Headphone Highlights

Simian Mobile Disco

Wichita Recordings, London

Back in the late '90s, James Ford and Jas Shaw were studying biology and philosophy respectively at Manchester University, while crafting strange electronic music in the spare room of their shared house. Fellow student Simon Lord, a folk-influenced singer-songwriter, caught wind of the duo's sonic experiments, and along with bass player Alex MacNaughten they formed the band Simian. It was around the time when a lot of bands were starting to combine traditional songwriting with electronic sounds in the spirit of Broadcast and The Beta Band. Simian did quite well. But not quite well enough to justify the major label deal they'd signed. James and Jas found themselves playing as a conventional rhythm section in a touring band, which isn't what they set out to do. Even though they realised it would be a terrible cliche for Simian to split in the middle of a long, hot US tour, Simian split in the middle of a long, hot US tour. In order to sate their love of electronic party music, James and Jas booked themselves DJ dates while touring with Simian. They'd finish a gig and then run off to play electro records to small, sweaty rooms full of people who often seemed to be having lots more fun than the audiences at their gigs. As a pisstake, they called themselves Simian Mobile Disco. At around the same time, their record company decided to launch a competition for bedroom acts to remix the Simian track 'Never Be Alone'. A then unknown French production duo called Justice entered and, famously, didn't win (James blames this on the dodgy stereo they had to listen to the entries on). Nevertheless, the remix was picked up by DJs like Erol Alkan and became something of a party anthem. You still hear it played regularly in clubs now, four years after its initial release. It gave James and Jas the boost to strike out on their own as DJs, remixers and producers of thumping electronic party tunes. Simian Mobile Disco became a going concern. They knocked up a few tunes of their own, and released them on labels such as Kitsune and I'm A Cliche, run by their friends. Thanks to having a foot in both indie and dance camps - with their productions combining the dynamics of rock with the propulsive groove and acid fury of techno - they became DJs of choice for all the emerging club nights that were putting on live bands as well as the usual gurn-fodder. James produced albums for Mystery Jets, Klaxons and Arctic Monkeys. Meanwhile, Jas began to build the largest modular synth in the South East of England. They kept making tunes as Simian Mobile Disco but were careful not to take it too seriously, aware that over-thinking their music would be the death of its jubilant, instant appeal. They went to New York to record the vocals of an aspiring singer/rapper called Char Johnson and SMD edited the best bits into 'Hustler', an incendiary dancefloor destroyer that owned 2006, and even got mashed-up with Rick Ross's coke-rap hit 'Hustlin'. They got booked to play everywhere from the Club NME Tour to superclubs like Fabric. They introduced ghetto-tech to the indie kids, played acid to the housed-up hordes, and dropped the theme from 'Willy Wonka' at Bugged Out. Everyone smiled. Then danced their arses off.