By: Jamie Reyen

UK natives James Frank and Jas Shaw, better known as Simian Mobile Disco, took on Boston’s Paradise Rock Club March 21. Earlier that day, a dreary Monday afternoon, the weekend had felt long gone, but their talents mixed with the crowd’s excitement made it feel like Friday again—at least at the Dise.

SMD opened with the classic “Sleep Deprivation,” off their 2007 debut Attack Decay Sustain Release, and they sprinkled a few oldies, like “Audacity of Huge,” throughout the set. For the most part, new material dominated the performance, but I don’t think anyone minded.

The duo’s November release, “Delicacies,” strays from their old sound, entering a world of minimalist tech-house. The set’s instrumental nature might have surprised fans better acquainted with the sample-heavy tracks of days past, had those fans not been so busy dancing.

Simian Mobile Disco’s new work allows for sets that sound seamless, with transitions that feel effortless. Tracks lost their individual identities and became part of an experience. The unified mix was so engaging that I lost track of time and only snapped back to reality when the club turned its lights on.

Frank and Shaw just ended their North American tour at Ultra Music Festival in Miami. If you missed them this time around, you can listen to their recently released three-hour DJ set below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3