October 2005
Johnny Dark and a compliation CD.
Kin is currently working on releasing at least one new EP (KIN 004) by Ex Junior Boy Johnny Dark, more details and sound files will be here soon.
April 2005
A new EP - Coming Soon.
Nick Kilroy, founder of KIN records, died on the 8th of February 2005.
Shortly before his death Nick had been working tirelessly towards the release of a bunch of new and exciting acts for KIN, continuing in his quest to ensure that as many people as possible got to hear the music he loved and believed in so devoutly. Some of this music will soon be released on a very special EP.
This i-love-music thread stands as testimony to the many lives Nick touched with his endless energy and enthusiasm.
September 2004
Last Exit - the Junior Boys debut album. Some of you will have heard the EPs, some will not have heard anything but the hype. Find out more :
listen to selected tracks
album info
buy the album
reviews
interviews
and press kits (including photos)
junior boys embark on a thirty date tour of north america and canada with the release of their album on domino in the us
september dates
+ thur 23rd - Detroit @ Magic Stick with MOM / Ratatatoctober dates
+ fri 1st - Seattle Chop Suey with MOM / Ratatataugust
KIN is pleased to announce that Domino will be releasing the Junior Boys' Last Exit on September 21st in North America.
The Junior Boys will be playing around thirty dates in a US / Canada tour over september and october this year, sharing the bill with Mouse on Mars and Ratatat. More details on the live page
also - n.m.e. finally gave in to the pressure and reviewed the album.. giving it a 9/10 mark and calling it one of the year's best albums
july
More reviews -
there’s not a bum note on the entire record
drawer b
a must have for even the casual music listener, after one listen you’ll understand what all the glowing reviews are about
indie workshop
one of 2004’s most promising debuts
magnet
the best breakup song in the entire world
pitchfork (again)
eerie post-house pop
san fran weekly
a soaring and undeniably classic slice of electronic pop that easily rivals the best moments of Depeche Mode and New Order
grooves mag
june
Further reviews of the album -
- fifth highest rated album of the year with 87/100 average
metacritic
- a dreamy suite of bruise-tender electro and quicksilver soul
vice
- suave debut album... synthesizes different iterations of
electronica: dubby microhouse, old-fashioned new wave, futuristic R & B
new york times
- it's Kraftwerk with a heavy emotional secret .... lush with human feeling, and stuffed practically to bursting with subtleties that should take several months to begin properly teasing out
last exit to jakarta
- ......And could the Junior Boys pull off an entire record of their amazing brand of electronic pop? Wait no longer because the answer is YES!! The Junior Boys finally release their debut full-length and it is nothing short of brilliant. Ten tracks in all, including the two singles, this album lives up to all of the hype and more. Read the reviews, listen to the record, and bask in the glow of the Junior Boys and their debut full-length Last Exit. It is one of the best albums that you will hear all year. Highly Recommended..
other music
- Last Exit is a quietly revolutionary album. Within six months savvy producers will borrow and steal its innovations, changing the pop landscape for years to come. Few will realize where it started.
fast n bulbous 9/10
- synth pop is back
cyclic defrost
- charming music for a charmless age, an old-fashioned style of pop performed in an exciting new way
u-cover
More reviews -
- its heights eclipse virtually all other music I've heard this year...
Pitchfork 8.9/10
- Album of the week
Rough Trade
- Kompletter Killer!
De:Bug 5/5
- essential... a powerful drug
Les Inrocks
- a unique album that takes a decade's worth of electronic music and injects soulful vocals
Tiny Mix Tapes 4/5
- Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours re-imagineered by peak-period Timbaland. There isn’t a single mis-step on Last Exit. The filler material that too often makes CDs unlistenable as albums is not indulged here
Stylus - 9/10 - Album of the Week
june
Another track from the Jbz album has been added to the streaming section. Bellona, one of the album's 4/4 numbers, found fans at mixmag and has been likened to Kompakt - the bouncy "Bellona" suggests a potentially lucrative detour into microhouse-pop, sounding like Juergen Paape producing The Aluminum Group. Its slinky strut and tease mark it out as a unique track, even for the Jbz.Also there have been updates to the interview and ordering sections.
june
The album's out on the 7th of June. Order it via the sites on this page.. meanwhile, here's some more press.. - Dance Album of the Month
MOJO
- this record is breathtaking.....
Miami New Times
- create songs that bring echoes of the past yet take a step forward
Exploding Plastic 10/10
- Hard to imagine any other record this year that will inject so much life into pop music, or one that will give the underground as much inspiration and validity as this.
BoomKat
- New Order produced by The Neptunes, anyone? The first album of the 21st Century. Astonishing.
CMU
may
...suggest Talk Talk produced by Timbaland, Hall & Oates having a panic attack and a very sleepy Underworld.. Junior Boys' spectral vision of electronic pop is an understated, unpredictable delight.
**** The Guardian
look out for the five star review in UNCUT next month :
- This is where The Wire aesthetic meets early ‘80s Smash Hits.... It’s hard to believe there will be a better record than Last Exit released this year
may
live updates
- May 16 - Wavelength Series / Sneaky Dees / Toronto (Wavelength Series)more to follow - check the live page for more updates
may
the current issue of Q magazine has a four star review of the album :- brave new world of electro-pop... much more interested in mucking about with present day technology than simply recreating the past. very wise
april
the sleeve artwork
and here's a review from dusted:- ...the Junior Boys remain relatively unknown, still a synthetic star in the ascendancy. If there is any justice, Last Exit will change all that...
a truly excellent album, one of the best of 2004 so far
april
less than two months to the release and press for the album is coming in. The first is from brainwashed :- pop music hasn't sounded this inventive and accomplished since New Order released Power, Corruption and Lies. I'm not exaggerating; I've had this record on constant rotation since I received it, and it continues to reveal new charms and ingenious dimensions with each listen.
april
Look out for the JBz inclusion in the Urb Next 100 :april
- junior boys are playing support for 'TV on the Radio' in April 14 / Horseshoe Tavern / Torontomarch
Suddenly the net is full of sites selling polyphonic ringtones of the junior boys' birthday, here's one with both stereo and mono.
More news on the jbz album - promos are being sent out with album notes by VICE's Piers Martin, read it here.
march
Meanwhile an exciting article on the releases so far is published in the Village Voice
- the Boys' combo of neutered soulboyisms and jiggy electronics gives the impression they could be the start of something new for indie rock. Or the public could settle for another wave of emotionally constipated electroclash crypt robbing.
while over in the twin cities
- what makes Junior Boys necessary is that, unlike the bulk of their laptop brethren, their sonic experimentation improves when it's attached to songs--songs that evoke the music bleeding through the walls as you hear a man cry in the bathroom stall of the hottest club in town.
these are both insightful commentaries on the scene the music is finding itself aligned with - read the whole articles here.
march
And K-punk (esteemed writer and CCRU veteran) has contributed his own thoughts on the jb's sound - herefebruary
KIN002 has shipped and will be reaching stores from the 23 February. If you can't find it in a store that ought to be stocking it, let us know. But you're guaranteed to find a copy with an on-line shop.
february
the press for KIN002 High Come Down is slowly trickling in:
- essentially redefining in a single stroke the limits of electronic pop
- Scritti-meets-Japan-meets-Timbaland
- the best thing the trio has done so far"
- imagine a steadicam nitedrive thru neon lit underpasses chasing distant taillights: the updated soundtrack to michael mann's 'thief'
- like Daryll Hall with a sore throat, yet no less assured - the cocky-vulnerable-geek-wannabe-playa, possibly sat in a white satin shirt sipping an icy drink
check the releases section to read more
february
we don't have a forum for comments and feedback on the Junior Boys. There is however a thread on a well known message board that's been following them since their first release - go here.
february
KIN003 has finally gone into production. the Junior Boys' long player, titled 'last exit', is due for release in may, and it's been worth the wait. more info to follow, check here for updates.
february
last years news and events have been archived here
january
album is finished and mastered. ten tracks most of which you won't have heard.photos from the mastering sessions which took place at transfermation with noel summerville.
december
kin002 due for release february 2003. High Come Down EP is another diverse selection featuring a manitoba remix and a whole side of new material. lead junior boy jeremy greenspan again shares writing and production credits with matt didemus and johnny dark. as before, it's defiantly pop but unmistakably off-beat.
you can read an early review on tufluv or his interview with junior boys
december
Xmas card, hours of idle fun and a chilling electronic soundtrack; it also works as a screensaver: shockwave / non-shockwave and adjust the settings in properties [thanks james]
december
the sleeves for kin001.
december
just a fraction of the people we have to thank, in no order
· shlom · jess · simon · howie · tom b · miles · tom p · james b · piers · simon · monstatruk · mike · noel · matt · james wheels · tom baker · dose et al · jk · mike · lauren · james · dee · felix · michael · jon · evil twin · tes · john · sheikh · thaddi · teki · philip · greg · jim · TLR · rich · guillaume · ged · christian · mark · tim · twitch and everyone up there
december
junior boys are recording some sessions and mixes for transmission on radio one. these will be available from the site.
december
december
more reviews in the press section... including brilliant write-ups from The Wire, Pitchfork, Dusted, and plenty of small features and interviews drifting around in the UK music mags.
december
some notable lines from 2003 :
- "why don't you get your cock outta your ass and put out some f**king records, nick"
TLR
- "why are you sending me paedo-spam?"
several people
- "WHO?...no....not interested [click]"
People on the end of the phone
- "Oh hiiii, is that nick?"
Same people on the end of the phone a few weeks later
- "pop isn't avant-garde enough, and the avant-garde isn't pop enough"
Junior Boys
- "it's shit"
jk
- "I felt like Tom Cruise on vanilla sky-y"
Kanye West
- "Don't wanna meet your momma, just wanna make ya come-a"
- "alrightarightarightarightaright arightarightarightarightarightaright"
Andre 3000
- "I'm a bad muthafu*ka, I'm way to fu*kin' cold
Let me tell you what they say, when I'm pullin' off my drawers
They say ooooooooooh weeeee"
Nate Dogg
- "I love you and feel the grooooove"
- "Love for h-i-ire is dangerous"
Ken Laszlo
- "yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo-yo yo-yo-you remind me of who I really am"
Isnasakenai Douji
- "You can follow or lead like Commander Picard"
Killer Mike
- "Holla at me - it's your boy!"
Jay-Z + there are far too many of his lines to list
- "Dude......"
Everyone
- "Why don't YOU put it out?"
anon (and voice in back of head)
november
november
"Zabriskie Point is a place for images that have recently fallen out of my camera. Words and meanings are few, the images to speak for themselves. Named after both the visually stunning film by Antonioni - highly subjective and indulgent, albeit enjoyably so - and the remote Borax mine in the centre of death valley. The aim is to achieve a similar purposelessness."
It began as a blog, a means to gain electroKIN a rating on google, but the initial feedback was so positive it would have been a shame not to continue.november
slowly but surely people are picking up on the junior boys. read recent reviews in the press section.
november
second EP mastered with the mighty noel summerville, you can read more about the process on woebot. it'll be released early in the new year, and the only track people will have heard is High Come Down, the rest is material written over the past month specific for this release.
november
Feel free to send us material, details are on the other artists page. KIN isn't limited to any particular sound, genre, period or medium. Infact the reason we're called KIN and not KIN Records or KIN Recordings is because we're not exclusively interested in music. Music just seems to have become more accessible from the the recent developments in technology. If film were as easily distributed we'd probably be making more of them. So if you like what you hear and think you might have something to add: words, films, music.. then get in touch.
Surprise us.
November 03
Relaunch of reknown Gabba/AMP. You know what to expect : POP, dancehall, bling, noise, haus musik and more POP.
november
KIN begin their mailing list, which won't be solely concerned with KINactivities, offering links to other sites, music and tracks of interest and text that caught out attention. sign up by sending me a mail on the contact address.
october 28th
junior boys will be interviewed on greg clow’s feedback monitor a radio show on toronto’s CIUT. the program starts tuesday at 10 PM until 12 midnight eastern on 89.5 FM. they’ll be talking up the new EP and playing some records together. we’ll archive on the site a few weeks after.
october 20th
KIN relaunch the website, it’s on-line presence - electroKIN. designed and programmed by james tindall a pioneer of web design and winner at this years Ars Electronica for his acclaimed boards of canada site.
october 20th
kin001 is released - junior boys – birthday / last exit - if you can’t find it in your local record store, it’s stocked on-line - HERE
