(Caroline)
What generally doesn't work for me about jungle and its suspiciously analogous cousin drum n' bass (have you ever seen the two together at the same time?) is that I can't imagine the quantity of ephedrine-based goods that it would take to keep an entire club's worth of revelers moving along to its sputtering rhythms for any extended length of time. As a vehicle for dancing, it seems far too demanding an exercise. And while I haven't become acquainted with the new Orb platter yet, another player of some consequence in the techno arena has taken to jungle's hyper-paced realm.
u-Ziq (pronounced "music") is the principal nom de techno that 25 year old Mike Paradinas uses while cranking out prolific amounts of his electronic whirs and gurgles. A bedfellow of sorts to the Aphex Twin (his debut releases were on the Twin's Rephlex label), u-Ziq came to be know for wonderful digital etchings that combined otherworldy motifs with fluid structures and drum tracks cranked up to where they were distorted, but just enough to be a true signature move rather than simply becoming annoying or gimmicky. True melodies seem to always be something of a concern (!!), and Mike P.'s sense of knowing how to wring his sampler for sounds that bear both charm and distinction is far more than keen.
Now Mike has copped a vision of the jungle world on Urmur Bile Trax Vol. 1&2. But the challenge here is not whether the BPMs meet or surpass recommended daily allowances, but how to traverse the aesthetic and not weigh in like so many other faceless knob tweakers. The Twin did it (more or less) on his recent Richard D. James LP, and u-Ziq's slant is also fairly convincing and near or about the mark.
The tracks here are long (the shortest coming in at 6:14) and the beats unmercifully torqued. The title cut sets the template for what's to follow; long atmospheric breaks in otherwise dense rhythm flourishes and ear-catching samples. But unlike his other work, there is no option for gently wading your techno sensibilities onto his canvas. Once immersed, you must flail along with the masses to keep abreast of all that's going on. By the third on fourth listen the subtle colours of the material begin to surface, but until then the driving gait of the tracks doesn't lose its neon sheen.
When he does back off somewhat, the haunting and cryptic feel of what's laid down temporarily seduces your attention span. It's as if when all of a sudden the drum machine quits hammering (or overheats), you are drawn to the interesting asides that waft in. For instance, when you've come 6:20 into "The Hydrozone," you're fed a swirl of spacey Kraftwerk-isms that are dead-on enchanting. By 9:35 the jungle reasserts its hold, but for the duration of the lull, you're reminded of Mike P.'s true strong suit.
As a sidelong adventure for young upstart, Bile Trax bubbles along just fine, but as anything more than a "phase" in his trajectory, the average devotee might find their tolerance levels dwindling over time.
