Lunatic Harness

Mu-Ziq | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 29, 1997)
• Original Release Date: July 29, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B000003RYX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,201 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #39 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > IDM

Track Listings

1. Brace Yourself Jason

2. Hasty Boom Alert

3. Mushroom Compost

4. Blainville

5. Lunatic Harness

6. Approaching Menace

7. My Little Beautiful

8. Secret Stair, Pt. 1

9. Secret Stair, Pt. 2

10. Wannabe

11. Catkin and Teasel

12. London

13. Midwinter Log

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best albums of all time!!!!, July 21, 2002

By 

JLS "amotion" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lunatic Harness (Audio CD)

I know many people like to compare Mike Paradinas to Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) and Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher), but Paradinas has far surpassed both of his contemporaries with this album. Whereas James like to put emphasis on the melody while backing them with complicated rythms and Jenkinson puts the emphasis on rythm with the melodies backing everything else up (usually), Paradinas takes the best from both worlds to create a unique, highly diverse, intricate, and emotional album. There has never been an album of this quality before Lunatic Harness and there will probably never be another one for a very long time.

Every single track on Lunatic Harness embraces some emotion or memory or dream and pushes it past its extremes. In each song there are several different melodies running together, overlapping, and complementing each other, and there, at the base of it all, are highly complex drum patterns, running at high speeds that whisk you through your fantasies as if on a tour of a magical kingdom as seen from the window of a speeding freight train made entirely of glass.

The compositional structure and style of each song is very hard to pinpoint. It is as if the musical genres of classical, jazz, rock, and the blues all decided to have a roman orgy and have a single love child.

Paradinas also has a natural talent when it comes to dynamics. At times the music whispers its secrets into your ears, telling of love and sorrow and loss. At other times, the music swells to a thundering frenzy where one can learn of agony, fear, and despair.

I am sure that there are many people that will disagree with me. I am sure that many people will say that this is nothing more than Nintendo music on crack (a term which has been used before in reviews on Mu-ziq). I am not disagreeing with that statement. I am just saying that this Nintendo music on crack has quite a bit of meaning, emotion, and complexity behind it that people should observe. In my opinion, this is the Paradinas' aural Citizen Kane.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, what have I been missing?!?, March 19, 2001

By 

J. Thompson (York, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lunatic Harness (Audio CD)

I first heard of Mike Paradinas (u-ziq) on an online broadcast of a show he did with Amon Tobin in 1997 (I think.) Most of the stuff he spun comes off of this album so I had to have it. I am a fan of electronic music, more so the emotive, experimental end rather than huge, dumb big beat. Lunatic Harness is now one of my favorite picks from my collection. You've never heard such textured and touching sounds behind what is some of the most edgy drill-n-bass ever but to plastic. Strategically placed bass breaks and interwoven sound scapes make this a rather moody work (see 'Hasty Book Alert,' 'Secret Stair' and 'Catkin and Teasel'.) The title track displays some outright wicked beat-boxing along side some scattered beats racing along before dropping you into a rather flowery, upbeat movement before pummeling you with more bass beats. If you want a varied, introspective electronic work, this is what you're looking for.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brace yourself., April 24, 2000

By 

B-MAN "B" (Earth, occasionally. Until I get bored.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lunatic Harness (Audio CD)

This is one of (M)u-ziq's (Mike Paradinas) best recordings and is also a good introduction to his sound. Several tracks contain soaring melodies accompanied by erratic beats. One nice thing is that the music never really gets old since you can't remember the structures immediately and don't know when and where to snap your fingers or tap your foot. Actually, its best if you don't try to do that - you might pull something. The album is also fresh for its manipulation of electronic, ambient, hip-hop, and other musical styles. My favorites from this album are "Brace Yourself Jason", "Hasty Boom Alert, "Mushroom Compost", and "Catkin & Teasel". All of these tracks, like I mentioned earlier, have a pleasant melody backed up by some very spontaneous and hyperactive beats. If you like Aphex Twin, then you may want to check this out. I don't like to compare U-ziq and Aphex because in my opinion their styles are different. U-ziq seems to have nicer melodies in his songs and his beats sound more drum like than Aphex's nut's & bolts in a blender sound. Not that Aphex Twin doesent have pretty melodies and varying beats, he just has less, and their usually placed in the middle of a set of unsettling tunes. The two actually made an album together, "Expert Knob Twiddlers", which isn't really that exciting when compared to either's individual recordings. Also recommended is U-ziq's 8 song EP, "Brace Yourself", which includes two remixes of "Brace Yourself Jason" and two more of my favorite U-ziq songs, "Summer Living" and "Abmoit". For something very refreshing and different in your CD collection, "Lunatic Harness" is definitely a must.