The best music obscures its origins; combining elements of disparate genres, adding something new and special, then redefining the existing parameters to encompass a unique sound. This is what Alex Smoke does; like a cloud of digital fog, enveloping minimal techno, dub, electro(nica) and house, he sucks it all in and exhales something thrillingly new. Perhaps that's where his name comes from... Or maybe not. The follow up to the stunning 'Incommunicado', 'Paradolia' launches with the undulating melodic confusion of 'Intro' which, through a smear of rain, emerges glistening on the beautifully textured 'Persona' - minimal house brimming with analogue somersaults and cushioned pads. Slipping from this into 'A Moment To Myself', Smoke (aka Alex Menzies) whips up a thickly layered gumbo of chimes, beats and Balearic grace, before giving in to his glitterball tendencies for the dead-pan vocals and bleeping undercarriage of 'Never Want To See You Again'. Elsewhere, 'Meany' attacks the Tejada-heartland with incisive gusto, 'Prima Materia' drafts in a tsunami of synth-strings, whilst 'Anima' wraps over-blown soundscapes in a coil of fizzing beats and wheezing silicon. His best work yet...
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The best music obscures its origins; combining elements of disparate genres, adding something new and special, then redefining the existing parameters to encompass a unique sound. This is what Alex Smoke does; like a cloud of digital fog, enveloping minimal techno, dub, electro(nica) and house, he sucks it all in and exhales something thrillingly new. Perhaps that's where his name comes from... Or maybe not. The follow up to the stunning 'Incommunicado', 'Paradolia' launches with the undulating melodic confusion of 'Intro' which, through a smear of rain, emerges glistening on the beautifully textured 'Persona' - minimal house brimming with analogue somersaults and cushioned pads. Slipping from this into 'A Moment To Myself', Smoke (aka Alex Menzies) whips up a thickly layered gumbo of chimes, beats and Balearic grace, before giving in to his glitterball tendencies for the dead-pan vocals and bleeping undercarriage of 'Never Want To See You Again'. Elsewhere, 'Meany' attacks the Tejada-heartland with incisive gusto, 'Prima Materia' drafts in a tsunami of synth-strings, whilst 'Anima' wraps over-blown soundscapes in a coil of fizzing beats and wheezing silicon. His best work yet...
The best music obscures its origins; combining elements of disparate genres, adding something new and special, then redefining the existing parameters to encompass a unique sound. This is what Alex Smoke does; like a cloud of digital fog, enveloping minimal techno, dub, electro(nica) and house, he sucks it all in and exhales something thrillingly new. Perhaps that's where his name comes from... Or maybe not. The follow up to the stunning 'Incommunicado', 'Paradolia' launches with the undulating melodic confusion of 'Intro' which, through a smear of rain, emerges glistening on the beautifully textured 'Persona' - minimal house brimming with analogue somersaults and cushioned pads. Slipping from this into 'A Moment To Myself', Smoke (aka Alex Menzies) whips up a thickly layered gumbo of chimes, beats and Balearic grace, before giving in to his glitterball tendencies for the dead-pan vocals and bleeping undercarriage of 'Never Want To See You Again'. Elsewhere, 'Meany' attacks the Tejada-heartland with incisive gusto, 'Prima Materia' drafts in a tsunami of synth-strings, whilst 'Anima' wraps over-blown soundscapes in a coil of fizzing beats and wheezing silicon. His best work yet...
The best music obscures its origins; combining elements of disparate genres, adding something new and special, then redefining the existing parameters to encompass a unique sound. This is what Alex Smoke does; like a cloud of digital fog, enveloping minimal techno, dub, electro(nica) and house, he sucks it all in and exhales something thrillingly new. Perhaps that's where his name comes from... Or maybe not. The follow up to the stunning 'Incommunicado', 'Paradolia' launches with the undulating melodic confusion of 'Intro' which, through a smear of rain, emerges glistening on the beautifully textured 'Persona' - minimal house brimming with analogue somersaults and cushioned pads. Slipping from this into 'A Moment To Myself', Smoke (aka Alex Menzies) whips up a thickly layered gumbo of chimes, beats and Balearic grace, before giving in to his glitterball tendencies for the dead-pan vocals and bleeping undercarriage of 'Never Want To See You Again'. Elsewhere, 'Meany' attacks the Tejada-heartland with incisive gusto, 'Prima Materia' drafts in a tsunami of synth-strings, whilst 'Anima' wraps over-blown soundscapes in a coil of fizzing beats and wheezing silicon. His best work yet...