When we first heard Micachu & The Shapes, we had a pretty good idea that there was something really unique going on here. Then we read up on the group, led by frontwoman Mica Levi, and were even more impressed. You see, the reason you hear so many unusual sounds on their 2009 album Jewellery (listen to Golden Phone right here) is because Levi makes many of the instruments the group uses basically from scratch. And I’m not just talking about building instruments that already exist, I’m talking about creating instruments that we’ve never seen before. But after that interesting debut album, we haven’t heard much of anything from the group until recently.
It turns out they’ll be putting out a new album Chopped and Screwed on March 28, but it’s not a true Micachu album. It’s actually a collaboration with contemporary orchestra London Sinfonietta, and the album was recorded at a live performance in May 2010. Levi says that they wanted the project to sound really organic and collaborative, and not as though Micachu songs were just being performed with an orchestra. Oh yeah, and the idea was to make the whole thing sound like one continuous flow, like a mixtape of sorts. And from the sound of this first taste of the album, “Everything”, which Rough Trade is offering as a free download. I’m pretty fascinated by this whole project, especially after watching this documentary about the making of the album (including some good looks at some of those crazy, homemade instruments I mentioned earlier), and I certainly can’t wait to hear the rest of it.
Micachu & The Shapes – Everything
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