Unequal cycles searching for synchronous experiences: On his new album »Pounding«, Frank Bretschneider tells of distance, convergence and congruence in a continuous, ever-changing flow of events. What is often considered to be an unquestionable dogma in club music (for which Bretschneider has provided significant impetus since the 1990s) – the groove – appears precarious, unstable, and in motion. Pulse and accent are volatile encounters and have to be found again and again for short, delightful moments. Music becomes a constant process of negotiation.

In search of new sound spaces, Bretschneider has recently worked a lot with modular synthesizers, both solo (for example on »abtasten_halten«, 2020) and in collaborations, including the project Beispiel together with Jan Jelinek. »Pounding« was created using similar means – conceived in 2020 for the Pochen Biennale in Chemnitz, subsequently developed further and recorded in March and April 2023 on a sample-based modular system. And in fact, Bretschneider is once again exemplarily scanning his own sound material, for example Dub effects that listen to themselves crumbling. But also the human voice, or more precisely: the stuttering of fragments of speech, far in the distance but omnipresent, like a mysterious narration. Aesthetically, the eleven pieces form part of a series of works with a focus on percussion. Bretschneider has already perfected this approach with albums like »Rhythm« (2007) and has been shifting the perspective ever since, for ever new results.

Shifting is the basic principle of »Pounding«. Bretschneider combines elements that are in different aggregate states, changing their relationship to each other and thus ensuring the complex overall movement. He lets one to two-bar loops run against each other and through manipulations, develops a network of rhythms that creates a hypnotic state in the counterplay of repetition and mutation, between clearly recognizable meter and disorientation. There are comparable approaches in aleatoric music. Bretschneider combines them with sounds and patterns that are reminiscent of step sequencer logic and at the same time go far beyond it. The result is relational techno. Never clear, constantly restless and exciting.

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Mike Paradinas, veteran producer and Planet Mu label owner has written a new album called ‘Grush' and it's full of weird bangers that reclaim the 'dance' part of the woeful term IDM. A back-to-first-principles record, inspired in part by the group of artists IDM was coined for; melodic dance music that didn't come out of urban scenes, but interpreted them from a distance.

The tracks on ‘Grush’ are all road-tested live favorites developed with feedback from Mike's touring partner and visuals guy Mora (Jan Moravec). It's a detailed and energetic journey which replicates the flow of a live gig. A lot of the tracks have been made in hotel rooms in response to shows, ‘Imperial Crescent’ is named after a Japanese Hotel, as is ‘Belvedere’ in Prague, while some tracks such as ‘Hyper Daddy’ were created specifically to play live.

Drums are confidently at the fore here and the album feels like it traces Mike's musical history and interests neatly around his sweetly nostalgic melodies, with atmospheres and structures which twist and turn with a charming softness which contrasts with the tension in the drums. Take ‘Hyper Daddy’s’ spiralling notes and twinkling piano which remind one of early Black Dog or Omni Trio rushing alongside splashy jungle drums, or the aquatic acid footwork of the title track with its drums softly bubbling and kicking. Elsewhere there's territory which harks back to his Tusken Raiders pseudonym, like the heads down Drexciyan funk of ‘Windsor Safari Park,’ which transforms from moody electro into a sunny hardcore track midway. The album is interspersed with Reticulum A, B and C at the start middle and end of the album which suggest a theme which carries across the music in an effortless and joyful way. ‘Grush’ is a strong album that works both for listening and DJing and a great snapshot of where Mike Paradinas musical head is at in 2024.

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Tacklist:
1.Hello 03:40
2.Iggy's Song
3.Magic Pony Ride (Pt.3)
4.Green Chaos
5.Ávila
6.Pyramidal Mind Dispersion
7.Modulating Angels
8.Pentagonal Antiprism
9.Metabidiminished Icosahedron

Planet Mu owner Mike Paradinas (a.k.a. µ-Ziq) wraps up 2022 with his 3rd release of new material this year. 'Hello' is the mirror image of the 'Goodbye EP'. The intensity is heightened, the breaks more manic and melodies inhabit every corner. 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, 'Avila' is an ode to his father's hometown in Spain and 'Green Chaos' even includes a nod to RP Boo. On Side B things get more interesting. 'Pyramidal Mind Dispersion' slows things down while amping up the tension, Modulating Angel is at drum & bass tempo but with a choir of angels from hell in the background, while the final two tracks recall the experimentation and melodies of Lunatic Harness.

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Trackliste
1.1BRACE YOURSELF JASON
1.2HASTY BOOM ALERT
1.3MUSHROOM COMPOST
1.4BLAINVILLE
1.5LUNATIC HARNESS
1.6APPROACHING MENACE
2.1MY LITTLE BEAUTIFUL
2.2SECRET STAIR PT.1
2.3SECRET STAIR PT.2
2.4WANNABE
2.5CATKIN AND TEASEL
2.6LONDON
2.7MIDWINTER LOG
3.1HANKY POKERY
3.2JIGGERY PANKY
3.3WORCESTER
3.4THE CUT OF MY JIB
3.5LUNATIC HARNESS (ORIGINAL DEMO)
3.6LUNATIC HARNESS (REMIX)
3.7MR. ANGRY (REMIX)
4.1BRACE YOURSELF (REMIX)
4.2KUBBA
4.3VAKEN BOLT
4.4LOSERS' MARCH
4.5SUMMER LIVING 2
4.6INTELLITAG
4.7ABMOIT
4.8BRACE YOURSELF (REPRISE)

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Planet Mu begrüßt seinen Besitzer Mike Paradinas (alias µ-Ziq) mit "Magic Pony Ride", einem Album voller fröhlicher, melodischer, von Jungel inspirierter Musik, und seiner ersten LP mit neuem Material auf dem Label seit 2013. Der Titel spiegelt das kindliche Staunen des Albums wider, fröhliche Melodien stehen im Vordergrund, wortlose Vocals hüpfen und hallen, während Klänge sprudeln und funkeln. Paradinas hatte zuvor Archivalben veröffentlicht, kam aber nach einer Reise nach Wales auf den Geschmack, neue Musik zu machen (was ihn zu "Scurlage" inspirierte, seinem 2021er Album auf Analogical Force). Dieser Einfluss, Reisen als Muse zu nutzen, setzt sich in Magic Pony Ride" fort, nach einem Wochenendausflug, bei dem Paradinas in der Morgendämmerung auf Islandpferden durch eine verschneite Landschaft ritt. In den üppigen Synthie-Akkorden des Titeltracks und in "Uncle Daddy" kann man die entspannte Weite des Landes fast spüren. Das Album reflektiert auch über die Familie mit Beiträgen seiner Tochter Elka in 'Picksing' und 'Elka's Song' und 'Galope' in Erinnerung an seinen Vater, der vor einigen Jahren verstorben ist. Das Thema Familie findet sich auch in dem meditativen "Shulem's Theme" wieder, ein Titel, der von der Netflix-Serie Shtisel inspiriert ist. Diese nachdenklichen Themen passen zur diesjährigen Wiederveröffentlichung von µ-Ziqs Durchbruchsalbum "Lunatic Harness" aus dem Jahr 1997 zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum. In Mikes eigenen Worten: "Magic Pony Ride wurde als eine Art Nachfolgealbum für 'Lunatic Harness' geschrieben, zumindest was das Genre und den Stil angeht. Nachdem ich Lunatic für die bevorstehende Wiederveröffentlichung gemastert hatte, habe ich bei einigen neueren Tracks wieder auf Breaks zurückgegriffen, und das ist das Ergebnis!

Tracklist:

SIDE1

1.1MAGIC PONY RIDE (PT.1)
1.2GOODBYE
1.3PICKSING
1.4UNLESS
1.5TURQUOISE HYPERFIZZ
1.6GALOPE

SIDE 2

2.1UNCLE DADDY
2.2BROWN CHAOS
2.3SHULEM'S THEME
2.4ELKA'S SONG
2.5MAGIC PONY RIDE (PT.2)
2.6DON'T TELL ME (IT'S ENDING)

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µ-Ziq says hello again with 'Goodbye'. The six track EP is the first in a series of releases by Mike Paradinas this year, which are all centred around the 25th Anniversary Edition of 'Lunatic Harness', his classic 1997 album. Inspired by going back through the archives while he was remastering the Lunatic Harness reissue, 'Goodbye' sees Mike revisiting the nineties, taking on jungle and its precursor jungle tekno and upgrading them with the benefit of hindsight and contemporary software. Imbued with Mike's lush sense of melody and his knack for striking contrasts (don't be shocked to hear maudlin piano, 303 and amens in the same track), 'Goodbye' approaches these old genres like a sandpit, and stretches them in directions only Mike might take.
Tracklist
1.1GOODBYE VIP
1.2GIDDY ALL OVER
1.3MOISE
1.4RAVE WHISTLE
1.5RAVE WHISTLE (DARKSIDE MIX)
1.6RAVE WHISTLE (JUNGLE TEKNO MIX)

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Jlin's new EP "Embryo" marks a key point in the multi-platform artistic growth of the Indiana-based producer. It features a bold and fiery sound palette recalling the futurism of nineties Detroit techno and British IDM without succumbing to their clichés. With faint echoes of classic Model 500, it sounds like music for automated cars, robot cop junctions and virtual freeways in the air. A fifth wave techno? "Connect The Dots" is one of the standouts from her recent lives sets, with the kind of rhythmic complexity only Jlin can bring, underpinned by a glitch reborn and transmuted into something utterly of the here and now. Jlin comments "I wrote all these pieces in between commissions and trying to stay afloat mentally." She singles out final track "Rabbit Hole" as a highlight "It made me feel nostalgia yet connected me to my own evolution." Jlin is currently working on a new full length album for Planet Mu.

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Planet Mu presents 'ADDLE' - Bogdan Raczynski's first album of new music in 15 years. Marking a change from the high-octane jungle tekno braindance for which he is most commonly known, here we find the Polish American musician in a more melodic and zen-like place of peace, which is ergonomic and decluttered, whilst also bittersweet and tinged with melancholy. 'ADDLE' is closest in spirit to 2001's tender 'myloveilove', or the light-hearted ditties of this year's 'BANANS' EP, but is also a markedly new milestone. A robust and bottom-heavy rhythm section juxtaposes with sad electronic tear jerkers, at points laced with the soft cooing wail of his vocals, which are loaded with a haunting, heavy and almost wounded emotion. Bogdan comments "Calm is great. You need to take a breather in the eye of the storm now and then. But the real growth happens in turbulence, when your feelings oscillate in and out of sync. It's not dry land you're after. You're trying to build a new island while on a piddly raft. Beleaguered and weary you lay the foundation with your bare hands while the rain lashes your back; a new place for you and yours to moor yourself to until the next storm hits. 'ADDLE' is about that storm, its adjacent periphery, and what you look like, in and out, when you set foot. As space and time push against you, that process of adapting becomes an anchor. Among that state of being addled, out of flow, seemingly untethered, there is beauty." Although less unhinged and riotous than some of his previous work, 'ADDLE' is no less impactful. Lean, punchy and purposeful, this seemingly simple combination of beats and melody belies a razor sharp skill, which bursts with verve and virtuosity. Across its eight unique and moving tracks the listener experiences tenderness, feelings somewhere between unease and comfort, and a sense of reflection, with Bogdan seemingly gazing at twinkling stars, but with his view distorted by welling-up. Sonically, spaces range from razor-sharp choppage, juddering heavyweight head-nodders, bit-crushed siren squall and something akin to Philip Glass' 'Candyman' score played through a high-tech-fairy-tale music box. There's also a warming, life-affirming moment as close to deep house as Bogdan will ever comfortably get, neck-snapping metallic percussion, Casiotone on steroids and reverberant warehouse throb. Booming drum machines are a prominent factor too - reminiscent of early hip hop instrumentals - but spirited off somewhere, lost in purgatory. Bogdan Raczynski (born 1977) is a Polish-American electronic musician. Raczynski's work draws inspiration from the chaotic breakbeats of jungle and hardcore rave as well as traditional Polish music and other sources. He has collaborated with Bjork, remixed Autechre, CLPNG and Jonsi from Sigur Ross, and toured with Aphex Twin, who commented how "his records are so underrated." Bogdan was also a roster mainstay of Richard James's seminal Rephlex label, with additional releases on Warp, Ghostly, Disciples and Unknown to the Unknown. A keen proponent of tech, he created a sample pack using pollution and recently collaborated with Polyend on a custom made banana-themed tracker
Tracklist
1.1LADDE
1.2DLEDA
1.3DLAED
1.4ELDDA
1.5EADLD
1.6LDDAE
1.7ADLDE
1.8ALDDE
1.9LADDE
1.10DLEDA
1.11DLAED
1.12ELDDA
1.13EADLD
1.14LDDAE
1.15ADLDE
1.16ALDDE

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Leave your preconceptions behind because Ital Tek’s brilliant new album ‘Hollowed‘ is his best and most rewarding yet. Created from new beginnings, it's a journey through the naïve exploratory methods with which Alan Myson started to make music over a decade ago. The record is dark and maximalist but at the same time the huge sounds are minutely detailed and elegantly rendered.Cutting himself off in a new studio at the start of 2014, Alan experimented and worked out the core sounds of the album by going back to the techniques he started with: "when I was 15 I would make endless minidiscs with my guitar and effects. With this record I bought the guitar I wanted back then and hit record, creating hours of drones, loops and textures. I wanted to make the album that was in my head when I was 14 but I had no idea how to".With ‘Hollowed‘ Ital Tek gone far beyond his earlier more dance-genre based work, leaving just the footprint and especially the sonic weight and space of dubstep. But the sound here is designed from the ground up and carved into something much more abstract, impressionistic and elegant. As Alan puts it "I'm moving away from dance music and letting sound inhabit a space without shoving everything at the listener in the first few bars". One of the biggest musical experiences that left an impression on him while recording this album was hearing "Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No 3’ being played live, starting very small and soaring, then returning to stillness…" It was this that made him think about reassembling his approach to making music Tracklist 2LP A: A 1/Delicate Balance 2/Redeemer 3/Beyond Sight B: 1/Terminus 2/Cobra 3/Nex 4/Memory Shard C: 1/Murmur 2/Aquamarine 3/Reflection Through Destruction D: 1/Jenova 2/Vesper 3/Vacuum I CD: 01/A Delicate Balance 02/Redeemer 03/Beyond Sight 04/Terminus 05/Cobra 06/Nex 07/Memory Shard 08/Murmur 09/Aquamarine 10/Reflection Through Destruction 11/Jenova 12/Vesper 13/Vacuum I




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