μ-Ziq: Magic Pony Ride review – electronic producer canters into joy

The most apparent truth about Mike Paradinas’s glitchy, skittering music is that it doesn’t like to sit still. As μ-Ziq, Paradinas established himself in the arena of 90s experimental, abstract and tweaked-out electronica, his sense of giddy delirium and rhythmic playfulness distinguishing him from peers such as Aphex Twin and Autechre. Not content to melt down and reassemble jungle and breakbeat according to his own warped desires, he would mess with electro, hardcore and ambient techno styles under a number of different aliases and group projects. In 1995, he founded the label Planet Mu, which has been pivotal in bringing Chicago’s juke and footwork across the Atlantic while also giving a platform to a transformative new generation of UK bass-driven music.

For Paradinas, that legacy is a catalyst. His new album, Magic Pony Ride, was inspired by the process of remastering his classic LP Lunatic Harness, as well as familial introspection and an idyllic holiday horse-riding in Iceland. Parts 1 and 2 of the title track are the record’s most thrilling moments: the former all plush bass tones, rave fragments and sumptuous breakbeats, the latter an elemental adventure of arpeggios, irresistible melodies and dynamic momentum.

The album soars to similar heights on propulsive breaks exercise Unless and choral rollercoaster Galope, though the abundance of middling moments across the tracklist makes you wonder why the funky Part 3 never made the cut. Touching as they are, downbeat cuts such as Shulem’s Theme and Turquoise Hyperfizz become ponderous and energy-draining, rather than reflective or recharging. Magic Pony Ride excels when it is carefree and cantering, losing its allure when it stops to let reality sink in.