True to its title, Magic Pony Journey embraces Paradinas’ sugary facet. Synths froth and squeak. Kitschy piano riffs ascend to euphoric heights. Sampled vocals coo. Songs like “Uncle Daddy” and “Turquoise Hyperfizz” comprise a few of his most unabashedly joyful preparations up to now, ironing out the jazzy, sometimes dissonant wrinkles of conventional IDM in favor of pure indulgence. It’s probably the most thrilling of the brand new developments in Paradinas’ model, merging the plasticky stringed melodies of Planet Mu signee Jlin with the dreamy headspace of Orbital.
The decrease finish of those mixes feels much less impressed. On “Magic Pony Journey (Pt. 2)”, drum fills bob awkwardly beneath squelching synths, merely fleshing out the soundscape the place a Lunatic Harness break might need pushed the observe into unknown territory. Take the mangled percussion that crops up two-thirds of the best way into that file’s now-classic “Brace Your self Jason,” as an illustration, which slows issues to a lossy, glitched-out crawl earlier than Paradinas rattles off a pseudo drum solo. It’s a jarring detour, however the break reinforces the influence of the tune’s melodic theme because it resurfaces one final time. The tracks on Magic Pony Journey might resemble these ancestors at a floor look, however they lack the adventurous whimsy that earned comparisons to his buddy Richard D. James. “Except,” which clocks in at a full six minutes, is the file’s most stagnant providing on this entrance, driving a flat, unadorned bassline for half of its runtime earlier than a single kick or snare enters the fray.
A few of Magic Pony Journey’s finest moments happen when Paradinas ditches the breaks altogether. “Picksing,” constructed round an oddly looped pattern of his daughter’s voice, is each eerie and alluring, weaving breathy synths, bouncing keys and chopped vocals to immersive impact. The intro to “Don’t Inform Me (It’s Ending),” possible an homage to Brian Eno’s “An Ending (Ascent),” can be beautiful, that includes cute pulses of vocoder that may really feel proper at dwelling on a PC Music single.
The previous 24 years of Paradinas’ work as head of Planet Mu have significantly broadened the horizons of mainstream membership tradition, introducing his viewers to genres like footwork and effervescent home whereas encouraging the label’s artists to experiment and evolve. So whereas μ-Ziq ranks decrease on his listing of priorities than it did in 1997, it’s a bit of disappointing to listen to such a retrospective undertaking from an artist who’s at all times been right down to toy with the sounds of the current. The flirtations with lure and dubstep that seem all through his latter discography haven’t at all times succeeded, however they have been at the very least admirable of their willingness to swing for the fences. Look to the remix EP μ-Ziq dropped in April for that lacking sense of abandon: Within the palms of footwork producers like RP Boo and DJ Manny, his tracks are pared right down to the naked necessities, flayed to bits and rearranged into ingenious polyrhythmic mosaics. Based mostly on these two releases, Paradinas’ abilities as a curator have eclipsed his personal musicianship—while you’re surrounded by the longer term, wanting backward can appear like regression.
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