#17 Smith and Selway – 15.5 Remake (2000)

Straight-forward, ear-bludgeoning techno from the Swedish and American duo of Christian Smith-Solbakken and John Selway. Smith is a tech-house and techno DJ and producer, who began his house and techno label, Tronic, in 1994, then re-started it again in 2009, after a two-year hiatus. Selway has been heavily involved over a number of years since the 1990s in producing as a collaborator in many musical projects. It has been said of Selway that he, “has created and helped to create one of the most stylistically wide ranging bodies of work in the world of electronic dance music.” His first real success in the world of techno was as part of seminal New York duo, Disintegrator, but his most successful collaborations have been with Smith, as the duo “Smith & Selway”. Indeed, between 1999 and 2012, the duo have collaborated on 35 EPs and one album, which represents a pretty prolific volume of work. This one from 2000, 15.5 Remake, (superior to the more brutal 15.5 Edit on the other side), is a belter. It seems to encapsulate for me the sheer raw power, excitement, energy and threatening feel of well-produced techno. Like all techno, house, or disco, however, I implore you to listen to this at high volume on either a quality sound-system, (separates, powerful amps and speakers, etc. etc.),  or in the dome of privacy facilitated by high-quality headphones, (Sony MDRZX310 foldable ones should do the trick, fairly cheaply), otherwise it sounds tinny, repetitive and annoying.