Smoke City

Smoke City
OriginLondon, England[1]
GenresElectronic, trip hop[1]
Years active1996–2002
LabelsJive Records[1]
MembersNina Miranda[1]
Mark Brown[1]
Chris Franck[1]

Smoke City was an English band that blended acid jazz and trip hop, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as samba and bossa nova and some lyrics have excerpts in Portuguese.[2] They are best known for their single "Underwater Love", which was a major hit in 1997, after being used in a Levi's television advertisement, "Mermaids" (directed by Michel Gondry).[2] 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 (Joga Bossa Mix)".[2] 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 of John Lennon's "Imagine".

"Underwater Love" is also a track on the soundtrack 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.

The group disbanded in 2002.

Slant Magazine listed their album Flying Away #20 on their list of greatest trip-hop albums of all time.[3]

Members

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Discography

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Studio albums

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List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart
positions
AUS
[4]
Flying Away
  • Released: 1997
  • Label: Jive
123
Heroes of Nature
  • Released: 2001
  • Label: Cutting Edge


Singles

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List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Chart positions
UK
[5]
AUS
[4]
AUT BE-FL BE-WA GER
ITA NOR SWE SWI
[6]
"Underwater Love" 1997 4 41 23 42 33 55 18 58 32
"Mr. Gorgeous (and Miss Curvaceous)" 168 1

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Smoke City". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 363. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
  3. ^ "The 20 Best Trip-Hop Albums of All Time". Slant Magazine. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Smoke City ARIA Chart history (complete)". ARIA. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
  5. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 510. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ^ Steffen Hung. "Smoke City - Underwater Love". Charts.nz. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
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