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Simian Mobile Disco

Who? Simian Mobile Disco is the musical embodiment of James Ford and Jas Shaw. Both remixers and producers (Ford was the man behind the boards for the Arctic Monkeys latest, Favourite Worst Nightmare), the two Manchester, England natives use synthesizers and drum machines to create their bedroom club bangers. Their debut album, Attack Decay Sustain Release arrives Sept. 11 via Interscope.

What’s the Deal? You might recognize Simian Mobile Disco from last year’s “We Are Your Friends,” Justice‘s remix of Simian’s “Never Be Alone.” Now that one half of the equation behind the indie club classic has already blown up this year, the rhythm section from the other is looking to do the same. “Hotdog” starts out with a warm synth line that wouldn’t have sounded out of place between “Bizarre Love Triangle” and “Temptation,” but the rest of the record shows the departure from fellow Mancunians New Order — it’s all cold beats and vocals inside bubbles. The results are the same, though: dance party anthems extraordinaire. The Go! Team’s Ninja rocks the mic on “It’s the Beat” with ferocity and Barry Dobbin from Clor moans “Give me pleasure / Give me pain / Give me more more more of the same” on “Love” like he means it, but the men behind the curtain are the real stars here.

Fun Fact: “We Are Your Friends” actually didn’t come from Simian Mobile Disco, per se. SMD was a side project of Ford and Shaw’s while they were in the now defunct indie rock outfit, Simian. While on tour, they’d finish their shows with the rest of the band, and run off to do DJ sets of the electro they loved. Incidentally, “We Are Your Friends” was the result of a contest to remix “Never Be Alone” put on by Simian, which Justice didn’t win.

Now Hear This:
Simian Mobile Disco – “Hustler” DOWNLOAD MP3

On the Web:
Simian Mobile Disco at MySpace
simianmobiledisco.co.uk

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