Planet Mu owner Mike Paradinas (aka µ-Ziq) wraps up 2022 with his 3rd release of new material this year. Feeling more like a welcomed visit from an old friend than anything else.
Signature melodic drill’n bass fragments and sweeping rhythms
Tagged as the mirror image of Goodbye, you’d be hard-pressed not to see Hello as yet another gradual sonic ascent of Mike Paradinas’ vast historical significance in the underground electronic music scene as µ-Ziq and Planet Mu head-honcho.
The sporadic breaks, blips, and lovely bleeps on Hello are a welcomed retreat, never venturing too far from Paradinas’ signature melodic drill’n bass fragments and sweeping rhythms; the title track simply takes the cake. As the album progresses, a penchant for darkened electrical mayhem and beauty prevails on “Iggy’s Song” as its frenetic drums cast prickly shadows.
Would you expect anything less from such an experienced sound sculptor?
Hello shifts and shimmies through a plethora of brittle landscapes as “Green Chaos” takes us through late 90s rave, jungle, and breakcore moods. And yet as the album pushes forward, its benchmarks sit midway through; “Ávila” and “Pyramidal Mind Dispersion” demonstrate Paradinas’ classic shuffled breaks and sun-soaked harmonies that are ever-present and utterly absorbing. While delaminated and crumpled electronics—as featured on “Pentagonal Antiprism”—confound the listener with heavily saturated low-end, Hello is yet another one for the books. Feeling more like a welcomed visit from an old friend than anything else.
Side notes :: The material is the final chapter of the Magic Pony Ride material and even includes another version of that track. “Iggy’s Song” has a slowed down sample of Mike’s son screaming; “Ávila” is an ode to his father’s hometown in Spain, and “Green Chaos” even includes a nod to RP Boo.
Hello is available on Planet Mu as a 9-track limited edition black vinyl, 15-track CD, and digital edition. [Site | Bandcamp]
