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. He recently released his album ‘Semicircle’. There is a free download of the track “My Weakness” taken from the album available here which gives a taste of the long player:
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’ was released on 6th June via London label 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:
20 MAY: Leamington Spa – Robbin’s Well
21 MAY: Manchester – Carefully Planned All-Dayer @ the Castle Hotel
23 MAY: York – the Basement (w/ Neuschlaufen) [8PM]
26 MAY: Preston – the Mad Ferret (w/ Three Trapped Tigers & Tall Ships)
27 MAY: Doncaster – Vintage Rockbar
28 MAY: Sowerby Bridge – Puzzle Hall
29 MAY: Bletchy – Metro’s Restaurant
30 MAY: Brighton – Nice Weather for Airstrikes Festival @ the Druids Arms
31 MAY: Cardiff – Ten Feet Tall
01 JUNE: Bristol – Mother’s Ruin
02 JUNE: Southampton – Hampton’s Bar
03 JUNE: Derby – Ryan’s Bar (w/ Hold Your Horse Is)
04 JUNE: Halifax – Crow Versus Crow @ Bar Up (w/ Silent Front)
05 JUNE: Leeds – Brudenell Social Club (w/ Trapdoor Minotaur, Invisible Cities, Bearfoot Beware)
