Mike Paradinas, better known as µ-Ziq, drops his latest full-length album, 1979 today, October 31, 2025, via Balmat. The English electronic producer and Planet Mu founder first broke through in 1993 with sharp IDM cuts that mixed glitchy experiments and hooks you couldn’t shake. Over the years, he’s piled up credits under many aliases like Jake Slazenger, Kid Spatula, and Tusken Raiders, but it’s the 1997 standout Lunatic Harness that still sets the bar for his talent for layering a wide blend of sounds into cohesively addictive work. Through Planet Mu, he’s kept the flame alive for breakcore’s frenzy, footwork’s snap, and dubstep’s low-end rumble, signing acts that twist those sounds into fresh shapes.
Building straight off 1977’s blueprint, 1979 digs into synth-drenched zones that feel vast and unsettled—think drifting ethereal washes, deep ominous drops, and those off-kilter psychedelic loops that pull you under. Tracks like the shadowy outlines of ‘Majadahonda at Dawn‘, the quick-wink melodies in ‘Clari‘, or the loose, wistful drift of ‘Galletas‘ keep it grounded in µ-Ziq‘s wheelhouse, but the real curveball hits with ‘Houzz 14’, a breakbeat stormer that cracks open rare dance energy amid the haze.
What ties it together stems from Paradinas’ trips to family roots in Spain’s Ávila and Majadahonda, stirring up these faint, ghostly traces in the mix—echoes you sense more than spot. It’s got nods to old-school braindance glitches, isolationist ambient sprawl, and prime IDM tension, plus little motifs that reward spins with fresh angles. Far from a straight nostalgia play, 1979 carves out its own pocket dimension, one where Paradinas charts paths only he could map.
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