Minotaur Shock: The Ransom Note Mix
Today marks the return of Bristolian producer Minotaur Shock as he releases his first album under the much-loved moniker since \u2018Orchard\u2019 in 2012. On \u2018Orchard\u2019 Edwards embraced the "folktronica" tag that had previously been a burden, but, nearly seven years on, he has renounced the acoustic guitars, drums and woodwind instruments to make \u2018MINO\u2019 - the sound of a man getting to grips with his machines without relinquishing his innate musicality and ear for joyous melodies. \n\nAlthough electronica was integral to the Minotaur Shock sound (he has also released purer excursions in the form as Principal Participant and Oligos), Edwards felt that he'd never got to grips with the basics of production. "I knew what effect certain knobs on a synth had, but had no idea why they did that or what was really going on." So he embarked on a prolonged period of experimentation, \u201cbasically dicking around in my studio, focusing on the process of creating tracks and sounds, rather than the end result, trying to grasp the fundamentals of synthesis to better understand how it worked. Occasionally I did press record or save, and these experiments formed the basis of \u2018MINO\u2019.\u201d \n\nIn celebration of the release we invited him to contribute to our beloved mix series, which he does with flair and imagination.