Julian has been working on an album for almost a year now. I've heard bits and pieces during visits to the studio and I long for it to be finished and released as I know it will really move him on to another level.
Wednesday night saw Miaoux Miaoux take his live performance to another level, by playing an Album Preview with special guests joining him on stage to form a live band. Paul Carlin (Dananananakroyd) was on drums, Kris Ferguson (Mitchell Museum) was on bass, Anna Miles (Maple Leaves) was on vocals and the rapper Profisee joined for one song.
Photo by Euan Robertson, RADAR
Jonnie Common was support for the night, and a fine one at that. Elements of the Beta Band and Lemon Jelly were evident, with Jonnie joined on stage by a drummer while he utilised all manner of electronic gadgets to create some beautiful music - well worth checking out.
Miaoux Miaoux strode on to the stage and burst into a garage guitar pop song, catching some of the audience by surprise. There were to be quite a few surprises through the night as Julian showed how easily he could switch from guitar pop to electro, techno and hip hop. The album is going to cross musical boundaries.
Highlights? Well the whole show was one big highlight. 'Guided by Voices' (possibly a working title) was brilliant, more guitar pop and a delicious vocal hook shared with Anna. 'Virtual Fighter' was catchy as fuck with Julian and Anna dueting before Profisee came in and took the song off on a glorious tangent. It reminded me of the Gorillaz, the pop hooks mixed in with hip hop.
Profisee was outstanding, commanding attention and looking cool as fuck. I met him for the first time on the night and he is a lovely guy. I look forward to seeing him perform a full show in the future.
Anna Miles has an effortlessly beautiful voice and throughout the show she dovetailed brilliantly with Julian, backing him up, singing alongside him and on the poptastic 'Is It A Dream?' she got to take centre stage. This is surely a summer smash for 2012.
Julian then cleared the stage to perform his double a-side 'Cloud Computer' into 'Hey Sound'. The latter was teased out into an extended version which then went into an improvised techno jam for a good ten to fifteen minutes.
The band rejoined Julian for my favourite Miaoux Miaoux song, the epic 'Stop The Clocks'. I heard a very early demo for this, a picked guitar riff, a gentle vocal melody that was just a guide with words still to be chosen.
The riff is now backed by a simple but huge beat, the lyrics and Julian's voice send shivers down my spine every time I hear it and when it morphs into an electro gem it gets people dancing. I think I can safely say that it will be my song of 2012.
'Snow' finished the show, with Julian thanking the crowd and all his guests. The crowd thanked him back with huge applause.
Bring on the album!
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