Smoke City was an English band that blended acid jazz and

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

and

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

and some lyrics have excerpts in Portuguese. They are best known for their single " Underwater Love", which was a major

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in 1997, after being used in a

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

television advertisement, "Mermaids" (directed by

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

). In 1997, the band released their first album, ''Flying Away'', which included several hits such as "Underwater Love", "Mr. Gorgeous (and Miss Curvaceous)" and "

Águas de Março "Waters of March" ( pt, "Águas de março" ) is a Brazilian song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927–1994) in 1972. Jobim wrote both the Portuguese and English lyrics. The lyrics, originally written in Portuguese, do not tell a story, but r ...

(Joga Bossa Mix)". Smoke City's next album, ''Heroes of Nature'', was released in 2001. An extended version of ''Heroes of Nature'' had three more tracks than the original, one of them being a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's "

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

". "Underwater Love" is also a track on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for '' Thicker Than Water'', a surf video. In 1998, the band contributed "O Cara Lindo (Mr. Gorgeous)" to the AIDS benefit compilation album '' Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon'', which was produced by the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

. The group disbanded in 2002.

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

listed their album ''Flying Away'' #20 on their list of greatest trip-hop albums of all time.

Members

Nina Miranda Nina Miranda is a Brazilian-born English singer and songwriter who was a member of English bands Smoke City, Shrift and Zeep. Life and career Miranda was born in Brasília, Distrito Federal. Her mother is the English Liz Thompson-Miranda; ...

(

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, fx) * Mark Brown (programming,

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, vocals, fx) *

Chris Franck Chris Franck is a German-born English musician, songwriter, record producer, and remixer, best known for his involvement with the bands Batu, Da Lata, Smoke City, and Zeep. He is described as a "multi-instrumentalist". Biography Franck was b ...

(

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, bass, vocals)

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Flying Away'' (1997) * '' Heroes of Nature'' (2001)

Live albums

* ''

Black Sessions Black Sessions are performances of live music broadcast on the French radio station France Inter. They are recorded in front of a live audience and feature on the '' C'est Lenoir'' show. The name is a pun based on the name of their creator, Bern ...

'' - Smoke City

Singles

* " Underwater Love" (1997) - UK No. 4, AUS No. 41,

AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) *Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin *Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations *Arriva ...

No. 23, BE-FL No. 42, BE-WA No. 33, GER No. 55, NLD No. 97, NOR No. 18, SWE No. 58,

SWI SWI may refer to: Places: * Switzerland (this is not the ISO 3166-1 code, which is CHE) * Swindon railway station (National Rail code SWI), serving Swindon, Wiltshire, United Kingdom In science and technology: * SWI-Prolog, a free implementatio ...

No. 32 * " Mr. Gorgeous (and Miss Curvaceous)" (1997)

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

No. 1 * "Águas de Março" (1998) * "With You" (1998)

References

External links

Concert photos
by Laurent Orseau (Black Session) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smoke City Trip hop groups English electronic music groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 British musical trios Acid jazz ensembles