ALEX HAAS & BILL LASWELL
1/ Truth Be Told (Hass) 7.10
2/ Hard to believe (Hass) 5.32
3/ Smoke + Glass (Hass) 6.15
4/ Strange Weather (Hass) 3.37
5/ Chasing Chaos (Hass) 7.16
6/ Another Way (Hass) 6.21
7/ Second Thoughts (Hass,Laswell) 4.03
8/ Forgotten City (Hass) 6.10
Engineered and mixed by Alex Haas at Treehouse Studio Paris
Additional engineering: James Dellatacoma at Orange Music Studio NJ,
Mark Ettinger at Lethe Lounge Studio NYC, Zenon Marko at Disreality Studio NYC,
and Jim Roberson Productions MD
Produced by Alex Haas and Bill Laswell
Mastering by Michael Fossenkemper at Turtle Tone Studio NYC
Cover design: Gianesini Design
Photograph: Ernst Haas ©The Estate of Ernst Haas/Getty Images
Yoko Yamabe: interstellar communications director
Bill Laswell: Bass and pedals; Alex Haas: synths, keys (1,3), guitar (4,5,6,7,8); Dennis Butler: drums (1,2,5),
drum programming (8); Simon King: drum programming (1,2,4,6,7); Ensemble Aninoma: Middle Eastern Orchestra (1);
Thomas Teasly: cymbal (1); Peter Apfelbaum: sax (2,5); Ignacio Arroyo: percussion (2,3,5,8); Jimmy Field: pedal steel (3);
Winston Campbell Jr.: percussion (4); Zenon Marco: additional synths (4), hi hat and cymbals (8); Kamal Laghari: Tablas (6);
Thomas Teasly Bongo fills (6).
1999 - Sonic Continuum (USA), SCCD2019 (CD)
1999 - Bill Laswell Bandcamp (digital)
On Smoke + Glass, their collaboration, it makes no difference, as the duo, along with all the others involved, seems to fit together like a glove. After all, not only is this their second joint album, but they worked as producers with a list of big names from the initial Bootsy Collins production to David Bowie, PIL, The Ramones, Prince, Brian Eno and Motorhead, and assisted on Grammy-winning sessions for U2’s "All That You Can Leave Behind" and Eric Clapton’s "Tears in Heaven".
Is it all here on Smoke + Glass? Yes, including the Lemmy-style bass sound Laswell can produce in a second! But, the moment the first few chords of the opener "Truth Be Told" kick in, you realize the accent is on all that went on from King Tubby to Miles Davis seen through the eyes of Massive Attack at their best and their most inventive. Throughout, it is obvious that Haas and Laswell do not shy away from the now dreaded term of trip-hop, but embrace it in full, showing why that genre can have a merit today.
4/5 – editors pick
Ljubinko Zivkovic (courtesy of Spill magazine)
Smoke + Glass is the abstract name of an even more abstract LP from the production duo Alex Haas / Bill Laswell. The two engineers and producers have been working from the shadows of the NYC music scene since the late '70s, and their distinctive sound has marked projects by influential names like Blur and Nine Inch Nails.
It's hard to summarize Smoke + Glass, because how do you summarize an LP that blends Eastern, ethereal instrumentals with dubby basslines in one song, and then takes a sharp turn in the next, conjuring up the mental chaos, ramping about behind a character's zoomed-in face in a chilling scene from a thriller/horror film.
The common theme in Smoke + Glass is the edge and sense of drama that permeates its experimental sound, which stems from the glitchy beats, eerie urban electronics, and just the all-around ambivalence of the songs. The LP is quite suitable for mystery films ala David Lynch or something with a futuristic feel. Another common denominator is the vivid imagery it invokes, however, with the exception of the palpably creepy songs, that imagery can be strictly subjective.
Saxophone fans will certainly find something in the song "Chasing Chaos", which probably takes its name from the instrument's vehement melodies which whirl around like a rampant, but beautifully shaped tornado.
The "Truth Be Told" music video is also worth a mention, as it immerses us in a relaxing, underwater backdrop which complements perfectly the song's ethereal Eastern motifs and makes for quite a trippy combination with the ambient feel of the music. There are some vibrant shots of underwater shapes that fluidly split symmetrically in a somewhat psychedelic fashion, the kind we usually see in animations, which speaks to the masterful execution of the video.
Petar Petrov (courtesy of the Living Life Fearless website)