When the group Simian are mentioned, many people assume this is lazy-speak for Simian Mobile Disco. We forget that Simian was also that charming but short-lived indie-rock group (2000-2003). Simian Vs Justice is a Justice remix of a Simian track, not SMD’s. Simian’s record label decided to run a competition in search of the best remix of Never Be Alone. 
And Justice didn’t actually win the competition. But some time later, Busy P (that money-making-machine Pedro Winters) picked up on Justice’s failed submission (allegedly the first thing those Ed Bangers ever produced) and then released it as the single we know to be ‘We Are Your Friends’. La Breeze (Simian – La Breeze), too, was a massively popular single that already showed the group’s ability to combine indie with a touch of electro. In 2003 Simiain split – none of them wanted to be in a rock band anymore and many preferred the idea of DJing – and so, from the ashes of Simian rose Simian Mobile Disco. With their acid-tinged beats and indie influences, they’ve swiflty risen to become one of the best-know British electro outfits. But Ford and Shaw weren’t the only ones to splinter off…Simon Lord, too, moved further away from indie-rock and closer to all things electro, but without abandoning his indie roots.
Meanwhile…Theo Keating was one half of the electro/hip hop band, The Wiseguys. They had gathered a cult following and critical acclaim, with their jazzy, old-school vibe. Keating was then abandoned to singlehandedly be The Wiseguys. Yes, the plural no longer makes sense within this context. So he dropped The Wiseguys and took on the Touche moniker. He’s an exceptionally talented musician and even produced a couple of remixes under the name of Touche, as well as few underground house tunes, but last year mainly focused on ripping up venues across the nation with his outstanding electro DJ sets.
Anyway, this sprawling musical-family tree now leads me to the Black Ghosts…Both Dj Touche and Simon Lord came together to skilfully craft this ghoulish duo. And ‘ghoulish’ is the association they like to emphasize – they are apparently goth-electro, emanate ghostly beats (I have no idea what those are) and wail about tales of ‘modern gothic romance’. Well, there is certainly something haunting about their floating, echoing voices. And the Skream & Plastician dubstep remix (posted here in top 25 of 2007) certainly suits this description, and even the original ‘Some Way Through This’ reeks of a spooky, horror-filled atmosphere. And the majority of their songs posses vocals that are given over an-powering reign over the song, and do add a haunting aspect. But their distinctly pop-ish sound is, if anything, uplifting. From the bouncy indie-electro 
of ‘Any Way You Chose To Give It’ to the catchy, poppy lyrics of ‘Let’s Get Physical’ to their eclectic mix album…The Black Ghosts, in my eye, can do no wrong.
It’s Simon Lord’s vocal abilities that really help mark this outfit out from all the other indie-electro drab at the moment (after all it’s his distinctive “well come onnnn, well come onnnn” that is forever seered into our brains after the overplayed ‘We Are Your Friends’ single). The lyrics too, are dark and grim – as Touche says, they are “slightly psychotic torch songs… love songs, but hardly of the ‘Baby, let’s be together’ variety. You never get that sense of blind rage that relationships can so easily produce, for example, in [the usual] pop songs.”
Additionally, The Black Ghosts have produced a couple of interesting remixes that have somewhat slipped under the radar. Their mix album includes this breakz-y, heavily drum patterned rework of ‘Listen Up’. ’5:55′ receives a similarly pleasant, but placid touch from The Black Ghosts. The remix of ‘Muzzle No1′ is more of what we have come to expect from these two – a dancefloor stormer, but here with only subtle tweaks to the original. I won’t bother posting older songs as you have no doubt all heard them by now, and the album is released soon, so be sure to get your hands on a copy… but their latest single is outstanding, and follows in a similar vein to ‘Let’s Get Physical’. And Sinden’s remix adds lots of vibrating, bassy sounds and winding buzzing, punctuated by that haunting, crooning voice:
The Black Ghosts – I Want Nothing (Extended mix) [pelski highly recommends]
The Black Ghosts – I Want Nothing (Sinden Remix)
The Gossip – Listen Up (The Black Ghosts’ Remix)
Charlotte Gainsbourg – 5:55 (The Black Ghosts’ Remix)
The Whip – Muzzle No. 1 (The Black Ghosts’ Remix) [pelski highly recommends]
