Customer Reviews

In Pine Effect

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While not perfect, this is certainly a nice little disc.

Starting out with a pretty simple little bass note, you can tell this is gonna be something special just the way it slowly builds. After the initial few seconds, a nice kicking drum beat comes in and basically continues through for the rest of the album. The best word to describe the entire piece of "crunchy". Great texture with the drums, nice beats, good melody.

Definite highlight of the disc, however, is 'Phiesope'. The guitar strumming and nice bassline gets this song placed on repeat quite often. If in doubt about u-Ziq's talent or whether or not you should get this album, just find yourself a copy of this song somehow and listen away. Question answered.

It's not without it's flaws, however. After a while, the disc becomes somewhat repetetive. Not horribly so, but enough that it's noticeable.

Track 8, "Mr. Angry", is simply one of the worst songs I've ever heard. While the song structure and whatnot isn't all that bad, the main portion of the song, featuring a man screaming out something unintelligible, is quite unbearable. It warrants a 'Skip Track' every single time now.

The first half of the disc, up to Phiesope, is by far the better portion. There's a few gems in the latter half as well, particularly the title track and Problematic (featuring a wonderful, almost Old West even, piano bit to start it off).

If you like u-Ziq's other work, you'll certainly enjoy this. If you're new to the man, try the Brace Yourself EP first, chances are you'll get into it much easier than this. But don't ignore this disc, which is often underrated as I've found.

Go for it, it's good!

When I was Dj ing for a living I would frequent record stores every week looking for music for my set and personal collection. The song "Phiesope" which is track 7 on this disc, came on over the store speakers. I went up to the counter and asked "who is this? It turned out to be u-ziq. I bought it that day and incorperated the song "Phiesope" into my Dj set, usually at the beggining of the night to ease my crowd into a dance mood. The song is so well done with is guitar strumming and total heavy "shoegaze/manchester" beat. I love this song and really enjoy others on the record. They are trax 1,2,3,7, and even track 8 "Mr. Angry" which features a heavy beat with this trippy grandfather clock chime timed into the beat. There is this dude screaming which under the right mood, or circumstance can kinda scare you. But it is a original song. I got the chance to see U-ziq perform live twice. Once in Hollywood and once at the Coachella Fest in Indio CA. He is very talented and I am a big fan! You should get this cd! PK

For anyone who's heard mu-ziq's other recordings, I can define "In Pine Effect" as, well, in-between. Not as experimental and free-form as "Lunatic Harness," yet not as boring as static as "Bluff Limbo." Not all of the tracks are great--but the first half of the album is incredible. A good introduction to Mike Paradinas's music.

The first track on this album "Roy Castle" just blew me away. I've probably listened to it more than any other µ-ziq song ever, it just has that ambient, computer, video game type beauty to it. The rest of the album is also good, with some annoying tracks like "Mr. Angry". My only disapoitment is that none of the other tracks come close to the beauty of the first one. Oh well, still a wonderful IDM album.

I am surprised to find myself enjoying Mu-ziq's music, but it really is great. As cheesy as it sounds his best work just sounds happy, and it puts a smile on my face. The album is good for just putting in and zoning out while on a drive, though it does get noticeably weak after "Phiesope" (track 7) click on that track now for a listen, it is the highlight of In Pine Effect and really a great song, I cannot believe it has not been co-opted for a commercial yet. (Or has it???)

After "Phiesope" it does get weaker, it just becomes more harsh and abrasive which I don't think is Mu-ziq's strong point. Still I can recommend this album, it is good fun. Check out his Brace Yourself EP too, good clean fun for the whole family.

This is my second Mu-Ziq CD. My first was Lunatic Harness. This CD is much harsher and less listener-friendly but is still a great CD. The beats are louder and rougher, and the melodys stay the same. The CD is worth your money just for the Pheisope track

Scintillating energy interwoven with tight melodic gestures form a friendly abstract CD. "Phiescope" is a memorable composition that everyone seems to love. But "Roy Castle" & "Old Fun #1" are also true worthy titles in this gem filled collection. Indeed the titles produced here are not overwhelming, but rather profound engagements of modern dynamism. Thich sounds burst forth from underlying smooth gooey layers invinting the listener to concentrate on themes playing within themes. Master Paradinas has attained an effective project creating a tension between affectionate melodies and swaths of hyperkinetic electronica.

3 1/2

Always a step or two away from making a consistently great record, this still belongs in just about any electronic aficionados stash for its impressive range and strong production keeping much of the work here fresh, despite a technology lapse that goes with the genre, dating these akin to dog years.

This u-ziq album is slower and more melodic than most, lacking the frentic D&B that's in many of his others. It does get catchy after a while but it took me several listens. The first half of the disc is very warm and upbeat, almost popish. It cimaxes with Phiesope (which everyone else who reviewed it seemed to love), then gets disjionted and keeps me on my toes a bit more. There isn't really a stand out track on this for me. I usaully put it on track 7, skip 8, then listen to it through. I rate it smack dab in the middle of the U-Ziq collection, The best of his slow stuff but not better than any of his fast. (Which is better than most so it gets 3 stars instead of 2 1/2). It did disappiont me when I bought it, expecting (or hoping) for it to resemble more closely Squarepusher than Boards of Canada. Oh well, I'm still glad I own it, you'll be moderatly impressed with it too.