Micachu

English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Micachu (classical-trained composer Mica Levi) debuted at 21 with Jewellery (Rough Trade, 2009), produced by Herbert and accompanied by her backing band, the Shapes (that featured keyboardist Raisa Khan and drummer Marc Pell). Its songs were very busy and very short, overall insanely disorienting. In fact, ditties such as Vulture are reminiscent of Frank Zappa's satirical skits. She excels at musical nonsense, as in the cacophonous rap of Wrong, the bluesy lied for musique concrete Guts and the industrial ballet Turn Me Well. Calculator harks back to the vintage swinging garage-rock of the Animals but with a demented twist. She briefly tries to impersonate a conventional folkish singer-songwriter in Just In Case, but the creative bug soon takes over. All of them are slim creatures that never abuse their time. The musical and comedian peak of the album, the glorious cow-punk gallop of Sweetheart, lasts less than a minute. She toys with the vogue of dance-punk/ electroclash in danceable songs such as Ship and the more radio-friendly Golden Phone. But don't count on any significant flirtation with the mainstream: her attention span is too short, and her dadaistic passion for destabilizing even the most harmless of refrains is irrepressible.

Chopped and Screwed (2011) was a live collaboration with the London Sinfonietta and a home-made instrument called "the chopper".

Never (2012) is a short album (35 minutes, 14 songs) and Good Sad Happy Bad (2015) was recorded in one night with no rehearsals (32 minutes, 13 songs).

The 58-minute cassette Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Feeling Ill (2014) contains a composition of free-form musique-concrete divided into three sections of electronic collages, mostly industrial noise and disfigured samples.

Mica Levi also composed sophisticated orchestral soundtracks for Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin (2014) and Pablo Larrain's Jackie (2016).

Mica Levi collaborated with cellist Oliver Coates for the impressionistic vignettes of Remain Calm (2016).

Micachu & The Shapes changed name to Good Sad Happy Bad and released two mediocre albums: Shades (2020) and All Kinds of Days (2024).

London's producer, songwriter and keyboardist Raisa Khan debuted solo with Affectionately (2025), credited to Raisa K and produced entirely on her laptop. The somnolent industrial singalong How Did You Know, the exotic ballet Tall Enough and the surrealistic chant Dreaming reveal a creative and romantic mind, but much of the rest is tentative and barely sketched. She is tempted by old-fashioned synth-pop in As It Seems, but truer to the spirit of the album seem to be, at the other end of the spectrum, the whispered bedroom-pop of Stay.