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Alex Smoke - OK (Soma)
UK release date: 11 July 2005
Alex Smoke - OK

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Alex Smoke follows the techno triumph of Don't See The Point with this less immediate selection from debut album Incommunicado. It kicks off with Smoke's Indifferent Mix, which sadly lives up to its name, making it hard not to treat it with the apathy it demands.

Bass and clinical drums are met by the odd squelch and synth loop but while it may be relatively dull, at least it gently progresses, which is more than can be said for the whopping Jay Haze mix. Stretching to nearly thirteen minutes, this is far from the evolving epic you may expect. Ambience drifts and bleeps spurt in and out of earshot, while beats threaten emptily to induce interest before it has the bare-faced cheek to fade out crescendo-less at the end.

Redemption comes in the form of Nuance, another minimal electronic exercise but made far more palatable by some warmly refreshing chords, and the orchestral sweeps, strings and richer depths of both the original and radio versions of OK. You still can't help wishing it would jump up and surprise you at some point, but that is a rare occurrence in the realms of minimal techno. This is competent but largely impotent machine music, the end result being merely OK.






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