Depending on how old you are, when you were introduced to electronic music and the specific record you first came across, Planet Mu’s narrative arc will likely be perceived in a manner unique to you and you only. Names like Boxcutter, Luke Vibert, Venetian Snares, Vex’d and Jlin pepper the label’s discography, which began in 1998 and runs as strong as ever in 2017. Behind it all is Mike Paradinas, aka µ-Ziq, a legendary artist is his own right and the driving force behind all things Mu. Paradinas’ solo releases in recent years has been low key (see here and here), but last year saw the re-issue of Expert Knob Twiddlers, Mike’s collaborative project with Aphex Twin as Mike & Rich. On the label front, 2016 saw the introduction of a number of new faces to the Mu universe with releases from Yearning Kru, Sami Baha, Antwood, Silk Road Assassins and WWWINGS, all artists from the periphery of the vague experimental/club axis. The fact that 2016 was the first year of Mu’s third decade and its first after a retrospective 20 year anniversary project bolstered the appearance of new beginnings.
Of course, Mu has always been devoted to breaking artists and sounds, an almost reckless drive that has seen the label contribute seminal, but always fundamentally outlying, albums in IDM, breakcore, dubstep and footwork, a convoluted bridge of extreme sounds that likely only makes complete sense to Paradinas himself. Despite that interminable drive forward though, the past is preserved remarkably well in both the label’s history and Paradinas’ solo work. This manifests in re-issues like Expert Knob Twiddlers, as well as nostalgic projects like Konx-om-Pax’s Caramel and the various releases of Heterotic, a joint project of Paradinas and his partner Lara Rix-Martin (who runs the Objects Limited label). The latter is influenced (per Mu’s website) “by (among other things) Fleetwood Mac and old Nu Groove records,” a position that initially feels incongruent with Jlin’s transgressive Dark Energy LP, but is somehow all reigned in under the same banner.
We had a quick email interview with Paradinas in advance of this mix and the Mu boss explained the relationship between the label and Kuedo’s Knives imprint, Mike’s relationship with Jlin, Principe and Lil Yachty. His Astral Plane mix plays like a 52 minute snapshot of the label in 2017 with unreleased material from Jlin, Sami Baha, Silk Road Assassins, v1984 and Huerco S. Lorenzo Senni and Imaginary Forces and Hieroglyphic Being, all artists who would fit comfortable on the label’s recent roster, appear as well with recent and unreleased material. The mix flows naturally from artist to artist and sound to sound, despite jumping across a range of tempos and genres, sliding comfortably from rap/grime adjacent to a pair of trance mutations and on to the in turn soulful and paranoiac footwork stylings that have almost become the label’s calling card (if that’s even possible) in recent years. The next few months will see releases from Jlin, Herva and Teengirl Fantasy while the mix hints at further work from Baha, SRA, WWWINGS and RP Boo. Read on below for the full interview and find a track list after the jump.
Hey Mike, how are you? Where are you answering these questions from?
Hey, I’m fine. I’m in my little office at home in the city of Brighton and Hove on the South Coast of England.
Whereas other labels with similar longevity have expanded into other fields like publishing, film and technology, Planet Mu’s approach has always felt pure and unadorned to the point that it almost feels anachronistic in this day and age. Has that been a conscious move on your part?
In some ways it has been conscious, for instance I’m no film buff, I just have no knowledge of that side of things. We did start a publishing company by the way, back in 2009. We publish a few of our artists and some others. I guess the decision is made for us in that we would need quite a lot of investment to fund staff and to expand in those ways, and none has been forthcoming (we did ask around a bit a couple of years ago). There’s also a lot to be said for doing one one thing well.
The Astral Plane 