Album: Jim Noir, Zooper Dooper (Jimnoir.com)

The retro-futurist psych-pop of the Mancunian solo operator Jim Noir is not too dissimilar to some of Gorillaz' recent work.

There's the same sense of impromptu creativity, the same gift for naggingly likeable melodies and the same playful way with musical styles. On this six-track mini-album, Raymond Scott-style, science-lab synth can be found bubbling away contentedly alongside slick rhythm guitar, quirky beats and woodwind parts. When soft-rock scat-singing sidles into "Zooper Dooper", the result is like a 5th Dimension outtake, while "Kitty Cat" has the chummy character of a sitcom theme. Elsewhere, in quaint tracks about sailing ("Map") and sexual attraction ("Do You Like Games"), there's a whimsicality and childlike sense of wonder that strongly recalls Syd Barrett.

DOWNLOAD THIS Kitty Cat; Zooper Dooper; Do You Like Games