One of the original electronica masters, Mike Paradinas
has been releasing music for ten years, yet, despite
his almost legendary status, he remains one of the most
discreet and approachable guys around. From releasing
three albums in 1995 (as µ-ziq, Jake Salzenger
and Kid Spatula) and another three in 1996 (as Gary
Moscheles, Jake Slazenger and, with Richard D. James
as Mike & Rich), Mike Paradinas has, since the release
of his last album, Royal Astronomy in 1999,
devoted most of his time to his label, Planet Mu, helping
other artists, including Joseph
Nothing, Leafcutter
John, Venetian Snares
or Capitol K, to
develop and achieve widespread recognition.
Since his last appearance, the electronic world hasn’t
actually changed greatly, and few new artists, with
the notable exception of Paradinas’s own protégé,
Aaron Funk, better know as Venetian
Snares, have made a truly great impression. So it
is no surprise to see that the announcement of a new
µ-ziq sparked conversations on many IDM message
boards. And Bilious Paths was definitely well
worth the wait. Unlike Aphex
Twin’s Drukqs
deemed by many as extremely patchy, this new µ-ziq
album is as tight, hard-hitting and clever as any Paradinas
record. Still at ease with his usual mix of fierce drill’n’bass,
funky beats, luscious melodies and intricate electro,
Mike injects some new elements of dub, old skool hip
hop and rave into his compositions, considerably expending
on his sonic realm, while maintaining the fine balance
between sonic experimentation and accessibility. Bilious
Paths opens in classic µ-ziq style with the
dark and slightly oppressive Johnny Maastricht,
yet, here already, it rapidly becomes obvious that Paradinas
feeds his music with elements of 2-step, projecting
his work right in the context of today’s music
scene. Meinheld, perhaps one of the most typical
µ-ziq moments of the album, echoes some of the
atmosphere heard on Tango
N’Vectiff, yet Mike cleverly link it
to some of his later work by surimposing a infernal
drum‘n’bass beat patern. Introducing a rare
vocal dimension on On/Off courtesy of Mike
Dykehouse, who released his first album, Dynamicobsolescence,
on Planet Mu a couple of years ago, Mike Paradinas offers
a resolutely oblique take on pop music by conscientiously
deconstructing the melodic line before suddenly dropping
it altogether and subjecting the listener to successive
industrial percussive blows. Silk Ties, definitely
one of the highlights of Bilious Paths, is
far less straightforward. Taking a basic dub structure
and perverting it with gabber-style assaults, Paradinas
defines something entirely new and unexpected, proving
that, if he effectively took a back sit during the last
four years, he continued to refine his style. Grape
Nut Beats Pt. 1 seems to take this uncanny mix
even further as Mike reintroduces an uncompromising
drill’n’bass beat pattern and dropping it
in the already dense atmosphere, pushing the listener
to the limit. Grape Nut Beats Pt. 2 sees Paradinas
returning to more subtle territories as he progressively
slows down the pace, announcing the imminent closing
moments of this album with the rather restrained and
emotionally charged My Mengegus.
Bilious Paths marks the extremely convincing
return to musical activities of one of the pioneers
of the electronica scene. Not only has Mike Paradinas
carefully observed what the new generation of musicians
were doing , but he has continued to develop and mature
during these four years, finally offering an album that
places him once again far ahead of the pack. Bilious
Paths is simply Paradinas’s most impressive
release to date.
4.9/5 |
