« back

mike and rich - expert knob twiddlers - planet mu - vinyl

New Copy

Genre: Techno / Electro - Electronics

1. Mr Frosty
2. Jelly Fish
3. Eggy Toast
4. Reg
5. Vodka
6. Winner Takes All
7. Giant Deflating Football
8. Upright Kangaroo
9. The Sound Of Beady Eyes
10. Bu Bu Bu Ba
11. Vodka (mix2)
12. Portamento Gosh
13. Waltz
14. Brivert & Muonds
15. Clissold Bathroom
16. Jelly Fish (mix 2)
17. Organ Plodder

In 1996, Planet Mu�s Mike Paradinas aka. �-Ziq and Richard D. James got together as Mike & Rich to release Expert Knob Twiddlers, an album that consisted of IDM reinterpretations of funk and easy listening cuts. Now repressed through Mike Paradinas's own Planet Mu as 3LP 9as opposed to the 2LP Rephlex version from 1996), including none less then 7 previously unreleased bonus cuts!

A collaboration between Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) and ��Ziq (Mike Paradinas), Mike & Rich - �Expert Knob Twiddlers� was made back in 1994. Richard edited the tracks into shape later in 1996 with his new Apple Mac computer and it was released later that year on Rephlex, the label he co-owned and which released the first two albums by �-Ziq. This new reissued version has been carefully cleaned up, re-edited and remastered from the original DAT tapes, put into a more fitting order and, more excitingly, seven new bonus tracks and alternative versions have also been added. The album was recorded over a few days during the 1994 World Cup, back when Richard lived in a big shared flat in Stoke Newington. Richard had tried to collaborate with a few other likeminded artists but something clicked when Mike and Rich worked together and the sessions have a unique feel; playful and at times actually drunk. These are fun experiments in the spirit of lighthearted moog pop and ripe 70s British TV themes, standing out from the po-faced electronica of the time with a garish glee. The record was made on what is now seen as pretty primitive gear - an Atari, Roland MKS-80, Memorymoog, Roland R8 and a handful of samples on a Casio FZ-10M - but it�s to their credit that it resonates well with the hardware workouts coming out today. There's a broadminded but sloppy funk to the record, even whistling, singing and harpsichord in 'Reg' and wonky beat pile-ons in 'Jelly Fish'. There's latin piano and wheezy drunken techno in �Vodka�, or the sleepy spaced out ambience of �Bu Bu Bu Ba' with its barely contained laughter which seems to reflect the absurdity. The new versions and bonus tracks are an absolute delight - from a trancier version of �Vodka' to the wonky bounce of �Portamento Gosh', The 3/4 dub of 'Waltz,' the banging door bass of' Brivert and Muonds', the creepy seasick atmosphere of 'Clissold Bathroom' and finishing with the strangely graceful and serious 'Organ Plodder'.