Smith N Hack - Space Warrior / Moving Like A Train

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  • Too late to bother? Hold your starship there, space cowboy. Soundstream and Errorsmith (the two behind Smith N Hack) mine the past so relentlessly that it should hardly matter that we're just getting around to them in October. Just look at the rise of the duo's remix of Herbert's 'Moving Like a Train.' Released on small quantities on !K7 in 2006, then again as a white label this summer, it's a record that has been quietly burning up dancefloors for an entire year. It finally caught on with Luciano late in '06 and then closed out Dixon's Body Language Vol. 4 big in March. Indeed, it's still getting rinsed - just this month The BBC's Annie Mac played it only a few minutes before up-to-the-minute hipster James Murphy hit the decks in New York. It seems that, for some at least, timelessness is more important than timeliness after all. Count Smith N Hack among them: The white label of 'Moving Like a Train' is backed by a five year-old track from their Tribute album, like they're busy trying to promote it or something. That joint, 'To Our Disco Friends,' shares a throbbing beat in common with the 'Moving...' remix but opts for funky guitars instead of unruly horns. The duo memorably cuts a sampled riff down to a few solitary notes to act as the melody, but eventually they grow a heart and allow a solo to peek out of the regimented funk. Nice guys, eh? (Needless to say, both sides are excellent.) Smith N Hack's newer twelve, 'Space Warrior,' is historically-minded, too, taking Clone electro and 8-bit video games as inspiration. The title track presumably takes samples from the fictitious Atari game of the same name, using lasers, exploding stars, and transitions to warp speed as its melodic gristle. (A stolid electro bassline keeps things grounded.) The B, meanwhile, tones down the video game madness to overlay a soothing vocoded crooner with the titular falling stars dropping through the sky throughout. Classic stuff all around.
  • Tracklist
      Smith N Hack - Space Warrior A1 - Space Warrior A2 - Space Warrior (Scratchapella) B - Falling Stars Smith N Hack - Moving Like A Train / To Our Disco Friends A Herbert - Moving Like A Train (Smith N Hack Remix) B Smith N Hack - To Our Disco Friends
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