Bleep

Much like his stunning reflective album/comp Somerset Avenue Tracks (1992-1995), RY30 Trax is a highly emotive collection of early material from Mike Paradinas that acts as a sort of electronica time capsuale showing where his µ-Ziq project originated from. Composed 20 odd years ago whilst Paradinas was recording material for Warp under the name Jake Slazenger, the music here is very much of the time, haunting melodies and heavy jungle indebted drum work with all the weight of an AKAI S950 behind each kick. Influence bleeds through from the street sounds of the times from the almost Chapterhouse like sitar on Dustar 3 to the Skam style 0161 hip-hop crunch of Jaz Norton. Much like that recent Jega comp and the Caustic Window TP from a while back, RY30 is a time machine back to the pre-internet days of no distractions just heads down making music for the sheer enjoyment of experimening with synths and drum machines, at a time when they would take up three quarters of your bedroom.