Alex Smoke

If Smoke continues on the path of this consistent, and seemingly incessant release pattern of astounding and incomparable, multi layered journeys through techno and minimal, he will undoubtedly become larger than any techno predecessor before him. Even the legends of techno old (who I will not get into specific names) who blazed a path here, with a truly grand entrance into this electronic realm, have yet themselves to follow up with as stimulating and imaginative efforts as Alex Smoke has of late. There simply hasn't been a more exciting artist of any electronic genre I've listened to.

Being first in anything is great, and while die hard early techno fans may turn their noses up at me telling them someone has come along and bettered their beloved heroes, as in sports records, record sales stats, and political greats, there can always be someone to come along and one up someone else. Even though you don't allow them to, and won't accept them, either way, it can and will happen.

While I can go on about defending why I suddenly feel there is no better artist to come along in the techno field, I will let his music speak for itself. I can fill 5 CD's right now with a collection of his remixes and own releases of the past 2 years, and from track 1, cd 1, to the last track of cd 5, there wouldn't be a single dull moment in that listening experience, which would be very hard to do for even the seasoned veterans of the electronic music world. And to think we can do that with only a 2 year discography goes without saying. He is constantly keeping each track unique, shuffling feverish glitching, mutilating vocals, and bending any genre's melodies into the craftiest tracks imaginable.

I just hope he can keep it up, and I think he will, because it sure as hell doesn't seem to be a fluke or any kind of beginner's luck!