Noir, real name Alan Roberts (his stage moniker is in homage to Vic Reeves, whose real name is Jim Moir), has released two albums to date - 2005's Tower Of Love and the self-titled Jim Noir in 2008. The album and all of the preceding EPs were self-recorded at Noir's home in the suburb of Chorlton in Manchester. His music has been described as psychedelic pop and compared to The Beach Boys, The Beta Band, The Bees and fellow Mancunian Badly Drawn Boy. Noir also cites Australian rap act Dan Amor as a major influence. He is also known for a slightly eccentric dress sense, frequently appearing in a bowler hat. Noir is a multi-instrumentalist, playing all the instruments on his work.
He is currently signed to Seattle-based indie label Barsuk Records in the States, whilst Atlantic UK licence him from Manchester label My Dad Recordings.
Noir released the single "My Patch" in the UK in 2006 and the same year Adidas used Eanie Meany for their World Cup advertising (Josè +10, second part). The song begins "If you don't give my football back, I'm gonna get my dad on you."
From Wikipedia:Jim Noir is the stage name of Alan Roberts, an English singer-songwriter from Davyhulme, Manchester. Noir's stage moniker is in homage to Vic Reeves, whose real name is Jim Moir. He has released two albums to date, 2005's Tower of Love and 2008's self titled LP. Tower of Love and all of the preceding EPs were self-recorded at Noir's parents' home in the suburb of Davyhulme in Manchester.
Noir's music has been described as psychedelic pop electronica with simplistic, often repetitive lyrics and compared to The Beach Boys, Super Furry Animals, The Beta Band, The Bees and fellow Mancunian Badly Drawn Boy. He is also known for a slightly eccentric dress sense, frequently appearing in a bowler hat. Noir is a multi-instrumentalist, playing all the instruments on his work. However, he uses a band at performances.
He played at the 2006 and 2008 South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas and is currently signed to Seattle-based indie label Barsuk Records in the States, and Manchester label My Dad Recordings in the UK.
Noir released the single "My Patch" in the UK on May 1, 2006.
Jim Noir's second album, Jim Noir was released on April 14, 2008, and Noir announced via MySpace blog that his currently unnamed third album was complete as of March 14, 2009.