LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Audio Dregs label) - Keytar-rocking electro master COPY has announced the forthcoming release of his sophomore album, Hair Guitar, due May 29th on Portland's beloved Audio Dregs label. COPY's signature melodic electro-house sound has already garnered fans such as Lovefoxxx (CSS) and Tim Sweeney (DFA) and drawn comparisons to like-minded producers such as
Justice and Ratatat; Hair Guitar's more dancefloor oriented, glowstick-friendly vibe should only grow the love. A mixtape featuring 8-bit reworkings of
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony hits such as "Tha Crossroads" and the appropriately ravey "
Ecstacy" has recently been circulating as well. The title? Bone Thugs-N-Harmony-N-Copy. Of course.
Last year, COPY (who's known as Marius Libman to friends and family) proved that geography isn't everything. Because while Europe and the East Coast once monopolized the modern electro-house sound, Portland now lays claim to its own innovator who has taken the genre to new and unexpected places. His debut, Mobius Beard (Audio Dregs), displayed a knack for melding headphone-friendly synthpop with floor shaking dance music (…or wait, is it the other way around?) that tore up stereos and clubs throughout the city of Portland and beyond. After a year-long string of legendary, sweat-soaked live sets that invetably erupted into epic dance parties, COPY was voted "Best New Band" by the Willamette Week, solidifying his place as a rising star within the local music scene. Outside of Portland, his infectious brand of instrumental dance music made fans from the pop set to countless DJs, audiophiles, hipsters and music nerds alike, who found his style undeniable; somewhere between Ratatat, Timbaland, and MSTRKRFT. And with the release of his notorious Diva Mixtape Vol.1 under the guise of DJ COPY, new life was breathed into the likes of Mariah Carey and TLC, turning mid-90s RnB jams into triumphant, upbeat bangers that snuck their way into the hearts of many unsuspecting listeners (who weren't exactly expecting to roll down the windows and pump their brakes to Whitney Houston this side of the millenium).
A full-fledged music nerd himself, Marius' tastes and influences cast a wide net. Citing the likes of Herbie Hancock, Fugazi, and Dr. Dre as three of his biggest influences, an early interest in music that sonically and thematically pushed the boundries outside of the confines of any specific genre has shaped the sound that he today calls his own. A deft fusion of synthpop, italo disco, hip hop, electro and pop, Hair Guitar is a monolithic release, both explosive and fragile, that simultaniously begs for attentive listening and crazed, all-night dance floor freak outs.
