::sigh::
Airick Hopson | Troy, NY United States | 09/03/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"There goes another one.. It always seems to happen.. I find a band that far surpasses anything out there in the disgusting pop market.. Smoke City's Flying Away album quickly made it to the top of my very extensive music collection.. I anxiously awaited the new album.. ordering it on import (much cheaper) from ...... When the album arrived it took me a few days to listen to it.. I was too excited.. how could Smoke City make -anything- bad?::sigh:: Yet.. they did.. This album disgusted me for the most part... ending with the god-awful poppy radio mix "what it was" song where they used a vocoder on Nina... !!!! WHY WOULD ANYONE DISTORT NINA'S VOICE?!?!? ugh.. to try and fit in i suppose.. it was just painful to listen to.. a few songs were half-decent.. but they sounded forced.. the inclusion of Chris' child's voices in a few songs along with Nina's amazing crooning are all that kept this thing from crashing and burning totally.. it lacks all the amazing artistic and beautifully detailed soundscapes as the first album had.. what a severe disappointment.. =((( ::sigh::"
Smoke City is back
bordersj2 | Boston | 09/18/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I was fortunate to be in England when this album came out, so I was spared the shipping fees for the import of this disc. I had, along with many others, been awaiting the release of Smoke City's new album, only hearing about it from here and there and when it finally came out, I wasn't really disappointed.The sound is crisp and smooth. Smoke City utilizes more in this album, Christian Franck's gift with the guitar, so you do have more of an acoustic feel to this album. The tracks just kind of slide through, Mr. Brown and the wonderful voice of Nina Miranda was captivating with all of the tracks - except one. The previous reviewer that slammed Smoke City's remix of "What it Was" is justified. To put it mildly, that was to me the biggest downside of the otherwise enjoyable release. He/She was spot on with that call.So pick it up. It's an enjoyable disc. I wouldn't rate it as high as the first one in originality, but in enjoyment, it comes close. The first one had a sort of magic to it, a daredevilish sort of take that this one lacks. It's not really poppish by any means like I saw. It's just, good music and instrumentation. Collect it - but don't expect something as strong as the first release."
Fantastic 2nd lp!
kevin h. | Oztin | 08/24/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"first of all, this album is 'pop' (yes, dirty 'pop') but no more than the group's debut. warmer, lusher, a little less trippy than flying away, it's still brilliant! unlike many (eg hooverphonic, sneaker pimps), sc doesn't change their sound out of fear/boredom; instead you hear a smooth progression from fa to hon. hoover & the pimps are still great, but you can't help but wonder about the sincerity of their musicality sometimes. i guess not enough dyslexic journalists & inconsistent sub-editors know about sc to stick the cliche-itself portishead-massive attack comparison tag on them. fortunately. jazzier & more 'brazilian' than fa (which is more 'trip-hop' & eclectic), hon is more coherent & mature. outstanding songs - can you feel that, what it was (both versions! so what if she chooses to use a vocoder?? it's a great dance tune), jug... tracklist: 1/in 2/can you feel that 3/what it was (acoustic) 4/they can't take that away from me (also on gershwin cover red hot & rhapsody) 5/london 6/mr. 7/jug 8/remember this 9/it's amazing 10/little elina 11/life can be sweet 12/this song 13/what it wasif you're a true sc fan, then you know their music is all about having fun, not feeding into the intellectual pretense of contre-courant gen-X hipsters."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1