Young Smoke / Space Zone

Planet Mu

After the early 2012 release of the debut album from Traxman, one of Footwork’s most esteemed veterans, Planet Mu now highlights the work of one of the genre’s youngest and most promising producers. At just 18, Young Smoke (a.k.a. David Davis) has already carved out an idiosyncratic and very listenable niche within Chicago’s footwork scene. His music carries all the hallmarks and framework of classic footwork—heavy bass and 160 BPM rhythms—but with a lightness of touch and the conceptual abstraction of space themes. Where older producers often reference the spacey funk of the ’70s to repetitive and aggressive effect, Young Smoke uses self-made samples from his arsenal of software synthesizers. The resulting aquatic feel engages the listener’s imagination and hints at narratives behind the music. Also, in a move rare for footwork, he’s not afraid to inject his tracks with overt melodies. Space Zone’s techno-like atmosphere of bleeps, effects and swirling chords, along with its melodic freshness, is signature Young Smoke. Take the title track’s vocoder riff and light melody, which hark back to friendly video game themes, or the echoey bleeps and aquatic sunken Rhodes chords of “Space Muzik Pt. 2”—it’s easy to see that Davis has a musical ear far beyond his years and a strong sense of inventiveness. “Traps in Space” takes effects that sound like they could be from a musique concrete record and mixes them with dubstep-style sub bass pulses and syncopated drums to intoxicating effect, while “Space Breeze” mixes deep house chords with bubbling aqua-pulses and tight drum edits and fills. Young Smoke is a very exciting producer; it’s easy to compare his music’s color and refreshing ideas with those of Joker’s imaginative early productions. Space Zone is an enjoyable and immersive listen that never gets too ambient: there is more than enough dissonance, brain-scrubbing psychedelia and drum patterns balanced on the edge of chaos to keep things gripping. Turn it up.

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