Mike Paradinas, the man behind µ-Ziq, unveils 1979 today, October 31, 2025, through Balmat. He’s been grinding in the electronic underground scene since 1993, honing his skills to accomplish his IDM trademark—twisted beats and melodies that penetrate the mind. The Planet Mu label he runs has been his war room, pushing breakcore’s jagged energy, playful melodies, and dubstep’s heavy subs to a crew of boundary-pushers. Under guises like Jake Slazenger, Kid Spatula, and Tusken Raiders, he’s stacked a deep catalog, but Lunatic Harness from 1997? That’s the one that took the world by storm, proving he could bridge the boundary between abstract to mainstream.
1979 rolls out these synth-loaded expanses that feel half-lost in fog—ethereal drifts giving way to dark chasms and those mind-bending psychedelic runs that loop back on themselves. It’s Paradinas dialing down the chaos for something more suspended, not full-on ambient but damn near, a shift from his usual Planet Mu fireworks. You get the veiled shapes in ‘Majadahonda at Dawn‘, the cheeky riff plays in ‘Clari‘, the low-key ache of ‘Galletas‘, and then ‘Houzz 14‘ slamming in with breakbeat heat, the kind of rare club pulse that sneaks up on you.
Those roots in Ávila and Majadahonda—Spanish locations tied to Paradinas’ family—seep through, like half-remembered shadows you chase in the haze. Toss in braindance’s quirky glitches, isolationist ambient’s quiet sprawl, and IDM’s peak-era pull, and the album’s laced with callbacks and rhythms that click into place on later listens. 1979 skips the time-warp gimmick for a straight shot to some off-grid reality, one Paradinas has cornered all to himself.
Stream 1979:
