Twangle Melkas could double as a vintage horror film soundtrack, if not for the up-to-date percussive tickles. Happily, Paradinas is no mere bandwagon-jumper, contributing out-and-out euphorics such as Weakling Paradinas to the washed-out vogue.

Contributor

Kitty Empire

The GuardianTramp

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