Simian Mobile Disco
are an English production and remix team. Formed from the ashes of Simian in 2005 its members are James Ford and Jas Shaw. In addition to his work with Simian Mobile Disco, James Ford is a producer and has worked bands such as the Arctic Monkeys, Peaches and Klaxons.
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SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO TICKETS
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Early history
Simian Mobile Disco was originally formed as a traveling DJ duet, playing on the side of their early four-piece band
Simian [1]. They ultimately released a number of low profile singles, such as "The Count" on
Kitsuné Music, but arguably gained more fame for their remixes of artists such as
Muse,
Klaxons,
The Go! Team,
Air and others. In 2006,
Kitsuné released SMD's underground hit "Hustler", which features a vocal performance from New York singer
Char Johnson.
Musical style
Musically, Simian Mobile Disco are known for heavily stylized tracks —often with minimal instrumentation— that associate themselves with a particular
hook (vocal or instrumental —see mix of "Whoo! Alright, Yeah...Uh Huh" by
The Rapture), which is repeated throughout the track. There is often a breakdown (occasionally more —see mix of "Magick" by
Klaxons) comprising
noise,
drums and sometimes
synths and
vocals.
History
The band's debut album,
Attack Decay Sustain Release
was released on
18 June 2007 on
Wichita Recordings. Among the tracks included on it are "Hustler", "Tits and Acid", "I Believe", "Hot Dog" and lead single "It's the Beat", which features
Ninja from UK indie band
The Go! Team on vocals. The album contains five new tracks, and the European version includes a bonus disc. The album was preceded by two mix compilations in April and May, for the "Bugged Out" and "Go Commando" series respectively.
SMD supported
Klaxons at Brixton Academy on the
5 December 2007 and
The Chemical Brothers at
Aintree Pavilion on
9 December 2007 and
Brighton Centre on
12 December 2007.
SMD made a mix for
Mixmag that came free with the January 2008 issue of Mixmag.
While working on their second studio album, they released a collection of remixed SMD originals entitled
Sample and Hold
, which contains eleven tracks and was released in the UK on July 28, 2008. No North American date has yet been announced.
In January 2009, they announced on their Myspace page that a new album was supposed to come out in 2009. Soon after that, they released a new track "Synthesise", on 12 February, through a music video (directed by Kate Moross and Alex Sushon) that "features live visual accompaniment" for the track
[2]. Two days later, a new song was broadcast on the BBC Radio 1 named "10,000 Horses Can't Be Wrong", soon followed by the release on 6 March of the official music video on their YouTube channel.
Their sophomore studio album
Temporary Pleasure
was finally announced on the 6 May, featuring many guests that they have encountered by their work as producers or their worldly tour including
Gruff Rhys of
Super Furry Animals, Alexis Taylor of
Hot Chip,
Beth Ditto of
Gossip, and Chris Keating of
Yeasayer.
[3] [4]
Releases
Studio releases
- Attack Decay Sustain Release
(debut album) (June 2007, Wichita Recordings) - UK #59 [5]
- Live In Japan
(live album) (May 2008, Hostess, Japan only)
- Sample and Hold
(remix album) (July 2008, Wichita Recordings)
- Temporary Pleasure
(second studio album) (August 17, 2009) [6] - UK #39 [7], AUS #42 [8]
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Mix compilations
- Mobile Disco 2003
(Disc 2 of The Cornerstone Player Volume 039
) (2003)
- Bugged Out! Presents: Suck My Deck
(April 2007)
- Go Commando
(May 2007)
- Mixmag presents: 2007 End Of Year Rave-Up
(January 2008)
- I'm A Cliche/The Tokyo Tapes
(2008)
- FabricLive.41: Simian Mobile Disco
(August 2008)
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EPs
- Simian Mobile Disco EP
(July 2007, Interscope, US only)
- Clock EP
(March 2008, Wichita Recordings)
Singles
- "The Mighty Atom / Boatrace / Upside Down" (2004, I'm A Cliche)
- "Piggy in the Middle" (2005, Cassette Records) (backed with "I Freak" by Christine)
- "Pulse" (2005, Click Click Bang)
- "The Count" (2005, Kitsune Music) (backed with "Morse Code From The Cold War" by Dieter Schmidt)
- "Hustler / Clik" (2006, Kitsuné Music)
- "Tits & Acid / Animal House" (2006, White Label)
- "It's the Beat" (March 2007, Wichita Recordings) (with remixes by Graham Massey, Luke Vibert, Riton and Siriusmo)
- "I Believe" (July 2007, Wichita Recordings) (backed with "System" and remixes by Switch and Prins Thomas)
- "Run: Nike+ Sport Music" (Sept 2008, Nike, Inc.) (27:37 long running-oriented song released on iTunes, with an edited version as a b-side)
- "Run" (Oct 2008, White Label) (four edited versions of "Run: Nike+ Sport Music")
- "Synthesise" (Feb 2009) (with visual accompaniment, released exclusively via Beatport)
- "10,000 Horses Can't Be Wrong" (March 2009) (music video directed by Kate Moross & Alex Sushon, released exclusively via Beatport)
- "Audacity of Huge" featuring Chris Keating from Yeasayer (August 2009) with remixes by Dusty Kid, Dekker & Johan, Maxime Dangles and Naum Gabo)) - UK #60 [9]
Remixes
These songs have been
remixed by Simian Mobile Disco.
Year
| Title
| Artist
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2003
| "Take Me I'm Yours"
| The Droyds
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"La Breeze"
| Simian
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"Never Be Alone"
| Simian
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"Cymbalon"
| Max Waters
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2004
| "Cherry Blossom Girl"
| Air
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"Tape 23"
| Fans of Kate
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2005
| "Favorite Friend"
| Diefenbach
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"Before the Light Goes"
| The Fallout Trust
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"Ladyflash"
| The Go! Team
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"State of You"
| Hardkandy
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"Hold That Gun"
| Keith
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"Love Is a Deserter"
| The Kills
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"Morse Code from the Cold War"
| Dieter Schmidt
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"Here Comes"
| Tahiti 80
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2006
| "Mona Lisa's Child"
| Keith
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"Magick"
| Klaxons
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"Downtown"
| Peaches
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"Are You the One?"
| The Presets
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"Walking Machine"
| Revl9n
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2007
| "Je t'aime"
| Armand Van Helden
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"Innocence"
| Björk
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"Hands Off My Gold"
| Celebration
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"Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above"
| Cansei de Ser Sexy
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"International Dateline"
| Ladytron
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"Knights of Cydonia"
| Muse
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"Whoo! Alright-Yeah... Uh Huh"
| The Rapture
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2008
| "Octet"
| Deerhunter
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"No Sale No I.D."
| The Emperor Machine
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"Big Fun"
| Kevin Saunderson & Inner City
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"Pro Nails"
| Kid Sister featuring Kanye West
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References
- May interview Uh Oh Disco! blog http://uhohdisco.com/2009/05/03/simian-mobile-disco-exclusive-interview-part-1/
- http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/149146
- SMD Ready Guest-Crazed Sophomore Album http://pitchfork.com/news/35263-simian-mobile-disco-ready-guest-crazed-sophomore-album/
- Interview: Simian Mobile Disco's Jas Shaw on Temporary Pleasure, Guest Vocalists, and Synthesizers http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2009/08/interview_simia.php?page=2
- Chart Stats: UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive - Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release
- http://www.prefixmag.com/news/simian-mobile-disco-releases-itemporary-pleasurei-/28780/
- Chart Stats: UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive - Simian Mobile Disco - Temporary Pleasure
- Top 50 Albums Chart - Australian Recording Industry Association
- Chart Stats: UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive - Simian Mobile Disco - Audacity Of Huge