Simian (band)

Simian were an English electro-rock band, best-known for their song "La Breeze", which was featured in the Peugeot 1007 advertisement and in the Dove film advertisement "Onslaught." The members were Simon William Lord (vocals, lead guitar), James Ellis Ford (drums), Alex MacNaghten (bass) and James Anthony Shaw (keyboard).

History

Their second album "We Are Your Friends" was produced by Brian Eno. In 2000 the band made a cover version of the Prince song "Under the Cherry Moon" from the album Parade (1986). This song was released on the tribute album "If I Was Prince" in 2001.

The band split up in 2005 with Ford and Shaw forming the splinter group Simian Mobile Disco. The new group is more dance oriented and are in demand as remixers and DJs. Lord is now in The Black Ghosts, an electronica act with DJ Touche from The Wiseguys.

In addition to producing records for the likes of Klaxons and the Arctic Monkeys, James Ford is also the drummer for the Last Shadow Puppets, a group he formed with Arctic Monkeys' lead vocalist Alex Turner and Miles Kane of The Rascals. He also produced the group's debut album, The Age of the Understatement which was nominated for the Mercury Prize

In 2006 the single "We Are Your Friends", which is a remix of their song "Never Be Alone", was released on a reactivated Virgin Records label called Ten Records. This single was credited to "Justice vs. Simian" and started life as a submission by the French electrohouse outfit Justice in a remix competition. The video for the single won the award for best video at MTV Europe Video Awards 2006. At the MTV Europe Music Awards 2006, fellow nominee Kanye West appeared on stage to complain about the Justice vs. Simian victory. West claimed that the prize should have gone to him, and that he was told prior to the event that he was going to win the award.

Discography

Albums

*"Chemistry Is What We Are" (2001)This was the debut album from Simian. It was first released in the UK on 9 July 2001 on Source Records and in the US on 18 September 2001 on Astralwerks. The US edition contains two bonus tracks, "The Tale of Willow Hill" and "Grey", that had previously been released in the UK as part of "The Wisp" and "Watch It Glow" EPs respectively.
*"We Are Your Friends" (2002)This was the second album release from Simian. It was released in the UK on 28 October 2002 (on Source Records) and in the US on 29 October 2002 (on Astralwerks). The Japanese release (26 March 2003) also includes the bonus tracks, "Out of Bed", "Coins" and "Reasons", the first two of which had previously been released in the UK as B-sides of the "Never Be Alone" single.

ingles & EPs

The following releases were in the UK only, on Source Records:
*"Watch It Glow" (EP, 16 October 2000)
*"The Wisp" (EP, 21 May 2001)
*"One Dimension" (22 October 2001)
*"Mr. Crow" (25 February 2002)
*"Never Be Alone" (14 October 2002)
*"La Breeze" (2 June 2003)

External links

* [http://www.wearesimian.com Simian Official Site]
* [http://www.simianmobiledisco.co.uk Simian Mobile Disco]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A5953331 BBC Collective article on Simian]
* [http://www.myspace.com/simianfans Simian On Myspace (Fan site)]