Walk With MU
©Phantasma Disques. US, 2011.
‟Pyramids of Mu share a lot of tendencies with acid-house heroes The KLF. Even their name is a reference: Pyramids of Mu vs. The KLF’s original Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. Which was taken from The Illuminatus! Trilogy. Which ostensibly inspired PoM’s track “Illuminatu”. It’s a whole thing.
And if the sonic similarities aren’t immediately clear — “Pax Brittanica”, the opening track of this Phantasma Disques release, wanders in like a mechanical, steam-filled soundscape, nary a dance beat in sight — just wait until you’ve raged through all 11 songs. Walk With Mu is, at its heart, a bizarre underworld rave, this flashback to some alternative-universe 90s club scene where cyber-punk went dark instead of nowhere. It’s a record made for molly, or the concept of it; even if you’ve never touched MDMA, never sweat beat by beat through a warehouse filled with dirt and glitter and blood, Walk With Mu makes you feel like you have.
It’s relentless, that feeling. Exciting even. Tracks like the stompy “Khufu” — hello, shades of “Hallelujah (Club Mix)” — and the slashed stutters of “Tzi” are fierce in their devotion to The KLF and Underworld, all those beloved figureheads of club-eras past, and they channel the same unmitigated energy that created techno and acid-house in the first place. But, to their unending credit, Pyramids of Mu never feel like an obnoxious throwback. They clearly know from whence they come — they’re not just, you know, trying to rewrite the Hackers soundtrack — and they meticulously combine the energy of that glitched-out cyber generation with the overarching themes of this one: dark, hellish, buzzing drama, all witchy and ominous. Aside from a few production hiccups — a few of the tracks are resonant to the point of pain, though maybe that’s the point — Walk With Mu is dead on: a heated conglomeration of raved-up house and techno, past and bright, treacherous future.‟
And if the sonic similarities aren’t immediately clear — “Pax Brittanica”, the opening track of this Phantasma Disques release, wanders in like a mechanical, steam-filled soundscape, nary a dance beat in sight — just wait until you’ve raged through all 11 songs. Walk With Mu is, at its heart, a bizarre underworld rave, this flashback to some alternative-universe 90s club scene where cyber-punk went dark instead of nowhere. It’s a record made for molly, or the concept of it; even if you’ve never touched MDMA, never sweat beat by beat through a warehouse filled with dirt and glitter and blood, Walk With Mu makes you feel like you have.
It’s relentless, that feeling. Exciting even. Tracks like the stompy “Khufu” — hello, shades of “Hallelujah (Club Mix)” — and the slashed stutters of “Tzi” are fierce in their devotion to The KLF and Underworld, all those beloved figureheads of club-eras past, and they channel the same unmitigated energy that created techno and acid-house in the first place. But, to their unending credit, Pyramids of Mu never feel like an obnoxious throwback. They clearly know from whence they come — they’re not just, you know, trying to rewrite the Hackers soundtrack — and they meticulously combine the energy of that glitched-out cyber generation with the overarching themes of this one: dark, hellish, buzzing drama, all witchy and ominous. Aside from a few production hiccups — a few of the tracks are resonant to the point of pain, though maybe that’s the point — Walk With Mu is dead on: a heated conglomeration of raved-up house and techno, past and bright, treacherous future.‟
Mishka
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