Video: Micachu And The Shapes with London Sinfonietta - 4Play Documentary

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 [...]

• Micachu  The Shapes - Everything » everything.mp3

For her follow-up to Jewellery Mica Levi has got back together with The Shapes and created a record entitled Chopped and Screwed . Self-described as "classical crunk" the trio collaborated with London Sinfonietta - one of the world’s leading contemporary orchestras no less - to create this concept album. The concept behind the album was inspired by the popular “chopping and screwing” technique in American hip-hop which was developed in Houston in the 1990s. The technique involves halving tempo, skipping beats and affecting portions of the original music. The approach was [...]

Micachu & The Shapes are known for their clickity-clackity sounds with beautiful melodies just tip-toeing on top.  A really strange but pretty amazing collaboration they newly formed with the contemporary orchestra London Sinfonietta.  Imagine the violinist whispering to her neighbor ,"Who did you say the piece was by, Bach-achu?"  The band refers to it as "classical crunk" and it will be on the upcoming album called,  Chopped & Screwed (March 28).  "Everything" is the first song released off their upcoming album. ( home | myspace | facebook )

Micachu and the Shapes and the London Sinfonietta are set to release their album, "Chopped and Screwed," but they want to share a single with fans everywhere. You can download "Everything" below and it's every bit odd and exuberant as you would expect. The live album was recorded at Kings Place, London in May 2010 and it will be released via Rough Trade March 28th.

Micachu & The Shapes have teamed up with London Sinfonietta to create the album Chopped & Screwed . Recorded live in front of an audience at Kings Place, London in May 2010 the album will be released by Rough Trade on 28th March 2011. You can download the track 'Everything' below and also watch the video for how the album was made.