µ-Ziq
About
Mike Paradinas (born 26 September 1971) better known by his stage name μ-Ziq (pronounced "music" or mu-zik) is an English electronic musician from Wimbledon, London. He has become one of the very few artists working with electronics to produce a recognisable and personalised sound while at the same time mixing far-reaching experimentalism with accessibility through infectious melodies and rhythms.
Achieving healthy record sales and staying true to the pioneering spirit of the underground is no mean feat. He was associated with the electronic style intelligent dance music (IDM) during the 1990s, and recorded on Rephlex Records and Reflective Records. His critically acclaimed 1997 album, Lunatic Harness, helped define the drill 'n' bass subgenre and was also his most successful release, selling over 100,000 copies. He is also founder of the record label Planet Mu, begun in 1995, where he has championed genres such as juke and footwork.
To start his acareer Paradinas and bass player, Francis Naughton, bought sequencing software and re-recorded some of Paradinas's older tracks. After the material was played for Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton — the duo behind Global Communication and the heads of Evolution Records — it was to be released; however, recording commitments later forced Pritchard and Middleton to withdraw their agreement. Fortunately for Paradinas, Richard D. James (a.k.a. Aphex Twin) had also heard the tracks and agreed to release their music on Rephlex Records under the alias μ-Ziq.
Naughton then left μ-Ziq to start Rocket Goldstar. A second album Bluff Limbo was scheduled to be released in mid-1994, though only 1000 copies were published. It was re-issued by Rephlex in 1996, Paradinas's first major-label release came later in 1994, after he undertook a remix project for Virgin Records: the remix EP The Auteurs Vs μ-Ziq for the britpop band the Auteurs.
Virgin signed up Paradinas and gave him his own sublabel, Planet Mu, to release his own work and to develop similar-minded artists. (Paradinas later broke with Virgin and in 1998 established Planet Mu as his own independent label.) releasing material by Venetian Snares, Remarc, Vex'd, Machinedrum, Kuedo & Jlin amongst many many others, including some of his own projects 'Kid Spatula' & the 'Slag Boom Van Loon'. Written into his own contract was a provision for unlimited recording under different names, and during 1995 Paradinas unveiled three aliases and released many albums within less than a year.
The neo-electro music label Clear released his debut single under the alias Tusken Raiders (named after the Star Wars species) early in the year. Clear Records also released the first Paradinas alias full-length album, Jake Slazenger MakesARacket, later in 1995. Although they were still audible, the LP ignored the electro influences in favour of some synthesizer figures and the previously unheard influence of jazz-funk. Paradinas continued to release solo albums under the above-mentioned names as well as Gary Moscheles, and a one-time collaboration with Aphex Twin under the Mike & Rich moniker.In 1997 Paradinas made a style change again, mixing experimental electronic music with drum'n'bass, a similar aesthetic path taken by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin.
Stream
Buy
Watch
Soundcloud
