Alan Peter Roberts (born 1982), known professionally as Jim Noir, is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

musician and producer from

Davyhulme Davyhulme () is an area of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, Historic counties of England, historically in Lancashire. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 19,634. Davyhulme Sewage Works The area is notable fo ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

. He has released five albums to date: 2005's '' Tower of Love'', 2008's self-titled LP '' Jim Noir'', 2012's '' Jimmy's Show'', 2014's ''Finnish Line'', and 2019's ''A.M. Jazz'', as well as a number of

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

Biography

Noir's stage name is in homage to

Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), commonly known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian and artist. He has a double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. He is known for his surreal sense of humour. In 2003, Ree ...

, whose real name is Jim Moir. His early releases, including ''Tower of Love'' as well as all of the preceding EPs, were self-recorded at his parents' home in Davyhulme, Manchester. Noir's music has been described as

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

with simple, often repetitive lyrics. Noir is a multi-instrumentalist, playing all the instruments on his work. He uses a band at performances. He played at the 2006 and 2008

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

music festival in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

and is currently signed to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

-based

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

label

Barsuk Records Barsuk Records ( ) is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington which was founded in 1998 by Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, the members of the band This Busy Monster, to release their band's material. Its logo is a draw ...

in the

States State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, and Manchester label My Dad Recordings in the UK. Noir released the single "My Patch" in the UK on 1 May 2006. Jim Noir's second album, '' Jim Noir'' was released on 14 April 2008, and Noir announced via MySpace blog that his currently unnamed third album was complete as of 14 March 2009. On 17 November 2010, Jim Noir released a new six-track EP titled ''Zooper Dooper''. On 17 September 2012, Noir released his third full-length studio album '' Jimmy's Show'', composed of the best songs taken from his members-only Noir Club releases spanning the years 2010-2012. On 21 December 2018, Noir announced via

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, that his new seventh full-length studio album would be named ''A.M. Jazz''. On 11 July 2023, Noir announced via

, that his new album would be named Jimmy's Show 2, a sequel to his 2012 album Jimmy's Show.

Commercial and pop-culture appearances

Several of Noir's songs have been featured on television programs or adapted for commercials. * On the 2009 American documentary film "September Issue" about the behind-the-scenes drama that follows editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and her staff during the production of the September 2007 issue of American Vogue magazine, Jim Noir's song "Don't You Worry" was featured. * On the TV series ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'', the song "I Me You I'm Your" was featured on episode "

Owner of a Lonely Heart "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is a song by British progressive rock band Yes. It is the first track and single from their eleventh studio album, '' 90125'' (1983), and was released on 24 October 1983. Written primarily by guitarist and singer Tre ...

" and was also included on the Season 2 soundtrack. The show has also featured the songs "My Patch" and "Tell Me What to Do" in other episodes. * In 2006

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

used a

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of "Eanie Meany" for their

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

advertising (''Josè +10'', second part). The song begins, "If you don't give my football back, I'm gonna get my dad on you." * Ginsters used "My Patch" for an ad campaign in the UK in 2006 and 2007. * For the 2007 holiday season,

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

featured a commercial in which an adaptation of Noir's song "My Patch" is playing while windows in a large

Advent calendar An Advent calendar, from the German word ''Adventskalender'', is used to count the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Since the date of the Advent Sunday, First Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27 and December 3 inclusi ...

open and close. The original lyrics, "If you ever step on my patch / I'll bring you down, I'll bring you down" were modified. In the commercial, A different singer sings "Holidays are times of magic / We're counting down, we're counting down". * The

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

panel game '' The Unbelievable Truth'' uses the opening bars of "My Patch" as its theme song. * "My Patch" was used in a trailer for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

video game ''

LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (''LBP''; stylised as ''LittleBIGPlanet'') is a Puzzle video game, puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in th ...

'', which was shown at the E3 games conference, and also as a main track in the full game. It can be heard in various levels. * On the TV Series ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', the song "Don't You Worry" was used on episode 218 and "Happy Day Today" was used on 208. * The opening bars of "My Patch" featured in an episode of '' Totally Jodie Marsh: Who'll Take Her Up the Aisle?'' *In 2009, the song "Tell Me What to Do" was featured on

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

in the episode "The Courtship of Betty's Father" (3x14).

Discography

Albums

* '' Tower of Love'' (12 December 2005) My Dad Recordings * '' Jim Noir'' (7 April 2008) My Dad Recordings * '' Jimmy's Show'' (17 September 2012) * ''Finnish Line'' (November 2014) * ''A.M Jazz'' (November 2019) * ''Deep Blue View'' (August 2021) * ''Jimmy's Show 2'' (5 November 2024)

Singles and EPs

* ''A Bird Sings in Wool'' (2003) * ''Eanie Meany'' EP (2004) * ''My Patch'' EP (2005) * ''A Quiet Man'' EP (2005) * ''The Key of C'' (2006) * '' My Patch'' (re-issue) (2006) No.65 UK * ''Eanie Meany'' (re-issue) (2006) No.67 UK * ''All Right'' EP (2007) * ''What U Gonna Do'' (2008) * ''Zooper Dooper'' EP (2010) * ''In Hell'' Single (2015) * ''Deep Blue View'' (2020) * ''This Was That (Side A)'' (2024) * ''Out Of Sight'' (2024) * ''Emergency EP'' (2025)

Noir Club releases

Every month, a new EP or demo album was given away for free through the official Jim Noir newsletter Noir Club. * ''Melody Junction'' (December 2010) * ''Super Hooper Dookie Bay by The Dook'' (January 2011) * ''Early Learnings 98 - 05 Part I'' (February 2011) * ''Early Learnings 98 - 05 Part II'' (March 2011) * ''Early Learnings 98 - 05 Part III (April 2011) * ''Pieces of Bob'' (May 2011) * ''Rainbuns and Blank Ends'' (June 2011) * ''Special Features of a Camel'' (July 2011) * ''The Cheese of Jims Command'' (August 2011) * ''Intermission'' (September 2011) * ''Timepiece'' (October 2011) * ''Light End at The'' (November 2011) * ''For Nearby Devil'' (December 2011) * ''Jim and the Beep Seals Live at Electric Picnic 2006'' (December 2011) * ''Helicopters Left'' (January 2012) * ''The End'' (February 2012) * ''HELLO EP'' (May 2022) * ''EP 2 (June 2022)'' * ''EP 3'' (July 2022) * ''Omission Sound - 'Solutions (2000) (July 2022) * ''EP 5'' (September 2022) * ''EP 6'' (October 2022) * ''EP 7'' (November 2022) * ''Mish Mash EP'' (February 2023) * ''Montreal EP'' (March 2023) * ''Cubist Castle Album (2000)'' (April 2023) * ''Tennith'' (May 2023) * ''EP 12'' (July 2023) * ''Ladybird EP'' (March 2024) * ''Jim Noir Random Electrics'' (April 2024) * ''This Was That (Side A)'' (June 2024) * ''Serious Mature Photo Music'' (July 2024) * A ''Few Bits I Probably Won't Finish........EP'' (September 2024) * ''Surprise EP'' (January 2025)

References

External links

Jim Noir at Barsuk RecordingsMy Dad Recordings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noir, Jim 1982 births Living people English electronic musicians English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English pop guitarists English male guitarists People from Davyhulme English multi-instrumentalists 21st-century English singers 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male singers Barsuk Records artists