- Lux Laze is Jam City's soundtrack to Daniel Swan's retro-dystopian sci-fi short of the same name, originally issued in a limited run in 2010. Classical Curves, which was at that point barely a glint in Jack Latham's eye, has since been described as the soundtrack to our dystopian present, reflecting the slick, unforgiving surfaces of hypercapitalist consumerism. By contrast, Lux Laze's dystopia feels closer to this year's followup, Dream A Garden. It sounds old, raddled and kind of romantic, though its atmospheres remain icy cold throughout.
It's often difficult not to think of Vangelis's Chariots Of Fire theme in the echoey bass pedal that opens Running Theme, or Blade Runner's east-meets-west dystopia in Latham's spindly melodies. But Latham builds his own musical world out of these materials, and does it with the deftness you'd expect of such a talented producer. The five brief tracks are best enjoyed as a suite, with the same soupy percussion and piercing synths recurring throughout. We're transported from the smoggy gloom of "Opener," through the dazzling "Chimes," to the gorgeous "Main Theme." It may be slight (12 minutes), but Lux Laze is an interesting footnote in an impressive discography.
TracklistA1 I (Opener)
A2 II (Chimes)
B1 III (Running Theme)
B2 IV (Main Theme)
B3 V (Lost Track)