Jim Noir is the stage name of Alan Roberts, an English singer-songwriter from Davyhulme, Greater 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.
Biography
Noir's stage name is in homage to Vic Reeves, 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 popelectronica 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 music festival in Austin, Texas and is currently signed to Seattle-based indie label Barsuk Records in the States, 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 albumJimmy'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, that his new album would be named A.M. Jazz.
Commercial and pop-culture appearances
Several of Noir's songs have been featured on television programs or adapted for commercials.
On the TV series Grey's Anatomy, the song "I Me You I'm Your" was featured on episode "Owner of a Lonely Heart" 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 used a remix of "Eanie Meany" for their World Cup advertising. 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 featured a commercial in which an adaptation of Noir's song "My Patch" is playing while windows in a large Advent calendar 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".
"My Patch" was used in a trailer for the PlayStation 3 video game LittleBigPlanet, 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, the song "Don't You Worry" was used on episode 218 and "Happy Day Today" was used on 208.
"Don't You Worry" was used in the movie The September Issue
The opening bars of "My Patch" featured in an episode of
In 2009, the song "Tell Me What to Do" was featured on Ugly Betty in the episode "The Courtship of Betty's Father".
