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Najat Library Card / Gutted / Radiance 1 / M69 Starlight / See Mi Version (Basic Reshape) / 25 Bitches (Gaiser Remix) / Minor Explosions / Loose Wire (AC Version) / Aqua / Detroit: One Circle / Xenia / Peace Of Mind / Juan & Alex / Faktum / Pingu / Squat / Always & Forever / Fokuz
SOMA RECORDINGS LTD
SOMACD52
The third in the celebrated SCI. FI. HI. FI. DJ mix series sees Soma Records artist Alex Smoke stepping up to take control, submitting a cool blend of electronica, downtempo and techno. Both chilling and mesmerising, SCI. FI. HI. FI. VOLUME 3 is a record of dark techno beats and subdued electronica; sounds drift in and out, less a collection of songs as a collage of ideas and soundscapes, a dreamlike collision of the strange and the beautiful.
Opening with the atmospheric NAJAT LIBRARY CARD from Porn Sword Tobacco, Alex Smoke dips his toe in the murky waters of techno, with the likes of Burial and Model 500; but its a tentative step - the sampled blips and beeps acting as a counterpoint to the deft beats and gentle bass lines. The moody AQUA by Aril Brikha is a more dense and intricate slice of techno, a deep bass rumble running beneath the cold electro bleeps; running effortlessly into DETROIT: ONE CIRCLE from The Vision, a sublime slab of Detroit techno, deftly showing where it all came from in the first place.
Thomas Brinkmann's XENIA is a densely atmospheric affair, deep bass rumbles conveying a sense of tension and distant menace; the aural equivalent of a David Lynch movie, dark and sinister, but with a fearless beauty beating at its heart. Contributing the sinister sounding PINGU; Alex Smoke delivers some bass heavy techno; the twisted samples only adding to a slight feeling of paranoia and menace in the air, his other effort ALWAYS & FOREVER, another helping of sublime techno that drifts along on a wave of blips, bleeps and beats.
SCI. FI. HI. FI. VOLUME 3 is a record that drips with dark atmosphere, Alex Smoke contributing a mix that acts like a continuous mood piece rather than coming as instant satisfaction. Like a haunting soundtrack to late night comedowns or the companion piece to abstract art, this is music that suits those slower moments in life - at times cold and clinical, at times menacing and paranoid, but on the whole beautiful and sublime. A classy DJ set that fits in somewhere between The Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada and Kraftwerk; SCI. FI. HI. FI. is a generous helping of intelligent dance music that showcases Alex Smoke as an artist to reckon with.
Glaswegian based artist Alex Smoke recently released his second album, 'Paradolia' on Soma Records.
Paradolia is defined as the human ability to creatively perceive coherent
images in randomness. This is an unusual word by anyone’s standard but then
Alex Menzies (aka Mr Smoke) is an artist very far from the usual. A
Rorschach test this is not, more a sonic experiment that explores the
parameters of Alex Smoke’s potent psyche.
Alex remarks on its significance “I guess the album is the pattern and the
tracks the randomness as I didn't have a plan to tie everything together. I
also think it describes really well the appeal of music that at first sounds
random but makes sense as a whole.”
It is almost twelve months since Soma unleashed ‘Incommunicado’, Smoke’s
masterful debut. Lauded by critics upon its release in March 2005 it
portrayed his instinctive maturity in constructing emotional, deep grooves
with intricate production techniques. ‘Incommunicado’ enveloped a myriad of
influences including dub, electro, grime and minimal techno. One of the
album highlights, ‘Don’t See The Point’ demonstrated his desire to
incorporate his own vocals in innovative ways, while voicing his
frustrations at the current political climate. This pivotal release
augmented the fact that his music was not confined to the dancefloor and
could not be pigeonholed by genre.
With ‘Paradolia’ he has taken this blueprint and pushed the boundaries for a
composition that is swollen with ingenuity and experimentation. The
development of his unique sound is clear to hear, crafting a beguiling
symmetry of melancholy and melody. The result is an a listening experience
that is more cohesive and inspirational than his debut outing.
As he reflects, “I guess I'm happier with my production now. The other big
difference is that Incommunicado covered 4 years, whereas this album is
entirely within a year so it probably hangs together better.”
Like its predecessor, Alex has once again interpreted styles of music that
make an impact on him. With ‘Paradolia’ he has gone a step further, welding
disparate genre’s into mindbending opus’s. The most ambitious track on the
album is ‘Prima Materia’. Here he unites his two early influences of
classical music (he is classically trained in the cello and piano) and early
house to detonate a symphonic explosion that sounds like nothing else
around.
He includes his own vocals on ‘Never Want To See You Again’, ‘Make My Day’
and ‘Anima’, each of which utilises bamboozling production techniques to
devastating effect.
With an intrinsic understanding of how to rock the dancefloor, he has
created the magnificent ‘Meany’, the first track to be released as a single
(twelve inch version comes with a Matt John remix). This live-set staple is
a twisted technoid cut of stuttering disorder that will erupt in the club.
Another album seducer is the majestic ‘Snider’, a shimmering techno groove
that nods to the minimal sound and his love of classic Detroit. Album
opener ‘Persona’ is prime example of the deep and pulsing Alex Smoke sound
that we know and love.
The personal nature of his music is evident throughout, on tracks like the
reflective ‘A Moment To Myself’, the emotional ‘Something’s Gone’ and the
fragile beauty of ‘Left Drift’ his wistful sound resonates. With the
razor-edge beats of ‘We Like It Insipid’ he draws attention to his dislike
of certain aspects of the world around us. “The title refers to the lowest
common denominator tastes of the world as a whole, from Macdonalds to the
Daily Mail to every other fucking flacid appendage of modern society.” His
social conscience remains intact.
2005 has been the year which has witnessed this young producer’s rapid
ascent through the ranks of the techno elite. Since the release of ‘Incommunicado’ he has been booked to play the clubs and festivals of the
UK, Europe and beyond. Alex reflects, “It’s all been slightly surreal,
because everything has happened so fast, but it's obviously been brilliant.
The main thing that I've found hard to get used to is not seeing so much of
my friends at the weekends so next year I'm taking more time off.”
His coveted releases on Berlin label Vakant have cemented his club
credentials and found their way into boxes and laptops of innovative dj’s
everywhere. Not content with a slew of killer twelves, Alex Smoke remixes
have constantly been in demand, recently renovating Mylo, Alex Under and
Vector Lovers. 2006 is already shaping up to be another monumental one for
Alex Smoke with the release of ‘Paradolia’ and subsequent UK and European
live tour.
Soma Recordings have been pioneering electronic music since the label began in 1991. Now with the Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi collection they are bringing together visionary producers and DJ's to present a sonic snapshot of their craft. The artists have no parameters to their selection and are free to represent themselves in any style they choose, portraying influences past, present and future.
Ewan Pearson begins the series in fine style with his delectable excursion through deep and provocative electronic house music. He has been making records for a living since 1998, recording as Maas for Soma, releasing six singles and an album, ‘Latitude’, and under a number of other guises including World of Apples and Partial Arts. Alongside this he has long established himself as one the UK’s finest producers and his amazing remix ability has set the standard in recent years, with the likes of Alter Ego, Moby, Chemical Brothers, Goldfrapp, Freeform Five, Seenenluft, Ladytron, Royksopp,The Rapture and Depeche Mode - to name but a few - all calling on his deft ability to transform a track in his unique style.
His production credits include two albums with alt-country singer Jeb Loy Nichols, plus work with Ladytron, Chikinki and Envoy amongst others, not forgetting his recent programming work on two tracks on Gwen Stefani’s ‘Love Angel Music Baby’ solo album. He is currently lining up key production work, which is set to define his position as one of the UK’s finest young producers. It’s also a little known fact that he is the author with Jeremy Gilbert of ‘Discographies: dance music, culture and the politics of sound’ (Routledge, 1999) making him probably the most articulate DJ in clubland. Fact fans may wish to know that ‘Discographies’ has also been translated into Korean and Spanish.
Since relocating to Berlin, Ewan has seen his DJ career flourish and has subsequently rocked floors as far a field as South Africa, Argentina, Mexico and Australia, while his regular gigs at Pulp in Paris, Pressure in Glasgow and Manumission in Ibiza have given him fanatical following in these places. However, it is Ewan’s own ‘Come Shake The Whole’ residency in London that gives him the most pleasure, as he says “It's there that I've learned most about playing records to people, and there that I feel most comfortable and myself when playing.”
This is the first time Ewan has released a mix album and to make it special he has used Ableton Live, the software has allowed him to include a range of tempos, key-match and re-edit tracks that would have otherwise have been impossible for him to do. The mix itself perfectly captures the atmosphere of hearing Ewan play live in the club, while the melody and harmony that prevails throughout creates an ideal home listening experience.
The track selection conveys Ewan’s unique taste, he comments “All the tracks have been thoroughly road-tested by me; rather than just try and get the most recent and up-to-date things I could, there are
plenty of things here that I think have been maybe overlooked and missed by lots of people or have proved to have particular staying power. I tend to keep playing records that I really love for a long time - as long as everyone else isn't…” There is however plenty of new music, some exclusives and unreleased gems including Danton ‘Odd Bassliner’, Tim Paris’ mix of Karu, Spirit Catcher’s ‘Key Generator’ and Carl Finlow’s breathtaking mix of Villalobos ‘Easy Lee’.
Ewan Pearson has outdone himself with this immaculate collection and has set the standard for the Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi series, and mix compilations everywhere. He’s also terribly nice, intelligent and not bad looking making him a rare and complete all-rounder that should be heralded in these dark disco days.
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