Miaoux Miaoux

Miaoux Miaoux is Julian Corrie, and although he already has an album, Rainbow Bubbles, to his name my exposure to him previous to this EP comes only from a Zoey Van Goey remix and being a member of Maple Leaves.
The upside to this is that it means I can approach the Blooms EP with no expectations or preconceptions. The downside is that I've clearly been missing out.

Even without knowing what to expect I didn't think I'd be quite so impressed. Put simply, this EP is fantastic stuff.

Some songs and albums seem to match up perfectly with the time of year and Blooms is one of them, it is perfectly fitting in both title and content for the dawning of spring.
The three songs on the EP sound bright, fresh and new, positively bursting with energy.
There's never a dull moment, but for me Snow particularly stands out, with a lengthy intro and a sweeping melody that grabs hold from the off, sweet, gentle vocals, before building to a crashing, beautiful climax, it's a song that just makes makes me smile like an idiot.
As I said already, fantastic stuff. - Aye Tunes

For some Miaoux Miaoux may be a new discovery, and this may even be the first time you have heard him mentioned. For Glasgow PodcART however we were lucky to discover his talents in spring 2009 and almost a year later he is about to release his new EP ‘Blooms’.With a fitting title for the next season, ‘Blooms’ is essentially one of the most feel good collections of songs that I have listened to in quite some time, this is pop perfection with a mixture of delicate vocals and electronic jubilation.

‘Pixellated’ from the onset is the sound of losing all sense of gravity and floating in a tranquil capsule of pure air and light. Julian Corrie’s vocals are sweet and as the song progresses through fields of drum beats and swirling synths until a final destination of staggering beauty is reached. If I could select a song to mark the change of the next season then this would be it.

‘Snow’ is another contender for making you just simply smile. Songs like this create a feeling that you wish you could bottle and sell. The lengthy introduction is almost like a solid bound book with blank pages about to be written on, with it’s simple guitar loop as its bright sky and the twinkling of synths as it’s background, the created effect leaves wonderment. The flurry of instruments build until Corrie’s immaculate vocal begins to sing lines that include ‘I know I can’t be my own best friend’. ‘Snow’ has a certain level of intoxication that you would quite happily sample as often as possible.

‘Dream On’ completes this EP. ‘Blooms’ is a stand out for me, not only in terms of music produced over the past 12 months, but in the history of Scottish pop music. From the instrumentation right down to the production, this is an EP that puts Miaoux Miaoux up there with the best of them alongside LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture and even Soulwax. Bold words you might say, but in my eyes, and more importantly ears, ‘Blooms’ exudes fulfilment. - Glasgow PodcART

At the end of our Django Django interview last month we offered some priceless advice to new bands: name yourself twice. And although we can't claim credit for the latest double-barreled music maestro, perhaps it shows there's something in this ludicrous theory after all.

Because Miaoux Miaoux, the nametag for Julian Corrie's creative endeavours, is gaining admirers at a rate roughly twice as fast as could normally be expected (by my estimates).

But Corrie, it seems, had less careerist intentions in his choice of name: "When I thought of the name Miaoux Miaoux it was kind of a catch-all phrase for 'anything that I write with no specific purpose' - offcuts, ideas, beats - but it's definitely taken on its own identity. Plus it's the noise that French cats make, and I like cats!"

Indulging in a boundary-crushing mélange of electronica and post-rock sounds which he describes as "tricky beats, harsh glitches and soft pulses", Miaoux Miaoux is enjoying a return to underground prominence after a couple of years on the sidelines. He recently played warm-up for Geoff "Portishead" Barrow's new band, Beak, at King Tut's, he remixed a song for Zoey Van Goey, and he has a new EP (called Blooms) on the way.

In case you missed him first time around, Miaoux Miaoux put out an album in 2007 called Rainbow Bubbles - although its timing wasn't exactly ideal for Corrie: "I had to leave Glasgow more or less the day after it was released, so didn't get much chance to promote it. People have said some very nice things though. Hopefully with the new EP coming out I can give it a better shot."

Unlike some of his glitchy contemporaries, Corrie, who also plays guitar in indie-pop outfit Maple Leaves (UtR profile), does not shy away from singing duties. "I've been listening to a lot of Apparat and Postal Service recently, and maybe because of that the new record has a lot of vocals on it," he says. "But then I'm a massive fan of Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed etc, and I think my stuff bridges the gap quite well. Oh, and decent dubstep, like Mount Kimbie and Appleblim."

And anyone planning to attend one of his live shows with visions of one-man-and-his-MacBook might have a surprise in store. "I was obsessed with doing an improvisational show for ages, where I go on stage with nothing prepared and program everything live, but it got very stressful and complicated," Corrie says. "Now I've got more song-based stuff it's me, an electric guitar, a synth and an MPC (Music Production Centre). I like to avoid using computers on stage if I can help it - I've been to a few electronica shows that look like a sales conference."

Miaoux Miaoux is the latest in a succession of electro-flavoured artists to set sparks flying in Scotland, and Corrie is upbeat about the current scene. "Scotland's always been amazing for music of all kinds, and electronic music is no exception - producers like Akira Kiteshi and Loops Haunt are doing completely mindblowing things on a regular basis, not to mention the LuckyMe guys. I guess it's that much smaller that you can build communities, and support one another a lot easier."

With his thoughts already turning to a second album, it looks like Miaoux Miaoux could soon rank in reputation alongside such mirror-image names as Django Django, Zombie Zombie, Liquid Liquid, and - dare I say it - Duran Duran.
- The Scotsman