Calvin Harris is Cooler Than You

By Juan Aguilar on May 20th, 2009

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Look, it’s not that your collection of Anime PVC figures or promotional mesh cap from X-Men Origins: Wolverine aren’t making a huge impression on everyone; they are. Very much so. Though it may not be the impression you want to be making, at least one guy is still going to like you, if the lyrics of his music are to be believed. I’m speaking of Calvin Harris, the Scottish producer/singer/songwriter who doesn’t “care what you dress like or what you wear.”

Don’t know Calvin? You probably do. If you own a TV and watch it on a semi-regular basis, you’ve probably seen a commercial for the Kia Soul with a few ultra-hip mice (who themselves are cooler than you) driving the car and bouncing to a highly danceable electroclash jam. Yep, that song is “Coulours” off of Harris’ first album from 2007, I Created Disco. The album is saturated with pitch-perfect minimal grooves and an effortless and somewhat literal dedication to fun. You can hear what I’m talking about in songs like “Merrymaking at My Place,” which celebrates the fact that he and his friends are merrymaking and drug-taking at his place. I’m just gonna say it: Calvin is one of the only reasons to keep a MySpace account open.

If you still don’t know who he is, you would do well in putting something other than Nickelback and Taylor Swift in your spinner; aside from his own music, Harris has worked with such artists as Kylie Minough, Brit rapper Dizzee Rascal, and Brit pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor. If you’re thinking those people aren’t famous enough to register a blip on your radar, keep in mind that at one point Harris turned down the opportunity to work with Lady Gaga because he didn’t like her music but didn’t want to hurt her feelings by saying so. I for one must give him his due kudos: great instincts and manners, dude.

Maybe you haven’t heard of Harris, but that may not last much longer. Slated to release a new album later this year, Harris is promoting the first single “I’m not Alone” by touring Europe after an ill-fated attempt to tour the U.S. and Canada. His music probably won’t be playing on your local radio station by the time he’s done touring, but I don’t believe for one second that an audiophile of your magnitude (read: web surfing music geek) can’t find him on Pandora.

(Photos By: Émilie Bourquin and Nicolas Keshvary)