Release Date: 20th May 2022

Basic Rhythm returns to his Jungle roots for his final release with Planet Mu. Harking back to the golden era of the mid 90s, but with a contemporary slant, Basic Rhythm hands in three dance floor killers, with a remix from the grim reaper himself, Loxy. The titular track, Cool Down The Dance, opens with a jittery fragmented drum pattern and wooshing stereo effects, lending a slightly disorienting feel to the intro before the well known vocal refrain leads into a monster amen drop. Deep subs, amen breaks and steely stabs roll out this dance floor banger. This is followed up with an absolute behemoth of a track. Horse Mout’ utilises an infamous vocal sample in a fresh way, building upon the intro with waves of dubwise effects before launching into a devastating onslaught.

With support from scene stalwarts DJ Storm and Flight this one has been smashing up dance floors! The third track is a remix of Cool Down The Dance by Loxy, bringing his inimitable cool production style to the fore, stripping away the amen layers to reveal something for the darker corners of the dance. One for the head noders and the eyes down crew. The final track, Satta, is a nod to the dub of Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, and On U Sound. A slow boiling minimal intro that drops into the extreme minimalism of just a kick drum and sub bass line belies the swagger of the eventual drop. Swinging drums in an almost military pattern tumble and stagger around the core line of kick drum and sub bass, lending this an almost drunken air. 

a1 Cool Down The Dance 

a2 Horse Mout' 

b1 Cool Down The Dance (Loxy Remix) 

b2 Satta

Release date: 14th May 2021

Anthoney Hart returns with his second Basic Rhythm album for Planet Mu. 'Electronic Labyrinth' is a maturing of his sound that draws a line under his work as Basic Rhythm thus far. The title itself conveys the overarching theme of the album, evoking the journey through a musical labyrinth that Hart has undertaken over the last 30 years or so, following a path through to the centre where thesedisparate strands have coalesced and solidified into a coherent whole. The underlying themes are of a more personal nature, intimated by the cover photo of St Fabian Tower where Hart first joined the now infamous Rude FM in the late 90s, the sometimes misleading directness of the track titles, as well as explicit references to books such as Wilson Harris’ Palace of the Peacocks, the ontological promiscuity of Harris’ writing mirrored here in Hart's own musical endeavours. What you end up with is an album that not only draws upon a wide range of influences from both the musical and literary worlds, intertwining them within a deeply personal contextthat imbues the music with a depth of meaning, but that is also somehow more coherent despite such a wide range of references and hidden meanings. It is at once both an album of subtexts open to interpretation, and a cohesive whole that fits together perfectly.

a1. Craft

a2 Hayward Road

a3. Acid Track

a4. Larkin Around

b1. Electronic Labyrinth

b2. Techno

b3. Palace Of The Peacock

b4. The Secret Ladder

Released 10th May

Anthoney Hart (who last appeared on Planet Mu as East Man) now returns under his Basic Rhythm alias with a new album 'On The Threshold'. Recorded primarily with the DJ in mind, these tracks are colourful, brutalist and adventurous. Contemporary hybrids constructed from blocks of sound, their angular rhythms draw on Britain's dance music past, but with an eye firmly on the present. The album starts with 'St. Fabian Tower', named after the now demolished tower block in Chingford where Anthoney used to DJ for Rude FM. The track's lush detuned synths and syncopated drums are girded by stern low end frequencies. Drum and bass, jungle and hardcore are the touchstones here, but the forms he creates make no attempt to imitate the music of those eras. Take the rolling, bubbling, almost jazz-drummer patterns of 'Yeah, I Like It' and 'I Want You' where strange pops and bubbles seem to be forced through the grid almost like they're an effect of pressure. It's an odd juxtaposition next to the soulful vocals but an effective one. 'Edge Of Darkness' meanwhile, is an intense, rough ride of sliding rhythms and elephantine bass. Elsewhere, like on 'A New Consciousness', things are tempered into a more streamlined techno-like hybrid. He lets loose in the claps and kicks banger of 'Fi Di Gyal', but even here there are neat sonic tricks that sound like nods to minimalist composition. On The Threshold is a balance of smart and energetic, non linear thoughtfulness and makeshift experimentalism that does away with boundaries, but is very much its own self contained world.

01. St. Fabian Tower
02. Yeah, I Like It
03. Slice Neck
04. I Want You
05. A New Consciousness
06. Edge of Darkness
07. Buss It
08. The Kru
09. Fi Di Gyal
10. The Light

Release Date: 23rd July 2021

Despite being firmly embedded within the Footwork scene, DJ Manny has yet to receive the kind of attention his peers have. His joyous new album for Planet Mu "Signals In My Head" is set to alter that for good.  Manny's sound has widened out and taken on a more romantic edge. He openly admits that his goal for the new album was "to do something that nobody (in Footwork) had ever done before which is an R&B love type of album. I just want people to know it's love out there."  Tracks like "U Want It", "Never Was Ah Hoe" and the title cut "Signals In My Head" are strong standouts. DJ Manny has succeeded in moving himself forward. "Signals In My Head" brings us back to the joy of Footwork as a dance, as a mid-west American movement and most importantly as a mental and spiritual boost.

a1. Never Was Ah Hoe
a2. U Want It
a3. You All I Need
a4. Club GTA
a5. Wants My Body (ft. DJ Chap)
a6. All I Need
b1. Havin' Fun (ft. DJ Phil)
b2. Good Love
b3. That Thang
b4. Smoke 'n' Fade Away
b5. Signals In My Head
b6. At First Site

Available: 20th November 2020

'Prole Art Threat' is producer Anthoney Hart's second LP for Planet Mu under his East Man alias, after 2018's well received debut 'Red White & Zero'. It brings together a set of MCs from all over London, Darkos and Eklipse from East London and Lyrical Strally from near Feltham who were on the first album, Ny Ny and Mic Ty also from East London, Streema and 'Vision Crew' member Whack Eye from Lewisham plus Fernando Kep, an MC from the burgeoning Brazil grime scene. They work across a cohesive set of tight riddims forged from thoughtful amalgams of grime, dancehall and drum & bass.

a1. East Man & Streema - Know Like Dat

a2. East Man & Mic Ty - Everybody Knows

a3. East Man & Fernando Kep - Ouroboros

a4. East Man & Lyrical Strally - Ten Ton Riddim

a5. East Man - Boys

a6. East Man & Ny Ny - Who Am I?

b1. East Man - East Man Theme (reprise)

b2. East Man & Whack Eye - Wow How?

b3. East Man & Eklipse - Ease Up

b4. East Man & Darkos Strife - Look & Listen (Part 2)

b5. East Man - Machine Gun

b6. East Man - Hi Tek Theme

Released 25th November 2016

RP Boo returns with 'The Ultimate RP Boo', showing off six brand new cuts that mix a range of styles with his vivid use of samples and improvised drum programming. 'The Ultimate' kicks things off with a sliding synth riff that wouldn't sound out of place on a ’91 Prodigy track with cut up rave vocal interjections over Bu’s trademark pulsing bass. 'Bang with the Funk' crushes the 1-2-3-4-5 Sesame Street song, chopping its samples into hard shapes. Things turn dark and minimal with 'The King' which features a sample from Fresh, with strange atonal tones playing off against spooky chords and a tactile bass. On the flipside 'What Am I?’ pairs syncopated snares and 4/4 bass pulses while percussion bangs and shimmers over clipped diva refrains and anxious piano. 'Bu'Moon' meshes together some pumping horn blurts and some old fashioned steamy synth wooshes that wouldn't feel out of place on a 50's sci-fi film into a relentless battle track. 'Electric Energy' finishes the EP, sampling an unusual pop source and chopping them over pulsing half time subs that pitch up and down around slipping and sliding drum hits.

a1. The Ultimate
a2. Bang to the Funk
a3. The King
b1. What Am I?
b2. Bu'Moon
b3. Electric Energy

Release Date: 8th July 2022

Lunatic Harness, µ-Ziq's rare and sought-after fourth album, was originally released in July 1997 on Virgin's Hut Recordings label. It is generally considered to be Mike Paradinas's best work of the nineties. An Apple Music review describes Lunatic Harness as "the prettiest album to come out of the mid-'90s "drill'n'bass movement", noting that Paradinas eschewed the abrasiveness of similar works by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin in favour of "atmospheres of ethereal color and shimmering melody", bringing the album "closer to pop music than anything Paradinas had previously attempted".

Planet Mu has compiled a special 256th anniversary edition 4xLP boxset bringing together the My Little Beautiful EP, the Lunatic Harness album and May 1998's Brace Yourself EP (released by USA's Astralwerks label) with the addition of four rare tracks. Discs one and two of the vinyl are the original Lunatic Harness album, disc three compiles the My Little Beautiful b-sides with three unreleased cuts from the period and a remix of Mr.Angry from 1997's Mealtime compilation, while disc four is the 8-track Brace Yourself EP which hasn't been re-issued since 1998. This all comes in individual printed sleeves housed in a rigid box with an insert collage of some of the press Mike received at the time. 

A:
1/Brace Yourself Jason
2/Hasty Boom Alert
3/Mushroom Compost
B:
1/Blainville
2/Lunatic Harness
3/Approaching Menace
C:
1/ My Little Beautiful
2/ Secret Stair Pt.1
3/ Secret Stair Pt.2
4/ Wannabe
D:
1/ Catkin and Teasel
2/ London
3/ Midwinter Log
E:
1/ Hanky Pokery
2/ Jiggery Panky
3/ Worcester
4/ The Cut Of My Jib
F:
1/ Lunatic Harness (Original Demo)
2/ Lunatic Harness (Remix)
3/ Mr. Angry (Remix)
G:
1/ Brace Yourself (Remix)
2/ Kubba
3/ Vaken Bolt
4/ Losers' March
H:
1/ Summer Living 2
2/ Intellitag
3/ Abmoit
4/ Brace Yourself (Reprise)

Release Date: 8th July 2022

Lunatic Harness, µ-Ziq's rare and sought-after fourth album, was originally released in July 1997 on Virgin's Hut Recordings label. It is generally considered to be Mike Paradinas's best work of the nineties. An Apple Music review describes Lunatic Harness as "the prettiest album to come out of the mid-'90s "drill'n'bass movement", noting that Paradinas eschewed the abrasiveness of similar works by Squarepusher and Aphex Twin in favour of "atmospheres of ethereal color and shimmering melody", bringing the album "closer to pop music than anything Paradinas had previously attempted".

Planet Mu has compiled a special 256th anniversary edition 4xLP boxset bringing together the My Little Beautiful EP, the Lunatic Harness album and May 1998's Brace Yourself EP (released by USA's Astralwerks label) with the addition of four rare tracks. Discs one and two of the vinyl are the original Lunatic Harness album, disc three compiles the My Little Beautiful b-sides with three unreleased cuts from the period and a remix of Mr.Angry from 1997's Mealtime compilation, while disc four is the 8-track Brace Yourself EP which hasn't been re-issued since 1998. This all comes in individual printed sleeves housed in a rigid box with an insert collage of some of the press Mike received at the time. 

A:
1/Brace Yourself Jason
2/Hasty Boom Alert
3/Mushroom Compost
B:
1/Blainville
2/Lunatic Harness
3/Approaching Menace
C:
1/ My Little Beautiful
2/ Secret Stair Pt.1
3/ Secret Stair Pt.2
4/ Wannabe
D:
1/ Catkin and Teasel
2/ London
3/ Midwinter Log
E:
1/ Hanky Pokery
2/ Jiggery Panky
3/ Worcester
4/ The Cut Of My Jib
F:
1/ Lunatic Harness (Original Demo)
2/ Lunatic Harness (Remix)
3/ Mr. Angry (Remix)
G:
1/ Brace Yourself (Remix)
2/ Kubba
3/ Vaken Bolt
4/ Losers' March
H:
1/ Summer Living 2
2/ Intellitag
3/ Abmoit
4/ Brace Yourself (Reprise)

Release Date: 1st April 2022

µ-Ziq says hello again with 'Goodbye'. The six track EP is the first in a series of releases by Mike Paradinas this year, which are all centred around the 25th Anniversary Edition of 'Lunatic Harness’, his classic 1997 album. Inspired by going back through the archives while he was remastering the Lunatic Harness reissue, 'Goodbye' sees Mike revisiting the nineties, taking on jungle and its precursor jungle tekno and upgrading them with the benefit of hindsight and contemporary software. Imbued with Mike's lush sense of melody and his knack for striking contrasts (don't be shocked to hear maudlin piano, 303 and amens in the same track), 'Goodbye' approaches these old genres like a sandpit, and stretches them in directions only Mike might take.

a1. Goodbye VIP
a2. Giddy All Over
a3. Moise
b1. Rave Whistle
b2. Rave Whistle (Darkside Mix)
b3. Rave Whistle (Jungle Tekno Mix)

Release Date: 10th June 2022

Planet Mu welcomes back owner Mike Paradinas (a.k.a. µ-Ziq) for ‘Magic Pony Ride’, an album of joyful, melodic, jungle-inspired music, and his first LP of new material on the label since 2013. The title reflects the childlike wonder of the album, happy melodies are foregrounded, wordless vocals bounce and echo while sounds bubble and sparkle. Paradinas had been releasing archival albums but got a taste for making new music after a trip to Wales (inspiring ‘Scurlage’, his 2021 album on Analogical Force). This influence of using trips away as a muse is carried on in ’Magic Pony Ride’ after a weekend getaway to found Paradinas riding Icelandic horses across a snowy landscape at dawn. You can almost feel the relaxed wide open spaces in the lush synth chords of the title track and ‘Uncle Daddy’. The album also reflects on family with features from his daughter Elka on ‘Picksing’ and ‘Elka’s Song’ and ‘Galope’ in memory of his father who passed away a few years ago. The theme of family is also found in the meditative ‘Shulem’s Theme’, a title inspired by the Netflix series Shtisel. These reflective themes tie in with this year’s 25th anniversary reissue of µ-Ziq’s 1997 breakthrough album ‘Lunatic Harness’. In Mike’s own words “Magic Pony Ride was written as a kind of follow up to ‘Lunatic Harness’, at least in terms of genre and style. After mastering Lunatic for its reissue I went back to using breaks again on some newer tracks and this is the result!”

A:
1. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.1)
2. Goodbye
3. Picksing
B:
1. Unless
2. Turquoise Hyperfizz
3. Galope
C:
1. Uncle Daddy
2. Brown Chaos
3. Shulem's Theme
D:
1. Elka's Song
2. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.2)
3. Don't Tell Me (It's Ending)

Release Date: 10th June 2022

Planet Mu welcomes back owner Mike Paradinas (a.k.a. µ-Ziq) for ‘Magic Pony Ride’, an album of joyful, melodic, jungle-inspired music, and his first LP of new material on the label since 2013. The title reflects the childlike wonder of the album, happy melodies are foregrounded, wordless vocals bounce and echo while sounds bubble and sparkle. Paradinas had been releasing archival albums but got a taste for making new music after a trip to Wales (inspiring ‘Scurlage’, his 2021 album on Analogical Force). This influence of using trips away as a muse is carried on in ’Magic Pony Ride’ after a weekend getaway to found Paradinas riding Icelandic horses across a snowy landscape at dawn. You can almost feel the relaxed wide open spaces in the lush synth chords of the title track and ‘Uncle Daddy’. The album also reflects on family with features from his daughter Elka on ‘Picksing’ and ‘Elka’s Song’ and ‘Galope’ in memory of his father who passed away a few years ago. The theme of family is also found in the meditative ‘Shulem’s Theme’, a title inspired by the Netflix series Shtisel. These reflective themes tie in with this year’s 25th anniversary reissue of µ-Ziq’s 1997 breakthrough album ‘Lunatic Harness’. In Mike’s own words “Magic Pony Ride was written as a kind of follow up to ‘Lunatic Harness’, at least in terms of genre and style. After mastering Lunatic for its reissue I went back to using breaks again on some newer tracks and this is the result!”

A:
1. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.1)
2. Goodbye
3. Picksing
B:
1. Unless
2. Turquoise Hyperfizz
3. Galope
C:
1. Uncle Daddy
2. Brown Chaos
3. Shulem's Theme
D:
1. Elka's Song
2. Magic Pony Ride (Pt.2)
3. Don't Tell Me (It's Ending)