"Scorchio" is an instrumental by Welsh DJ
Sasha and English musician
Darren Emerson
Darren Paul Emerson (born 30 April 1971) is an English musician, DJ and producer best known as a former member of the British electronic music group Underworld.
Career Early life
Emerson began mixing hip hop records at the age of 14, and by ...
, credited
mononymously
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person.
A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...
as Emerson.
It was released on 18 September 2000 by Sasha's
vanity label
Informally, a vanity label (compare vanity press) is a record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the com ...
at that time, Excession, through
Deconstruction Records
Deconstruction Records is a British record label founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst, together with Mike Pickering of M People. According to '' DJ Magazine'' it is "best remembered for marrying underground credibility and div ...
.
The song peaked at number 23 on the
UK Singles Chart in 2000, and reached number 1 on the
UK Dance Chart
The Dance Singles Chart and the Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the electronic dance music, dance music genre (e.g. house music, house, trance music, trance, ...
.
The song also charted in the Netherlands, and has been included on numerous compilations.
Background and composition
The collaboration had started after Sasha and Emerson met at a show in Uruguay that they had both been performing at, shortly following Emerson's departure from electronic music group
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
. The song was co-written by Sasha, Emerson and
Spooky member
Charlie May, the latter performed song's main riff, on a
Roland Jupiter-8
The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in early 1981.
The Jupiter-8 was Roland's flagship synthesizer for the first half of the 1980s. Approximately 3,300 units have ...
synthesiser.
The instrumental was named after a recurring sketch in the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
comedy sketch show ''
The Fast Show
''The Fast Show'', also known as ''Brilliant'' in the United States, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran on BBC Two, BBC 2 from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Si ...
''.
The song was written with a tempo of 135
beats per minute
Beat, beats, or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact
* Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact
* Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...
in the key of
F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...
.
On the topic of the song's composition, Sasha stated that "
tjust came together so effortlessly,
..and it really captured a moment".
Reception
In the liner notes of the
Kiss
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
mix album ''Kiss House Nation 2001'', ''
Mixmag
''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights.
History
The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...
'' music editor Matthew Kershaw named "Scorchio" among 2000's "uncategorisable" club tracks, highlighting how it "managed to have the most outrageously sunny, Ibiza-fied main riff but also a dark, progressive edge."
Formats and track listings
Charts
See also
*
List of UK Dance Singles Chart number ones of 2000
References
{{Sasha (DJ)
2000 songs
2000 singles
British electronic dance music songs
Deconstruction Records singles
Electronic instrumentals