I bought this EP back in the summer of 1995 in a very decent record shop in Aberystwyth. When I got home and had a listen, I was astonished at the sheer cacophonous violence of this, the first piece on the EP. It was more jagged and unsettling than almost anything so-called IDM artists were making at the time - even (Ventolin excluded) Aphex Twin himself.
Today, it came up on my iPod as I was jogging, and it still has the capacity to grab my attention.
A lot of people haven't heard the first track on the EP, but, all in all, I think it's very close to being the best thing Mike Paradinas ever wrote.
The disappointment for me in the years that followed was that Paradinas never really emerged from the shadow of friend and one-time colleague Aphex Twin to become a major musical force in his own right. All of his albums have very good moments, but for me they always struggle for consistency. Even his brilliant Makesaracket is only really masterly in patches.
Nowadays, he is arguably having more success as head honcho of Planet Mu. Certainly his involvement in the footwork and dubstep scenes has been significant.
I just wonder whether the Bangs and Works producers in the US who have worked with Paradinas actually realise the quiet, bespectacled label boss is capable of making music this ear-splitting.
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