Mike & Rich

Mike & Rich is a duo consisting of electronic musicians Mike Paradinas (aka µ-Ziq) and Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin). In 1996, the two of them released the album Expert Knob Twiddlers.

The album is an amalgam of the music stylings of Aphex Twin and µ-ziq, complete with peculiar samples of jazz and of the human anatomy; "Upright Kangaroo" features a prominent sample of a belch as part of the beat. Familiar elements of both artists' works appear throughout; for example, "Winner Takes All" features a beat quite similar to that of "cow cud is a twin" from Aphex Twin's album ...I Care Because You Do, at a much faster tempo. According to Paradinas, the collaboration was partially inspired by James' unreleased Melodies from Mars project.

The album cover features Mike and Rich playing the game Downfall by Milton Bradley Company, designed as a parody of the original game's box art.

The caption on the cover similarly is written in the style of that on the MB game, and reads: "Cleverly manoeuvre your records onto the platters and then listen to the tracks in the right order to win! But watch out-the tracks are different on each side you could be helping your opponent instead of helping yourself!"

An unused track from the Mike & Rich sessions, "Brivert & Muons", was posted on the Planet Mu website around the time of the album's release, but is no longer available.


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