Together with Boards Of Canada, µ-Ziq belongs to the sons of the IDM-era, who were thought to be long lost. They have mysteriously reappeared this year, putting an end to the riddles about where they might have gone. Still, over the last years, Mike Paradinas was everything but unproductive, especially in contrast to Boards of Canada. His label Planet µ has become the first contact point for thrilling dubstep and footwork, but he has held his producing-fire since 2007. The record »Duntisbourne Abbots Soulmate Devastation Technique« from back then already seemed to suggest that he had lost his inspiration, biting its own tail in repetitive and depressing loops. 2013 presents a completely revitalized Mike Paradinas, who doesn’t have to live up to the expectations of the one and only great IDM-hit anymore. Newly in love and father-to-be, he has retrieved his easiness, and he has celebrated it with his archive-album »Somerset Avenue Tracks (1992-1995)« from the beginning of the year as well as the electro-pop-record by the name of Heterotic, which he recorded together with his wife Lara Rix-Martin. His comeback as µ-Ziq on »Chewed Corners« is the only logical follow-up. Naughty melodies, playful rhythms, simplicity instead of braininess – a smile instead of worry lines. Straight forward rather than looking only left and right. Lots of synth-sounds from the 80s and early 90s, less complex modulations. A little bit of footwork for the contemporarity, but it preferably goes back to the roots to the year 1993. All in all, his eighth record as µ-Ziq is quite a bit more simple and maybe even more trivial than the ones before – the times of tripartite song structures changing by the second are over. Instead it’s all about opening the window and letting the sun in. Much more »Tango N’ Vectif« than »Bilious Paths«. Still – or rather that’s why –, »Chewed Corners« is turning out to be a wonderfully light summer record. It’s criss-crossing the country with a silly amount of lovely, interconnected melodies in its bag and dances around the big tree in the middle of the meadow, faster and faster.
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