Miaoux Miaoux album launch at Mono

Last night I went down to one of my favourite venues to witness one of my favourite artists celebrate the forthcoming release of their album ‘Light of the North’. The venue was Mono and the artist in question is the supremely talented MiaouxMiaoux, someone whom I have written about many times on this blog and I also had the pleasure of working with him for a while.

Miaoux Miaoux is essentially Julian Corrie, but he has a growing number of people helping him – Kris Fergusson on bass duties, Paul Carlin on drums and guest vocals from Anna Miles and the exceptionally cool Profisee, not to mention the backing of the seminal record label Chemikal Underground releasing his music.

The album is already picking up fantastic reviews and I really hope that as the reviews and word of mouth recommendations grow, then Miaoux Miaoux will go on to be recognised and appreciated as one of the best artists in the UK; songwriting, singing, production, guitar, synths, bass, drums, remixes…..this boy has the lot and it is beautifully packaged in his debut for Chemikal.

I arrived through the drizzle just as the recently reformed Mitchell Museumwere finishing their last song – not good! Between song music was supplied by Auntie Flo and the excellent line-up was further complimented by ConqueringAnimal Sound, long terms friends with Miaoux Miaoux and currently on the shortlist for the SAY Award with their sublime album ‘Kammerspiel’, although I would say that to fully appreciate their talents and music then you really should take the time to catch the live.

Jamie and the rather gorgeous Anneke took to the stage and urged the crowd to move forward, which they duly did. They then proceeded to play a beautiful 30-minute set that consisted entirely (or certainly largely) of new music. Anneke prowled the stage, using her voice to create wonderful sounds that conjured up references to Bjork in my mind. Jamie created melodies from a vast bank of keyboards and synths, cinematic, vast and expansive, yet also with the capability of drawing you in to make you feel right at home. One new song in particular caught my ears, starting off with lush synths before Jamie created a simple melody that threatened to go ballistic and clubby but just teased and developed into a stunning song. I caught up with Jamie afterwards to say hi and he will be announcing some great news in the near future about their next release. I hope that CAS or Remember Remember win the SAY Award.

On to the main event though. Miaoux Miaoux took to the stage and with a brief but heartfelt thanks for coming, the trio of Julian, Kris and Paul launched into their set. The trio are super tight on stage and the addition of live drums and bass has really pushed the Miaoux Miaoux sound into new territories. Forthcoming single ‘Better For Now’ sounded brilliant, Julian’s vocals were effortless, the rhythm section locked together. ‘Autopilot’ came blasting in, the squelchy synth supplemented by Kris on bass and Julian singing about love found and love lost;

‘I love you but I’m letting you go’.

The album may sound poppy but several of the songs deal with the loss of love, it is nicely balanced by those that sing of the joy of finding and being in love. All of the album (I’ll review that shortly) and the live songs show off Julian’s natural talent for melody and hooks. Old favourite ‘Knitted’ isn’t on the album but it remains a love highlight, as does the instrumental ‘Hrvatski’ which benefits from the live band jamming on it.

The trio had further guests in the shape of Anna Miles who sang the perfect summer pop song ‘Is It A Dream?’ and provided additional vocals on a few others, while the MC/rapper Profisee sang the delicious ‘Virtua Fighter’ that could easily find it’s way on to a Gorrilaz album. ‘Cloud Computer’ has a beautiful guitar riff that stays in my head for days every time I hear it.

‘Hey Sound’ is Miaoux Miaoux’s real party song, a real dancefloor filler, the only problem was that the cool Glasgow scenesters that made up a large percentage of the crowd were too cool to dance – shame on them. I can’t wait until this album takes off and people do dance at Miaoux Miaoux gigs.

There was no room for ‘Snow’ or the stunning ‘Stop the Clocks’ (my personal favourite from the album) but the band closed with a superb cover of ‘Theme From Great Cities’ by Simple Minds.

Get on to the album, out on Chemikal Underground on Monday.  I promise you, you won't regret it.

Miaoux Miaoux Album Preview - Captain's Rest 23/11/11

I've been singing Miaoux Miaoux's praises for a good 18-months now. That should be no surprise considering I manage the unique talents that Julian Corrie possesses, but in truth I wouldn't be doing that if I wasn't a fan first and foremost.


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!

Music in May

May is a busy month for music in Glasgow, yet there are two events that I am particularly looking forward to and it should be no real surprise that they involve the acts I am managing.

Thursday 19^th May – Sonny Marvello live at the Apple Store

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=177283152322424

Taken from the Apple website;

6:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Rocket Science Recording Studio 
Sonny Marvello’s producers Ross Hamilton and Michael Bannister will give us insight into how Apple devices make their workflow more dynamic. At Rocket Science Recording Studio, Ross and Michael rely on a MacBook Pro to record the music, an iPad 2 to wirelessly control Pro Tools and an iPhone 4 to capture HD video of the live sessions. Come along and find out more at this special event.

6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Sonny Marvello: Music, Marketing and the Mac 
How can a pop band record, market, film and network successfully — all using Apple products? Find out from Glasgow’s own Sonny Marvello, a group that’s been compared to Beatles-era McCartney, classic Sparks and the Monkees crossed with ELO. Hear how they recorded their new acoustic mini-album, 100 Club, in only one day. They’ll close this special event with a live acoustic set.

Sonny Marvello - Fire Went Out

Post event Sonny Marvello will be playing a guerrilla style gig somewhere in Glasgow City Centre and following that there will be an exclusive aftershow party for members of the Sonny Marvello 100 club.

What is the Sonny Marvello 100 club?

It isn’t easy for a non-electronic act to find a studio and producer that they trust. It also isn’t cheap. Thankfully Sonny Marvello have found two producers who ‘get’ their sound and who bring out the best in them in the studio – Ross Hamilton and Michael Bannister from Rocket Science Studios.

Ross and Michael produced the bands ‘Pull Me Up’ EP and the band were so impressed that they went on to record three more songs with the duo with a view to getting an album together. Those songs; ‘Tiny Little Sparks’, ‘Paint The Sky’ and ‘Don’t Wanna Be Held’ were paid for out of EP sales. Once the kitty had run dry the band were faced with the task of generating more cash to fund studio time. So the band and I came up with the concept of the 100 club – an exclusive club with 100 memberships available at the cost of £10.

A tenner gets you;

•  A download of the song ‘Who Needs Somebody’
• A strictly limited edition mini acoustic album featuring the songs; ‘Welcome to the 100 club’, ‘Invisible Girl’, ‘Charlie Sheen (you’re living my dream)’, ‘Hold Me Sway’ and ‘Fire Went Out’ (check the video of ‘Fire Went Out’ back at the top of this blog) 
• Access to a secret gig
• A 100 club members badge
• Chance to appear in a video
• Mention on the website
• Future exclusives

Not bad value for a tenner in my humble opinion. Everyone is a winner, the band generate £1,000 to fund a few days in the studio and fans get some goodies and future exclusives. At the time of writing the band are on course to sell the last dozen or so memberships before the Apple Store gig.

So by the end of the summer, Sonny Marvello should have finished the recording, mixing and mastering of their album and it is going to be a belter. The band (and in particular singer-songwriter Stephen Farrell) have been on emotional rollercoaster of a ride over the last two years and that comes across in their songs of love, hope, dreams and at times despair (highlighted in the song ‘Land of the Lost Cause’ recorded last week. The band wear their hearts on their sleeves, there are no gimmicks, no magic tricks, this is a band that write and sing songs that many people will relate to and that upon hearing, people will find themselves singing along to.

Check them out and consider signing up to the 100 club at www.sonnymarvello.net

Tuesday 24^th May – Miaoux Miaoux single launch at Mono with special guests Japanese War Effort, Nevada Base and Peenko dj set http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179453722104970

It is just over a year since I started working with Miaoux Miaoux and it has been an incredibly productive period. The next 6-months fill me with a real sense of excitement as Julian works towards the completion of his album, tentatively titled ‘Arcs of Brilliance’ and I look to see if I can find a label to release and promote his music. Miaoux Miaoux has developed very naturally over the last year with word-of-mouth playing a huge part. People check him out and recommend him to friends, blogs write about him and enquire about what is happening, and if he is booked to play somewhere he tends to get booked again or recommended to a fellow promoter/venue.

The phase begins with the release of a summer single through the small label Eli & Oz, run by Jen Anderson (also of Euphonios) who has a good ear for music and a good track record. I recently discovered the lovely Bear Bones through her label. 

Miaoux Miaoux's songs in question are the insanely catchy and summery ‘Hey Sound’ and the beautiful instrumental ‘Cloud Computer’. The single will be a digital only release and are the first fruits of the album Julian is working on.

When I first heard ‘Hey Sound’ I left Julian’s studio with a huge smile on my face. It is probably his most ‘commercial’ song to date. I was the same with ‘Cloud Computer’. The infectious guitar riff is etched in my brain and I found myself humming it as I walked along the West Highland Way on holiday lately.

The single will be launched with a show at one of my favourite venues in Glasgow – Mono, on 24^th May, the day after it is released. Expect a video in the week leading up to the release and you’ll be able to listen to the songs online soon.

With support from the lovely Jamie of Japanese War Effort (Jamie is also one half of Conquering Animal Sound who have released one of my albums of the year to date) and recently confirmed special guests Nevada Base it is shaping up to be quite a night.