(Soma/Stomp)

UK-based minimal techno / house producer Alex Smoke (real name Alex Menzies) unleashed one of last year’s minimal techno delights with his debut ‘Incommunicado’ album on Soma, which received widespread acclaim and was held by many to be one of the strongest British techno records in recent years. Combining a highly emotive approach with intricate production in manner similar to labelmate Vector Lovers’ sweeping constructions, ‘Incommunicado’ showed Menzies fusing together an extremely wide range of influences spanning from John Carpenter / Eno-esque ambient electronics right through Matthew Johnson-style minimal techno rhythms, and focussing on creating a coherent listening experience, rather than worrying about genre conventions. A scant year on from ‘Incommunicado’s release, this follow-up ‘Paradolia’ (a title which refers to the human brain’s creative ability to perceive coherent images in random patterns such as clouds) arrives swiftly on the heels of a string of 12” releases for Berlin’s Vakant label, and shows Menzies taking his lush fusion of emotional immediacy and meticulous production to an arguably even more potent level.

After an opening ‘Paradolia Intro’ that certainly sets up epic atmosphere, with brooding cello orchestration and the sampled rush of what sounds like flowing water slowly building beneath cycling synth drones, ‘Persona’ snaps things straight down into shimmering minimal techno rhythms, the delicate sound of looped chiming tones nicely counterpointed by sharp-focus beat programming, electro-influenced synth bass patterns and slightly distorted snares, calling to mind some of Matthew ‘Audion’ Dear’s recent work for the Ghostly International label. ‘Never Want To See You Again’ represents a particular highlight moment, with Menzies layering his own processed vocals over a smooth, undulating backdrop of brooding synth orchestration, minimal clicking rhythms and soft bleeping tones in a track that particularly calls to mind some of Swayzak’s more icily melancholic explorations, before album centrepiece ‘Prima Materia’ shows the classically-trained producer combining swelling cinematic cello orchestration and brooding bass drones with a clicking pulse of minimal house rhythms, resulting in one of this record’s most enveloping, widescreen moments.

After this voyage out into contemplative atmospherics, ‘Snider’ kicks things straight back towards stripped-down Detroit techno rhythms, zapping laser-gun style stabs, rolling xylophone-esque tones spinning delicately back and forth as subtle electro basslines power their way beneath and the beats gradually pick up a sharp-focus jacking kick to them that offsets the other dreamier textures, while ‘We Like It Insipid’ takes things into moodily atmospheric downbeat electro, skeletal cracking beats tracing a jagged path beneath fuzzed-out overdriven analogue synths, fluttering electronic noises and what almost sounds like digitally-processed guitar feedback, in one of this album’s most emotionally poignant moments. ‘Anima’ reintroduces Menzies’ heavily-processed vocals over a sinister backdrop of distorted electro rhythms, eerie delayed-out piano notes and dark, lurking sub-bass tones, his delayed-out delivery suggesting Peter Gabriel at points as dramatic cello orchestration rises up in the mix, before ‘Left Drift’ takes things to a close, fluttering knife-sharp minimal techno rhythms pushing against what sounds like sampled flamenco guitar strokes and rich string pads, as digitally-treated harmonic tones trace their way back and forth.

An excellent second album from Alex Smoke that shows this hotly-tipped young UK producer taking the spell-binding fusion of orchestral melancholy and meticulous minimal techno programming he fashioned on ‘Incommunicado’ to arguably even more potent levels. Fans of intricate techno with a deeply emotive pulse will be pleased indeed – fans of the likes of Matthew Dear and Vector Lovers’ glacial elegance should most definitely give ‘Paradolia’ serious investigation.

Check out http://www.somarecords.com.