Steve Smith - The Other Steve

Hear The Track Here

Being the limelight hogging swine I so obviously am leads to some tricky situations and talk of clonage... There are no more of me (and we all thank God, Beelzeebub and Auntie Nora for that) but there are - apparently bunches of 'Other' Steve's. This is - as you can imagine - a subject of deep and infinite fascination for me because any Steve is better than no Steve at all. Still, this is all getting way too silly and I'll stop now. For those people who don't live on planet Soundclick (ie NOT the 42 people who post there) Steve Smith is - above all - a musician. Nay, a scholarly musician even, and we all know where that leads... Best not go there... Over the year or so I have known Steve I have reviewed some tracks, appreciated them but ultimately not really taken to them and that - I hasten to add before I get fistage - is no fault of Steve Smith's. Merely my plebian need for music that goes bonk-bonk-bonk in a plain, straightforward line so that I can get me foot right.

No, that's something else entirely, so slide past this one....

So you can imagine then, the incredible pain and anguish I suffered when I discovered that The Other Steve was NOT about me. Why the cheek of the young whippersnapper!! I oughtta... Instead it's about a Steve Gibson and no matter what hack I try I cannot seem to get his webpage to accept my name instead. Steve assures me that this track is sequence and MIDI free which I can only assume to mean that this is some way live? Otherwise I'm not sure what ' no midi devices or sequences were used' means. What it means to my ears is a track that is surprisingly listenable and even - dare I say this? - without too much of a joke going on behind it...

Given the awesome kit Steve used to make this track, it's no surprise that it comes out sounding as good as it does. While it is every bit as fussy as his other work, there is a flow and feel to The Other Steve that is a delight to me ears and easily the most accessible (at least for clods like me) Steve Smith track I have heard yet. There again, this isn't a guy who goes in for accessible tracks, he likes to make people work for the pleasure and - conversely - sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. The Other Steve though, definitely falls into the pleasure category as an excellent instrumental, delivered in a clear, clean mix that I felt was a little too flat for the sounds, but hey small change when you get an earful of something as lush as this. Steve says its a laid back chill track and I heartily agree.

Excellent chill out. Highly Recommended.