Smoke City was an English band that blended

acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...

and

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

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

television advertisement, "Mermaids" (directed by

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker and producer 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 o ...

). 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 Águas or Aguas may refer to: Places * Dos Aguas, a municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain * Aguas, municipality in Aragon, Spain * Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas, a Rococo palace in Valencia, Spain People People with this surname i ...

(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 activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

's " Imagine". "Underwater Love" is also a track on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

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 non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization with goals to promote diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors ...

. 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 Yor ...

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 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; Her father ...

(

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, fx) * Mark Brown (programming,

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

s, keyboards,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, vocals, fx) * Chris Franck (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboards,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, vocals)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

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 Electronic music groups from London Female-fronted musical groups English musical trios Mixed-gender musical trios Acid jazz ensembles Jive Records artists