Juffage were great, and from the sounds of it Living Body are going to be awesome too. Definitely pre-ordering this one. And it turns out our pals Kingfisher Bluez are releasing it too - awesome!

Don't forget Plastic Animals​ at Henry's tonight, joined by the awesome Juffage​. Only a fiver in. https://soundcloud.com/plastic_animals https://juffage.bandcamp.com/album/semicircle-lp 

Band: Juffage

Release: Semicircle (album) – vinyl/mp3

Date: 6th June 2011

Label: Function Records

Web links: http://www.juffage.com

Social Media links: http://twitter.com/juffage

Juffage is Jeff T. Smith, a solo sound artist and multi-instrumentalist from Leeds, via Chicago, Illinois.  He is often seen in bars, art galleries, and basements with a band’s worth of instruments.

A recording enthusiast at heart, he has spent time in some of Chicago’s finest studios including Engine Studios (w/ Brian Deck), and Electrical Audio (w/ Steve Albini).  Live shows see him coming up with inventive new ways of bringing his multi-layered recordings to the stage, utilising live looping and multitasking of drums, vocals, basses, guitars, keys, omnichord, clarinet, melodica, and manipulated cassettes. Juffage performances have been compared to a synthesis of Lightning Bolt’s rhythmic ferocity, Radiohead’s lush pop sensibility, King Tubby’s manipulative production, and Andrew Bird’s ability to make a good loop.  The result has been described as a “hyperactive and technically accomplished display”, “magical”, and “wildly exuberant yet deceptively delicate”.

His new album, 'Semicircle’, takes his distinctive larger-than-life performance style to an even grander scale, adding even more instruments to the mix. But there’s careful orchestration at work under the surface: couched in a patchwork of sounds and cut-up samples is a plethora of pop sensibilities. ‘Small Fires’ casts layers of whirring keys and erratic, densely-packed drums as the oddball trappings that conceal Juffage’s earworm hooks, and ‘My Weakness’ layers, fuzzes, and distorts its way out of being a straight-forward pop song. ‘Semicircle' and ‘HHV’ combine fragments of layered vocal harmoies, analog synthesizers, and thick slabs of slow-moving melody.

This debut is a perfect distillation of what Juffage is about – both defiantly experimental and unashamedly pop-oriented, with neither feature seeming out of place or at war with the other. Recorded over a six year period in 22 different locations around the U.S.A. and U.K., ‘Semicircle’ is an ambitious record and a bold statement of the Juffage story so far.

'Semicircle' is released on 6th June via London label Function Records (Maybeshewill, Shield Your Eyes, Cats Cats and Cats, Nitkowski). Juffage will be on tour in UK throughout May. Details and tour dates are on the reverse.

Tracklisting:

1) Semicircle

2) 120/240

3) Small Fires

4) Stop Making Music

5) Under Fanblades

6) My Weakness

7) HHV

8) Drone II

Upcoming Shows:

03 MAY: Sheffield – the Harley 06 MAY: Bradford – Zuu Bar 07 MAY: Leeds – Headingley Methodist 07 MAY: Bolton – the Dog & Partridge  08 MAY: Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s

10 MAY: Aberdeen – Cafe Drummond

11 MAY: Glasgow – the Bloc

12 MAY: Inverness - Mad Hatters

13 MAY: Lancaster – Yorkshire House

17 MAY: London - Buffalo Bar

20 MAY: Newcastle – TBA

21 MAY: Manchester – the Castle Hotel

26 MAY: Preston – the Mad Ferret

27 MAY: Nottingham - TBA

28 May: Derby - TBA

29 MAY: Northampton – Labour Club 30 MAY: Brighton – the Druids Arms

01 JUNE: Bristol – Mother’s Ruin 02 JUNE: Southampton – Hampton's Bar 03 JUNE: London – TBA 04 JUNE: Halifax – Bar Up  05 JUNE: Leeds – Brudenell Social Club

02 JULY: Reading – Doubledotdash! Festival

12 AUGUST: Skipton – Beacons Festival

Selected press quotes:

"Crawling around amid a tangled mass of wires he leaps from one instrument to the next with the dexterity of a one man Mogwai." Loud & Quiet

“Dreamy anti-folk with layers of distortion and feedback ... well and truly mind-blowing.” Clash Magazine

“Jeff T. Smith (a.k.a. Juffage) is changing the face of experimental music as we know it.” – Emily Rippe, Toledo City Paper

Band: Juffage

Release: Semicircle (album) – vinyl/mp3

Date: 6th June 2011

Label: Function Records

Web links: http://www.juffage.com

Social Media links: http://twitter.com/juffage

Juffage is Jeff T. Smith, a solo sound artist and multi-instrumentalist from Leeds, via Chicago, Illinois.  He is often seen in bars, art galleries, and basements with a band’s worth of instruments.

A recording enthusiast at heart, he has spent time in some of Chicago’s finest studios including Engine Studios (w/ Brian Deck), and Electrical Audio (w/ Steve Albini).  Live shows see him coming up with inventive new ways of bringing his multi-layered recordings to the stage, utilising live looping and multitasking of drums, vocals, basses, guitars, keys, omnichord, clarinet, melodica, and manipulated cassettes. Juffage performances have been compared to a synthesis of Lightning Bolt’s rhythmic ferocity, Radiohead’s lush pop sensibility, King Tubby’s manipulative production, and Andrew Bird’s ability to make a good loop.  The result has been described as a “hyperactive and technically accomplished display”, “magical”, and “wildly exuberant yet deceptively delicate”.

His new album, 'Semicircle’, takes his distinctive larger-than-life performance style to an even grander scale, adding even more instruments to the mix. But there’s careful orchestration at work under the surface: couched in a patchwork of sounds and cut-up samples is a plethora of pop sensibilities. ‘Small Fires’ casts layers of whirring keys and erratic, densely-packed drums as the oddball trappings that conceal Juffage’s earworm hooks, and ‘My Weakness’ layers, fuzzes, and distorts its way out of being a straight-forward pop song. ‘Semicircle' and ‘HHV’ combine fragments of layered vocal harmoies, analog synthesizers, and thick slabs of slow-moving melody.

This debut is a perfect distillation of what Juffage is about – both defiantly experimental and unashamedly pop-oriented, with neither feature seeming out of place or at war with the other. Recorded over a six year period in 22 different locations around the U.S.A. and U.K., ‘Semicircle’ is an ambitious record and a bold statement of the Juffage story so far.

'Semicircle' is released on 6th June via London label Function Records (Maybeshewill, Shield Your Eyes, Cats Cats and Cats, Nitkowski). Juffage will be on tour in UK throughout May. Details and tour dates are on the reverse.

Tracklisting:

1) Semicircle

2) 120/240

3) Small Fires

4) Stop Making Music

5) Under Fanblades

6) My Weakness

7) HHV

8) Drone II

Upcoming Shows:

03 MAY: Sheffield – the Harley 06 MAY: Bradford – Zuu Bar 07 MAY: Leeds – Headingley Methodist 07 MAY: Bolton – the Dog & Partridge  08 MAY: Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s

10 MAY: Aberdeen – Cafe Drummond

11 MAY: Glasgow – the Bloc

12 MAY: Inverness - Mad Hatters

13 MAY: Lancaster – Yorkshire House

17 MAY: London - Buffalo Bar

20 MAY: Newcastle – TBA

21 MAY: Manchester – the Castle Hotel

26 MAY: Preston – the Mad Ferret

27 MAY: Nottingham - TBA

28 May: Derby - TBA

29 MAY: Northampton – Labour Club 30 MAY: Brighton – the Druids Arms

01 JUNE: Bristol – Mother’s Ruin 02 JUNE: Southampton – Hampton's Bar 03 JUNE: London – TBA 04 JUNE: Halifax – Bar Up  05 JUNE: Leeds – Brudenell Social Club

02 JULY: Reading – Doubledotdash! Festival

12 AUGUST: Skipton – Beacons Festival

Selected press quotes:

"Crawling around amid a tangled mass of wires he leaps from one instrument to the next with the dexterity of a one man Mogwai." Loud & Quiet

“Dreamy anti-folk with layers of distortion and feedback ... well and truly mind-blowing.” Clash Magazine

“Jeff T. Smith (a.k.a. Juffage) is changing the face of experimental music as we know it.” – Emily Rippe, Toledo City Paper

Juffage- Declaration of Independence/ My Weakness

Multi-instrumentalist JUFFAGE,