Review by Sean Cooper
Mike Paradinas' first success story from the frontlines of ambient/electro/drum'n'bass experimentation comes via his second attempt, Lunatic Harness. Following the brief but for the most part uninteresting toy-box chop-up of 1996's Urmur Bile Trax, the album escapes the mire of noncommittal cheekiness (an affectation that also damaged some of his Jake Slazenger work) by returning to early releases such as Tango N' Vectif and Bluff Limbo for inspiration, fusing pretty, affecting melodies and dynamic ambient atmospheres with beats that manage a tight balance between structured groove and complete chaos.
u-Ziq
Lunatic Harness
[Astralwerks/Caroline]
Rating: 8.3
Joining the ranks of late '90s electronic geniuses is u-Ziq, otherwise known as Mike Paradinas. And here's the deal with the album. Lunatic Harness showcases very musical bleeps, bloops and waves of soft harmony with the beats of a true maniac. Yeah, it's weird. What'd you think? No, it's not as impossibly fucked up as Aphex Twin's Richard D. James Album, but let's face it -- if you're gonna pick up some electronic stuff, you might as well be able to move to it.
As with most of Astralwerks' catalog, you're looking at upwards of 70 minutes of music that you can take as an opportunity to either dance like MC Hammer or munch on a bag of mushrooms. 'Cause Lunatic Harness is both wildly out of control and soft like a strawberry smoothie. And if the beats don't make you seasick, you're good to go like Chris Columbus.
-Ryan Schreiber
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