Sci.Fi Hi.Fi
Soma Recordings have been pioneering electronic music since the label began in 1991. Now with the Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi collection they are bringing together visionary producers and DJ's to present a sonic snapshot of their craft. The artists have no parameters to their selection and are free to represent themselves in any style they choose, portraying influences past, present and future.
Ewan Pearson begins the series in fine style with his delectable excursion through deep and provocative electronic house music. He has been making records for a living since 1998, recording as Maas for Soma, releasing six singles and an album, ‘Latitude’, and under a number of other guises including World of Apples and Partial Arts. Alongside this he has long established himself as one the UK’s finest producers and his amazing remix ability has set the standard in recent years, with the likes of Alter Ego, Moby, Chemical Brothers, Goldfrapp, Freeform Five, Seenenluft, Ladytron, Royksopp,The Rapture and Depeche Mode - to name but a few - all calling on his deft ability to transform a track in his unique style.
His production credits include two albums with alt-country singer Jeb Loy Nichols, plus work with Ladytron, Chikinki and Envoy amongst others, not forgetting his recent programming work on two tracks on Gwen Stefani’s ‘Love Angel Music Baby’ solo album. He is currently lining up key production work, which is set to define his position as one of the UK’s finest young producers. It’s also a little known fact that he is the author with Jeremy Gilbert of ‘Discographies: dance music, culture and the politics of sound’ (Routledge, 1999) making him probably the most articulate DJ in clubland. Fact fans may wish to know that ‘Discographies’ has also been translated into Korean and Spanish.
Since relocating to Berlin, Ewan has seen his DJ career flourish and has subsequently rocked floors as far a field as South Africa, Argentina, Mexico and Australia, while his regular gigs at Pulp in Paris, Pressure in Glasgow and Manumission in Ibiza have given him fanatical following in these places. However, it is Ewan’s own ‘Come Shake The Whole’ residency in London that gives him the most pleasure, as he says “It's there that I've learned most about playing records to people, and there that I feel most comfortable and myself when playing.”
This is the first time Ewan has released a mix album and to make it special he has used Ableton Live, the software has allowed him to include a range of tempos, key-match and re-edit tracks that would have otherwise have been impossible for him to do. The mix itself perfectly captures the atmosphere of hearing Ewan play live in the club, while the melody and harmony that prevails throughout creates an ideal home listening experience.
The track selection conveys Ewan’s unique taste, he comments “All the tracks have been thoroughly road-tested by me; rather than just try and get the most recent and up-to-date things I could, there are
plenty of things here that I think have been maybe overlooked and missed by lots of people or have proved to have particular staying power. I tend to keep playing records that I really love for a long time - as long as everyone else isn't…” There is however plenty of new music, some exclusives and unreleased gems including Danton ‘Odd Bassliner’, Tim Paris’ mix of Karu, Spirit Catcher’s ‘Key Generator’ and Carl Finlow’s breathtaking mix of Villalobos ‘Easy Lee’.
Ewan Pearson has outdone himself with this immaculate collection and has set the standard for the Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi series, and mix compilations everywhere. He’s also terribly nice, intelligent and not bad looking making him a rare and complete all-rounder that should be heralded in these dark disco days.
