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.
µ-ziq: Chewed Corners – review
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Kitty Empire
Kitty Empire is the Observer's pop critic. She has written for NME and occasionally crops up on Radio 4, 5Live, BBC 6Music, and has appeared on BBC2's The Culture Show and Newsnight Review. @kittyempire666
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