Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snares) hails from Winnipeg in Canada. Since his debut 12" in 1999 on a small Minneapolis label he has risen out of the drill'n'bass/breakcore mire to become one of the most astonishing (and popular) musicians working in the experimental electronic sphere (alongside Squarepusher, Aphex Twin and boards Of Canad). Each new album from Aaron brings with it a new sound, a new atmosphere, a whole new world - he never repeats what's gone before. "Chocolate Wheelchair", his 10th commercially available album, is his most hook-laden opus yet - five out of the ten tracks include a vocal performance (of some description). It could be described as a mutant post-punk ragga-jungle pop music for an alternative reality. Aaron just calls his music surrealism.

For those who enjoyed "Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006" - this is the stylistic follow-up. Full-on punk-rave jungle breakz with lots and lots of pop sampling attitude in 7/8 (and 5/4). As well as the future classic single: "Einstein-Rosen Bridge" with its funk guitar, sci-fi vocals and salsa trumpets, the album is also choc-full (ho) of other poptastic delights. Such as the shouty post-punk vocal hooks of "Abomination Street" whose melody is based on the TV theme of a well known & long-running Manchester soap opera; or Too Young - a glitch-hop reworking of the Motley Crue hit. "Hand Throw" - in which a gruff (Belgian) MC shouts out to "Antwerp massive"... or "Epidermis" in which another more tremulous post-punk chanteuse pairs up with spooky drexciyan chords, titanium breaks and a buzzing reese bass. The album concludes with Aaron's most daring de-construction of the amen break yet - "Herbie Goes Ballistic" with a guest performance from the little vw beetle who cared.

Quotes: 

NME:
"Venetian Snares is to Music what Satan is to Christianity: a profoundly malevolent force who looks great, intimidates a lot of boring people and is, despite everything, insanely popular... It's like experiencing The Empire Strikes Back on 3D IMAX on LSD..."
Piers Martin  

NME:
"Funk's second LP this year, this is his fullest and finest work to date... these endlessly inventive acts of musical vandalism balance pleasure, pain and stoopid-fresh wit. Genius."
Steven Dalton 8/10

THE WIRE:
"...both inspirational and infuriating... relentlessly inventive (in his) approach to structure."

UNCUT:
"Aaron Funk maintains impressive quality control. All he needs is a brave Missy, Kelis or Bjork to climb aboard these bucking electro-punk broncos - then we'd see how fresh and innovative the Timbalands and Neptunes of this world really sound."
****

MUZIK:
"...the best record of all time..."
*****

DJ magazine:
"If 70s cult movie Taxi Driver was re-made for a 2001 audience then this is the music Travis Bickle would have playing in the background... Seriously twisted."

Careless Talk Costs Lives (feature review):
"What this is not is the tale of just another guy and his broken laptop. This is darkness, in the true isolated sense... There are infinite reserves of wonder contained within this digital maze of an album... I would paint a lazy stimulant metaphor, but there are no drugs invented that could sound like this. If there were then we'd be whacked out on them for the rest of our lives..."

ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY:

VENETIAN SNARES<"SHIVER IN ETERNAL DARKNESS/N">;
(Isolate cd)
May 2000

VENETIAN SNARES + SPEEDRANCH - MAKING ORANGE THINGS
(Planet Mu 2LP/cd)
March 2001

VENETIAN SNARES - SONGS ABOUT MY CATS
(Planet Mu LP/cd)
April 2001

VENETIAN SNARES - DOLL DOLL DOLL
(Hymen LP/cd)
Oct 2001

VENETIAN SNARES - HIGGINS ULTRA LOW TRACK GLUE FUNK HITS 1972-2006
(Planet Mu 2LP/cd)
May 2002

VSNARES - 237 0894
(Planet Mu cd)
July 2002

VENETIAN SNARES - WINTER IN THE BELLY OF A SNAKE
(Planet Mu cd)
November 2002

VENETIAN SNARES - FIND CANDACE
(Hymen LP/cd)
April 2003

VENETIAN SNARES & HECATE - NYMPHOMATRIARCH
(Hymen LP/cd)
July 2003

MU-ZIQ BIOG

The name 'Mu-Ziq' was first on the list when it came to Mike Paradinas choosing a tag to accompany his debut release on Rephlex in 1993. And no wonder. Pronounced simply "music" not only is it all-encompassing but it also serves as the only logical way to describe the multi-faceted and unique new sounds he's conjuring up at any given time. Due to Paradinas' consummate skill at incorporating an array of disparate musical styles and references into his work, it becomes impossible to pigeonhole his music into any easily definable categories such as 'dance' or 'rock' or whatever. Suffice to say, he has become one of very few artists working with electronics to produce a recognisable and personalised sound whilst at the same time mixing far-reaching experimentalism with accessibility through infectious melodies and rhythms. Achieving healthy record sales AND staying true to the pioneering spirit of the 'underground' is no-mean feat.

Hailing from South West London, Paradinas began operating under the name Mu-ziq in 1992 whilst studying for a degree in architecture at Kingston. He eventually left before completing the course, partially due to lack of interest, but more importantly to concentrate all efforts towards his musical preoccupations on a more full time basis. Early recordings first emerged on the Rephlex label with the album Tango n Vectif followed a few months later by a second Bluff Limbo - on its initial release of 800 copies, it rapidly gained a notoriety out of all proportion to its availability, even entering the NME Top 50 albums of the year. 'Tango' meanwhile, has gone on to sell in excess of 60,000 world-wide.

In March 1995, Mike signed to Virgin, releasing the Salsa With Mesquite EP and the album In Pine Effect. ("The difference is that where the Aphex Twin's topographical doodles suggest undiscovered, unpeopled planets of techno, Mu-ziq's approach is a good deal more emotional, attempting to tap into the inner, surfing the soul...This is 'techno' elevated above the more functionalism of the dancefloor, lighting fires in the heart and painting pictures for the mind's eye." - Melody Maker). This year also saw the genesis of 'Jake Slazenger', one of Mike's numerous pseudonyms with the acclaimed future-past Casio jazz-funk of the 'Makesaracket' album on Clear. 1996 saw Paradinas join forces with Richard James for Aphex's one and only collaboration album Mike and Rich on Rephlex; it was also the year that Mike signed to Warp for his second Jake Slazenger album: Das Ist Ein Groovy Beat, Ja.

In May 1997 the release of Lunatic Harness, his third Mu-ziq album proper, saw Mike introducing aspects of drum & bass style programming even more into his music, (previously showcased on the rather esoteric and militant sounding Urmur Bile Trax series). This time, he mixed elements of twisted hip hop carnivalesque synths, toy-town world music and - what became known as - 'drill 'n' bass' with his own inimitable style. Though he may incorporate these elements in to his music, Mike never lets these influences smother a track entirely, instead mixing it all up into an end result which is both innovative and new. And whilst the more conservative of Junglist cliques at the time might well have regarded these recordings as 'dangerous revisionism' within the genre, those who welcomed a progression from the then current coffee-table breakbeat styles weren't to be disappointed. At 50,000 world-wide sales and still counting, others thought so too.

5 years ago Mike launched his own independent record label 'Planet Mu Records' releasing material by Jega, Boards of Canada, Venetian Snares, Capitol K, Hellfish & Producer, Joseph Nothing and Hrvatski amongst many others including some of his own projects such as the Slag Boom Van Loon collaborations with Jochem Paap (aka Speedy J). Now over 80 releases old, Planet Mu has become one of the mainstays of the experimental electronic music scene along with Rephlex and Warp records, gaining more respect from the community with every year that passes.

In July '99 Mike released Royal Astronomy on Virgin RecordsÕ 'Hut Recordings' subsiduary. Musically a sizeable shift onwards from Lunatic Harness, the album focused more on his orchestral leanings (which were already present on In Pine Effect) and he was further inspired (as support act on her 1998 Homogenic tour) by Bjork's use of live string sections in her shows. The album revealed a more poppy and melodic side to Paradinas than on previous occasions, while taking care not to discard any of the innovative programming and cutting edge beats that he'd become renowned for. The album was preceded by a single The Fear, an infectiously haunting vocal track from Kazumi with pastoral strings underpinned by a Northern Soul mid-tempo shuffler rhythm, displaying the versatile nature of Paradinas' output.

In the time since the release of Royal Astronomy, Mike has been working hard on the day-to-day running of his label and the raising of his two children Caleb and Lorien, even managing the time to release various pseudonymous projects such as 2000's Kid Spatula album Full Sunken Breaks and various singles and remixes under his many monikers. Which brings us to Bilious Paths...

...It has been a journey - he has travelled many paths. Is the title an indication of the general queasiness provoked by the many passages Mike has had to traverse to get to this point? Or is it something to do with Bile acids? We may never know (or care). But of one thing we are certain: This is an amazing return to form - 12 tracks comprising of hard cut-up breaks-influenced electronics, distorted washes of melodic detritus and occasional serene ambience; all harking back to his various pasts (the track Meinheld for instance recalls Ô97's Lunatic Harness and My Mengegus would sound like it was lifted off 1993's Tango N'Vectif if it weren't for the give-away sign of digital plug-ins. Note: this is Mu-ziq's first album recorded entirely on an Apple Mac rather than an Atari computer). However, much of the album charts new territory for Paradinas, like the opening track Johnny Maastricht which is inspired by the new 2-step 'hardcore garage/rave' sound but with Mike's own trademark melodic sensibilities taking the place of the bass, and the Grape Nut Beats duo of tracks which mix 6/8 gabber-techno, old skool rave and nu-skool breaks with bassline ragga hardtek - into the like of that which is only imagined in the minds of paranoid Venetian Snares fans exposed to too much London Pirate Radio (on acid). On/Off features the vocal 'talents' of Mike Dykehouse (another Planet Mu artist) embellishing a dirty-bass electro-ish anthem about panties (? - definitely nothing like that 'electroclash' thing though - apparently). It is officially the sixth Mu-ziq album (depending on how you count – the last being 1999's 40,000-selling Royal Astronomy) and Mike Paradinas' 18th