µ-ziq

Released a week after his return-to-form eighth solo LP, Chewed Corners, and just months after Love & Devotion, by Heterotic (a superb collaboration with his wife, Lara Rix-Martin), Mike Paradinas keeps the momentum going strong with Somerset Avenue Tracks (1992-1995). Collecting 24 unreleased songs recorded at the summit of his career, Paradinas (aka μ-Ziq) shows just how fertile the grounds of early-IDM have been for him. Recorded before he made his foray into jazz-funk and electro, Somerset Avenue Tracks contains some inventive songwriting, allowing Paradinas to experiment with textures and sounds within defined spatial limitations. Moving from haunted soundscapes focusing on minimal, skeletal forms of rhythm ("Vinxel," "Spooky Tooth," "Pollux") through more melody-based synth symphonies ("Green Lanes," "Toss," "Ischjgt Mmp") and rubbery drill&bass freak-outs ("Billy Bellsium," "Boilig," "Poc"), Somerset Avenue Tracks works like an alternate greatest hits package. This is a collection of unused ideas from an artist who always focuses on the elements rather than the entity.