From Brother Alphabet Sent Mon, Apr 6th 1998, 17:07
From Brother Alphabet Sent Mon, Apr 6th 1998, 17:07
Review - mu-Ziq: 'Lunatic Harness' ---------------------------------- Trax: 1. Brace Yourself Jason (6:22) Reminds me of some of the stuff on RDJ's RDJ album, but in a good way. Best aspects are the droning synth sweeps and beat structure. I could probably do without the up-front plinking and the rubber-band bassline. I could also do without the James Brown-ish samples toward the end. Overall, a decent track with around a 7/10 numerical score on the 'Alphabet Scale' (of which no one has ever heard.) 2. Hasty Boom Alert (5:15) Very nice build-up. Beat style is definitely at least influenced by RDJ and a selection of others. More attention to melodic structure than many recent RDJ releases, though. Nice synth interlude in the middle. Takes me back to the good ol days of Newcleus. I like the way the track tapers off slowly, with a re-entry of hip-hop-like beats at the very last. 8/10. 3. Mushroom Compost (3:19) A much more contemplative attitude here. Layers are much more effective, beats are on the same level as the various synth layers. Great effects on the beats about halfway through. The in-and-out peek-a-beats are still in effect, but well-used. 8/10. 4. Blainville (3:40) Rolling, pulsating effect at intro, plink beats, nice bass drum though. Heavy effects on high-pitched pings - Vibraphone-like melody makes me want to say 'La la la la la' and skip through a park, but it is easily melded with the rest with the intro of the next synth layer. 7/10. 5. Lunatic Harness (6:05) This is one of my favorite tracks. Features wicked 'human beat box' samples. Very funny and very smooth at the same time. Seriously determined beats are also a plus. Sudden break to synth rhythm is also good. One negative is second wave of synth, but it doesn't last too long...Additional effects arrive and make up for it. Especially the string/harp-like layer with the echo and the sweeping string/violin in the distance. At the halfway point, we are in full effect with a very smiley chaos. By the end, the beat box samples return and the video-arcade synth sounds don't seem to matter all that much. 9/10. 6. Approaching Menace (7:01) Alien/Space like. Echo cymbals, then a slight taste of noisy beats. A grinding synth makes itself known. Then, beats return to hang around and I become very happy. Calms down a bit around halfway, but it was only kidding. Continues with fervor toward the end. various rolls and synth-drum batches do very well. Calms down again toward the end, but again, it was just to lull us into a false sense of relaxation. And then, my favorite ending, the sudden drop-off. 10/10. 7. My Little Beautiful (5:39) Eek. Starts off like a gospel ballad. Somewhere along the way where Amy Grant would have started singing, some big metallic beats arrive. Praise the Lord. That vibra-synth plink-poop seems to be ever-present on this CD. I can let it slide repeatedly, though. What I can't forgive as easily is the 1986 Casio drum pad tom-drums complete with echo. 7/10. 8. Secret Stair Pt. 1 (4:16) Synth layers to start. Gradual build from dark, medieval feel to a rounded, thoughtful feel. Beats fade in. Same beats, sadly, from most of the previous tracks. I wonder if mu-Ziq is not taking the same beat structure and seeing how many various different treatments can be applied. On the up-side, this particular treatment sounds really good. A piano layer comes in in the middle, and the synth mass at the center continues to progress rather than to repeat itself. 8/10. 9. Secret Stair Pt. 2 (5:00) Part 1 and Part 2 are not mixed together, which is good. Especially since part 2 seems to be only part 2 in numerical sequence. This track is also one of the better on the CD. Wide open upper atmosphere, with a snapping snare throughout, rolls and other seemingly predominant effects are minimized or subdued. Melodic form is well presented. I wish this track was longer. Rolling 'acid' rhythm comes from underneath toward the end, very nice. 10/10. 10. Wannabe (6:49) Nice samples here. Return of the alien/space synths. Very creepy and beautiful. Chilling, even. Looped mechanical sample is excellently intertwined. Waves of psychotic distortion seem like nails on chalkboard magnified and slowed down drastically, but they aren't I wouldn't think, I just keep getting the shivers up my spine. A spooky vocal loop gurgles to the surface. 'Wanna be your lover baby, I don't wanna be your friend'. This is a most whooparse track. Beats came out of somewhere, I didn't even notice, which is another indication of the goodness of this track. Ends with the vocal loop fading into echo. 10/10 11. Catkin and Teasel (4:35) Disjointed flute/synth layers at intro. Hip-hop beats. And, of course, what mu-Ziq track would be complete without the same beats from elsehwere on the CD? It wouldn't be so bad if -only- mu-Ziq made use of that beat structure, but as it stands I have heard the same drum riffs from too many others. Returns momentarily to the hip-hop beats while the flute/synth disjoints rejoin. Piano can be heard in the distance. Recorder/Pan flute sounds out of whack or at least out of place. Toward the end, we have more RDJesque chaos. 7/10. 12. London (6:11) String/synth intro, with high-pitched chimes. Spaced synth layers and effects come and go. Chilling hollow synths arrive, nice echo. Then, somebody starts playing Ventolin. Oh, nope, it's still mu-Ziq. Thankfully, that doesn't last long and we return to originality, for a little while anyway. The 'ventolin' loop comes back in. Maybe RDJ has given himself so many names that he is now every group in the industry. It's a good thing I like RDJ's stuff (on the whole) or I'd hate half the stuff that comes out these days. 7/10. 13. Midwinter Log (6:38) Starts off nicely. The obligatory snare roll is quietly playing in the background. Synth loop is nice, though. It seems that mu-Ziq's best traits are its synth arrangements. At this point, the beats are mostly canned. This track doesn't do much more for me than the rest of them. 7/10. Overall score: 8/10 Comments: This CD, while not having any seriously bad qualities still did not bring me anything I hadn't really heard before. It did have some strong tracks, but if I rated this release against other from the genre, I would score it much lower. When compared to those who had more to do with originating the beat structures throughout, this CD would score below average. For example, if placed against Autechre, even earlier releases like Incunablula and other material from the Artifical Intelligence series, and especially if compared to Tri-Repitae, this particular mu-Ziq CD would not fare well. Also, pick an RDJ release at random, other than the ambient work, and you will hear a much more well-put together group of music than mu-Ziq has offered on this CD. Of course, it is unfair to make such comparisons in most cases, but when the styles are so very similar, what other course is there to take? Submitted 4/6/98. Comments: Mail xxxxx@xx.xxxxxxx.xxx -=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=- "I paint what I think, not what I see..." - Pablo Picasso "You're not the boss of me!..." - J. A. Hutto (Pre age 3) http://www2.msstate.edu/~jah10 + xxxxx@xx.xxxxxxx.xxx