Mike & Rich album turned 20 years old [Planet Mu Reissue]

[YangYing]

The moment you wearing a Mike & Rich T-shirt and your girlfriend is cheating you with a Mike guy or a Richard!

or both! :O

[Bechuga]

There really should be more Aphex stuff on Mu (obviously won't), seems like it would be a good match.

[zazen]

And here is a funny interview with them taken from MUZIK Magazine №15 August 1996

 

... In an attempt to capture their unique musical rapport, we decided to get them together over a bottle of vodka or three, present them with a few words and phrases, and let them wind their lateral way round the houses.

Here's what happened...

 

Are you taking the piss, lads?

Rich: "We have a laugh with our music, but that doesn't mean we're taking the piss."

Mike: "We definitely don't take the piss out of the people who buy our stuff. I think what you're getting at is how the music we're into, be it easy listening or funk, is often seen as joke music. But we actually like it. Apart from when the media try to sell it back to us as pseudo-trendy London music."

Rich: "So 'no' is the answer."

Mike: "Some easy listening stuff is excellent, though. Especially 'Moog Indigo'."

Rich: "Yeah, they want me to remix it along with James Lavelle."

Mike: "I'd agree to do it on the condition James Lavelle doesn't."

Rich: "Anyway, what's the point of making music if you can't have a laugh?"

Mike: "Yeah, remember those really boring kids who never had a laugh at school? They'd probably make really boring music. I often hear records and think, 'He must have been a boring fucker at school'."

Rich: "What's up with you, Mike? You didn't used to talk this much. I suppose the fame must have affected your personality."

Mike: "No, I was just always quiet with you because you try to play games with people's heads. You're like a bully. And what you do with bullies is ignore them so they go away."

Rich: "But it doesn't work. The bully ends up kicking the shit out of you even more. Or in my case, it makes me want to play more mind games with you."

 

...

 

Oh wow, I have been searching for this interview for years, literally. Back in 1996 I read it sitting in a cafe near Berwick st somewhere and it always stuck in my head because they did seem to be getting pissed off with each other. Mike calls Rich a bully. Rich talks about Mike's wife having an Aphex tattoo. Rich calls Mikes quality control crap. Mike calls Rephlex crap. etc...

 

I'm pretty sure this is the only copy of the interview that has ever made it onto the internet because I've googled it before and never found it.

 

Congrats FilziSH for getting it up here.

Edited July 20, 2016 by zazen

[colunga]

wish my name was mike and i had a friend named rich, just for the shirt

[Key]

That interview seems to play out a kind of master-protege power relationship going on between Aphex and μ which they both take the piss out of with varying degrees of seriousness. Like when Mike admitted Richard cares more about making music, therefore 'he wins'. They both have such a dry sense of humour it is difficult to tell where the jokes stop.

 

The standard opinion about the Mike & Rich album is that it is enjoyable but not top tier work from either artist, usually this is explained away by its origins as drunken, high, barely edited jams, but what if it was a subconscious playing out of this friction? and they were both trying to hijack the sessions with heightened goofiness in order to prove the other one was shit.

 

Im really happy about this re-release (as I would be if pretty much any Rephlex album got a 3LP coloured repress + bonus trax) and its made me revisit it for the first time in years. Its subdued work for both of them, and the easy-listening loungetronica vibe is very '90s hipster but still strangely charming. Its easy to tell who did what with Mike P's uber funkiness and supermarket musak organ excursions playing out over ICBYD-era hip hop breaks and strings and Melodies From Mars woozy mysteron sounds. Def one of the better half of the catalogue. Can't wait to hear the bonus tracks, There were a few soundcloud tracks that seemed to very reminiscent of this stuff too.i need to get back on.

 

[beerwolf]

I'm just gonna get the digital release, and enjoy the lighthearted tunes as they were probably intended. I'd like the vinyl just because of the cover, as it's fabulously fantastically cool but I think I'll stick to the download.

[ganus]

When I was in France at 17, this and Drukqs were two of the only albums on my mp3 player, and so I have visceral memories of listening to this while waiting for the subway, wandering in Lyon or Paris at night, etc... It's a very special funky little album. So, I love that this is happening- Another unexpected happening like Mike and Rich's Soundcloud dumps that tickles me with joy.

[goDel]

Yes!

 

Hope the other Rephlex stuff get Bandcamped as well.

[Consul]

I might just buy this as digital but my heart says "Buy the CD"

Edited July 21, 2016 by Consul

[njk84]

Just pre-ordered the limited edition cassette from Bandcamp

 

Really excited for this one, heard much about it but never listened to it.

[JUVITH SITH]

i don't believe the cassette has sold out, someone bought nearly 1000 since yesterday.

[Tatdylf]

Such an awesome release, big thanks to MR Games!!

[joyeboy]

Just caned this album last night after a long while, really hit the spot, and came to the realization about how much this album really means to me and informs a lot of what I do. And I am such a fanboy of this album that I preordered the cassette, vinyl, poster and t-shirt!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tatdylf]

http://www.self-titledmag.com/2016/07/19/planet-mu-readies-mike-rich-reissue-featuring-seven-previously-unreleased-tracks-from-aphex-twin-and-m-ziq/

 

working title was 'Famous Knob Twiddlers'?

[hello spiral]

The tape is gone???!!!

 

[KovalainenFanBoy]

http://www.self-titledmag.com/2016/07/19/planet-mu-readies-mike-rich-reissue-featuring-seven-previously-unreleased-tracks-from-aphex-twin-and-m-ziq/

 

working title was 'Famous Knob Twiddlers'?

 

that interview is literally the first post on this thread

[Tatdylf]

 

http://www.self-titledmag.com/2016/07/19/planet-mu-readies-mike-rich-reissue-featuring-seven-previously-unreleased-tracks-from-aphex-twin-and-m-ziq/

 

working title was 'Famous Knob Twiddlers'?

 

that interview is literally the first post on this thread

 

 

twiddle a knob

[GraveGlitcher]

wish my name was mike and i had a friend named rich, just for the shirt

My name is Mike and my pa's is Richard....and I do have a penchant for mind games as well

[may be rude]

psyched, the original is a really unique and great album.

 

is there word about if these tracks are from the same sessions or era?

[thief]

http://soundcloud.com/camicolusion/aphex-twin-white-blur-2-and

[Kennylogg Bubblebath]

^ lol, if the white blur sample was turned down a bit that would sound genuinely dope

[maxd98]

Just getting into the original M&R. Though that blue vinyl looks delicious, I think i'm going to pass on purchasing a physical version of this.

[zazen]

is there word about if these tracks are from the same sessions or era?

From the same sessions/era for sure.

[Hail Sagan]

I'm one of the douches who bought a tape and doesn't even have a tape deck or have the intention to even hear it on tape really. My dickhead nature just compelled me to buy the tape because I thought it looked kinda cool. See you guys on ebay in 5 years maybe ;)

[zlemflolia]

I'm one of the douches who bought a tape and doesn't even have a tape deck or have the intention to even hear it on tape really. My dickhead nature just compelled me to buy the tape because I thought it looked kinda cool. See you guys on ebay in 5 years maybe ;)

 

Me too