µ-ziq. Lunatic Harness
A1. Brace Yourself Jason A2. Hasty Boom Alert A3. Mushroom Compost
Is this µ-ziq? Sounds like a commercial house track. But there is a
sinister funky undercurrent which is sort of a warning of things to come.
All three tracks on this are continusly mixed. The Paradinas style makes
itself known as this side progresses. The blend of 70's cheese and modern
techno is perfect this time, unlike "Dast Ist Ein Groovybeet, Ja" stuff
which is too cheesy for me. If you have the record, hold this side up to
light, it creates a spiral pattern because the music is repetitive and the
BPM doesn't change.
B1. Blainville
Aaah, clearly in mu-ziq territory now. A very sharp high-pitched distorted
triangle-wave chimes in every so often. The beat a midspeed distorto-break
soft in the mix. Smooth and soothing despite the subtle harshness. Wouldn't
be too out of place on In Pine Effect
B2. Lunatic Harness
Damn this is some creative shit. Instead of throwing together d'n'b from
high-speed hip-hop loops, he used mouth-created beats as a source for this
track (remember those tracks on Vanilla Ice's "To the extreme"?....hehe).
After a little bit of that it switches to synthesized beats and Slazenger
style instrumentation. Then back to some wicked mouth mashing beats. Only
Mike can pull something like this off without having it fall totally flat.
This tracks kicks, which might sound odd given the description here.
B3. Approaching Menace
Eerie spy-movie atmospherics and thick analogs give way to phat breaks.
Unlike Urmur bile Trax, Mike has clearly learned how to make quality
breakbeats as is demonstrated on this track. Crazy enough to satisfy Tom
Jenkinson and groovy enough to make you want to hear them over and over.
Sounds like he took out the the tape reels for some squealing fx on this
track.
C1. My Little Beautiful
Starts with some slazzy atmospherics, then is joined by some high-quality
junglistic distortobreaks. Lives up to its name. Take the brilliant earlier
µ-ziq and add more interesting beats and you get this. This a great
progression as well as a return to form, the quality I expect from Planet
Mu.
C2. My Secret Stair PT. 1
Begins with Strings reminiscent of Feed Me Weird Things and flute
reminiscent of Hard Normal Daddy. Then the breaks fade in. Sounds VERY much
like something Tom Jenkinson might have released somewhere between the two
pusher LPs. A beautiful track.
C3. My Secret Stair PT. 2
Well, Part 2 sounds like mu-ziq track. Happy light stacatto strings and a
drummer-boy beat that sounds a lot like the drums in the Fife & Drum corp
of Colonial Williamsburg. Later in the track is sounds like a UFO has
visited the studio for a while.
C4. Wannabe
Full-bodied eeriness gives off a "UFO's Over Leytonstone" meets DJ Spooky
meets Skinny Puppy meets the Orb sorta vibe. Full-on industrial psychedelia
with droning, kerplunky thumpiness and other weirdness. In a growling
ogre-ish voice I seem to make out ".......I wanna be your friend". This is
an excursion into new territory (terrortory) for Mike.
D1. Catkin and Teasel
Loopy stereolabish organ-type sounds and a smooth hiphop beats evolves into
crazy Urmur Bile breaks and back again. The instrumentation is very thick
and atmospheric for a beautiful emotional feel which hasn't been present
since Tango'n'Vectif and In Pine Effect. Yet another great track. Almost
over and there haven't been any sleepers yet!
D2. London
Backstreets of London at 3am a week after the apocalypse maybe. Shiveringly
eerie strings with a bit of a Feed Me Weird Things feel. After quite a
while some harsh German-sounding bleepy ring modulated percussion comes in
to compliment the strings. Listen to this track in the dark late at night
while infused with THC for an unreproducible effect.
D3. Midwinter Log
A charming Nutcracker holiday feel ushers in percussion that would make
even the Chin Hippy flinch. Finely diced beats with a minimalistic feel
along with lamenting synth noises prevail later in the track. If you didn't
get your fill of manic breaks on the rest of this album (I did), you will
leave satisfied after this track. Everything comes to a nice gentle stop
here as your ride is complete.
Overall word: This is fucking great. A must buy. If you were turned off by
Urmur Bile Trax or Jake Slaz, you will regret if you don't reconsider for
this one. Mike P has progressed incorporating the beauty of his older works
with new beat skills and marrying the two so they don't sound in the least
thrown together. One of the best releases this year along with Hard Normal
Daddy and Bricolage; Mike P has shown he can breathe new life into
d'n'b/jungle/breakbeats.
inphlux | prephix7