Copy - Hair Guitar
[Turntable Lab] NYC

You got to hear it to believe it. Awesome! If you read the review for Copy's previous album Mobius Beard, you know that we compared him to the friendlier side of Aphex Twin and gave him the Lab recommended tag. This is brand-spanking new 2007 release and it keeps getting better. "Fist(1)" is another wicked opener from Copy, it's like the angels are playing synthesizers instead of trumpets. I want to hear tracks like "This Is Promotional(2)" and "Assasinator(3)" in the club; is this what the future smells like? "Zipper Problems(4)" is one of those tracks that makes you feel smarter: hey I didn't know my brain could process this type of shit? Yes, this album is definitely more geared towards dancing and movement. Again, I could name check every track here, but I'll leave you with "Actual(5)." 10 tracks in all. Recommended, again. -the mgmnt

Copy - Mobius Beard
[Turntable Lab] NYC

No jizoke. E-Rock from the Audio Dregs label has introduced us to the brilliant sounds of producer Copy. On this 2006 debut, Copy aka Marius Libman, introduces us to his playful brand of electronica. Think of those two feel-good, melodic Aphex Twin tracks he has on each album, extend it to an entire album, add a couple electro club tracks, and this is the finished product. Check out the wicked opener "A Slight But Delicious Warble(1)," then check out upper-nineties shots "Like A Turtle(2), Calling You Back(3), It's A Little Too Late(4)"... damn, I could name-check every track on here. On a final note, check the semi-solemn closer "The Wheel(5)." 11 tracks in all. Recommended. -the mgmnt

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Strength & Loyalty
(Interscope/Full Surface ***)
DJ Copy Presents Bone Thugs-N-Harmony-N-Copy
(www.audiodregs.com ***)

...One guy the Bone should keep close is Marius Libman. Better known as Copy, this hard synth-pop producer already unfurled one of 2007's best, glittering grooves on Hair Guitar. But in turning attention to the soul-hop trio's hits, Copy keeps his spare sounds eerily dramatic - through an electro-fried piano-pounding take on "Tha Crosswords" - while uplifting Bone's already ecstatic mien. Nice.
- A.D. Amorosi

Copy - Hair Guitar
Tiny Mix Tapes
Styles: grinding synth jamborees, electro house, 8-bit video game soundtracks
Others: Ratatat, YACHT, a fun Aphex Twin, Dan Deacon

Minimalism is the shit. On Hair Guitar, Marius Libman (hereafter known as Copy) deconstructs the conventions of standard electronic fare and then constructs them again, and when he dusts his shoulders off after the ribbon-cutting ceremony we can glance up to see the building’s peak crack the stratosphere. Nothing about Copy’s music is mind-meltingly original or a first-ever in a genre where first-evers are never, but his method of super-glue glazing it all together in a sturdy and vibrating ball is his throne of achievement. It’s a relentless attack of house beats channeled through the speakers of a club attended by bob-ombs and koopa troopas. This all translates very well into 40 minutes of blipping and blooping bliss. That’s not to say his approach’s surface doesn’t have a few slight dull spots on the waxy sheen, but it’s easy to glance right over with your eyes closed and your tapping toes moving in ways you can’t even understand. Also, the fucking stratosphere is leaking. Thanks, Copy.

The remorseless “Fist” is the first out of the gates and up to bat, and it’s brought Copy’s A-game. The initial driving beat eventually slips enough for a dreamy synth twinkle to find its way in and make it a lovelier engagement. It’s the main menu sequence to this surefire best console seller of the year. “Assassinator” is the underwater adventure level. Piranhas are patrolling the deepest waters and you’re such a bad ass you’re holding your breath for six minutes, no problem. The song sounds like it was pumped full of bubbles and they, along with your virtual representation, are struggling to escape the gaping beak of some mighty squid. “Could You Like Her?” is the insanely hard bonus round where think fast buddy you’ve got to get as many of those rings as you can before a single wrong move sends you back into the tedium of level to level progression. Sure the rapid pace and blinding colors aren’t helping you concentrate any, and oh your goodness this music is making your palms sweat anguish. “You Can Not Believe It” is the big boss battle, and he’s a hulking and snarling robotic mess 40-feet high, but you’re feeling confident and as if a lightning-quick jolt of luck is going to strike your button-mashing combos.

Copy hail from Portland, Oregon, and it makes you wonder when exactly it was that The City of Roses mutated like Seth Brundle in Cronenberg’s The Fly into a fat and sweaty italo disco club. Digestive fluids and preserved fallen body parts aside, it’s no complaint. However, there is something missing in this 8-to-16-bit pie and it involves sweatbands and sweet kicks (if you’re really serious about it): The record doesn’t have much danceability. Don’t be mistaken, your chair will be rocking every which way furiously, sure to give even the carpet rug burn, but ultimately there won’t be any hormone-fueled grinding in the living room (unless the cat’s on your lap; please take the cat off your lap). The album is a couple hairs above being an IDM excursion, with all the positive or negative connotations that come fully equipped with that title. Either way Copy’s produced a sweet little treat. Injected straight into the vein or taken orally, Hair Guitar is a swift collection of tunes your Nintendo DS wishes it was capable of shaking out.

by Jeffrey Canino

Copy: Hair Guitar - Audio Dregs
[Textura] CA

There's nothing terribly complicated about Marius Libman's Copy material—fundamentally, the polished and jubilant Hair Guitar overflows with gleaming synthesizer melodies and crisp beat bounce—but that doesn't mean the ten-track album's not a thoroughly pleasurable ride. The Portland , Oregon resident throws electro, synth-pop, arcade melodies, handclaps, and tight dance beats into the air and what lands are squiggly swingers like “Assassinator” and gleaming sparklers like “Zipper Problems.” Libman's tracks are wholly and unapologetically synthetic, with drum machines and bass synths battling it out with squirrelly 8-bit melodies for supremacy, and, while that ensures that Hair Guitar exudes uniformity, it also means that those with an aversion to synthesizer music should probably listen elsewhere. (Of course, characterizing it as such isn't entirely accurate either as the album's strengths are as much rooted in its songs as its sounds.) Offsetting a funky bass sputter and skanky stomp with an endearingly melancholic middle section, “You See Around Maybe” is a definite highlight, while the sneaky hip-hop feel Libman works into the sweetly singing “Closet Face” sounds good too. Though he, surprisingly, cites Herbie Hancock, Fugazi, and Dr. Dre as three key influences, the music aligns itself stylistically more to artists like OMD, Solvent, and Giorgio Moroder.
July 2007

Copy - Hair Guitar (Audio Dregs)
[Pop Matters] UK
by Gentry Boeckel

Ironic keytar wielding seems all the rage nowadays. Thankfully, Copy (nee Marius Libman) takes his craft a little more seriously. Keywords, a little. When he’s not crafting original ass-shaking melodic electro, he’s remixing (a la Ratatat) pop grooves such as Mariah Carey’s diva anthems and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s rapid-fire Midwest funk under the name DJ Copy. Thinking man’s music this ain’t (thankfully). Libman can do the squiggle synths and hand clapping with the best of them (he was locally voted “Best New Band” by Portland’s Willamette Week), and at times conjures up Timbaland’s bouncing future-thump. There is some serious instrumental 8-bit dance fun contained within Hair Guitar, even if it is a bit too robot rock at times, with every blip and every snap in its perfect place.

Copy - Hair Guitar (Audio Dregs)
[Dustsed] US

Dusted Reviews
Artist: Copy
Album: Hair Guitar
Label: Audio Dregs
Review date: May. 23, 2007

Marius Libman, a.k.a. the "the best electronic musician in Portland," a.k.a. Moebius Beard, drops delicious beats that make the ladies swoon and the hipsters sway. As his best-known moniker, DJ Copy, Libman has edged his way toward infamy by jumping on an increasingly crowded indie bandwagon - he remixes Top 40 pop.

Folks lucky enough to catch Copy live, or smart enough to pick up a copy of the Moebius Beard LP, were able to snag his homemade mix disc of luscious dance-magic remixes of an unlikely sort. On the Diva Mixtape Vol. 1, Copy turns Mariah Carey's "Emotion" into throwback synth-y greatness and TLC's "No Scrubs" into a wicked old-school hip hop beat atop evil-synthesizer stabs, while Janet Jackson's "Someone To Call My Lover" morphs into an 8-bit video game soundtrack.

Copy's latest release, the fully instrumental Hair Guitar on the Portland-based Audio Dregs (run by the brother of a member of the similarly minded Ratatat), fits well with the label's aesthetic of day-glo, private mind-trip electronica. "Could You Like Her" is an upbeat banger that reveals intricate tweaks that bounce all over your headphones. "Zipper Problems" is a slinky club track with a seductive bassline enhanced by spacious rhythm patterns and quick sputter-drums.

As we inch closer and closer to the space odyssey of 2010, DJ Copy provides a much more accurate future sex love song than anything in the Justin Timberlake catalogue. Libman is an exceptionally slick producer, as evidenced on his work with Diva Mixtape Vol.1 and the upcoming V. 2 with his new band, Do N Dudes. The beats on Hair Guitar are top-notch, but to fully capitalize on the current fetish for electro throwback, Libman could take a cue from artists such as Basement Jaxx, Prefuse 73 and hobbit-cum-indie heartthrob Dntel. Collaborating with a vocalist could easily propel Copy to mainstream acclaim. Pop people like narrative.
By Dustin Drase

Copy: Hair Guitar
[Pop Matters] US
By Gentry Boeckel 1 June 2007

Ironic keytar wielding seems all the rage nowadays. Thankfully, Copy (nee Marius Libman) takes his craft a little more seriously. Keywords, a little. When he’s not crafting original ass-shaking melodic electro, he’s remixing (a la Ratatat) pop grooves such as Mariah Carey’s diva anthems and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s rapid-fire Midwest funk under the name DJ Copy. Thinking man’s music this ain’t (thankfully). Libman can do the squiggle synths and hand clapping with the best of them (he was locally voted “Best New Band” by Portland’s Willamette Week), and at times conjures up Timbaland’s bouncing future-thump. There is some serious instrumental 8-bit dance fun contained within Hair Guitar, even if it is a bit too robot rock at times, with every blip and every snap in its perfect place.

DJ Copy - Diva Mixtape CDR
[The Fader] USA
If you dug the bleep-n-b of folks like Ratatat and The Blow, then DJ Copy's The Diva EP is your bonus beat of teh year-six homebaked remixes where janky keyboard lines and mariah Carey give eah other hugs. Mimi's "Emotions" gets a synthpop workout, "No Scrubs" is reimagined as a recital for electric bass and Sega Master System, and Janet ditches Jermaine Dupri for Johnny 5 on an ultrahot version of "Someone to Call My Lover". Some of the acapellas actualyl should diva out, but the bangers bang-and the whole time you wonder why this concept is relegated to a vaguely artsy homemade CD-R instead of an actual album. The POstal Service sold half a mil doing this kinda shit with Death Cab schlubbing on the mic. NB

Copy - "A Slight But Delicious Warble."
[XLR8R] USA

Mobius Beard, the debut record from Portland's Copy (aka Marius Libman), is an 8-bit masterpiece of fuzzy synth harmonies and innovative beats. Bustling with jovial melody and human frailty. ...that begs repeated listening. -Josiah Hughes

Copy - "A Slight But Delicious Warble."
[Foxy Digitalis] USA

This debut album from Portland (Oregon)’s one man synthpop dynamo, Marius Libman (who records under the name Copy, but just as easily could have reversed the above credits and called himself Moebius Beard!) opens with the disco shuffle and swirling synth swashes of “A Slight But Delicious Warble” (whose title comes from a line in Mark Richardson’s review of “The Conet Project” boxset: “A slight but delicious warble is constantly present, an effect more pronounced when music or electronic tones (great primitive synth sounds abound) take over the voices.”), which brought me back to my 80s dance hall days of Trans-X’s “Living On Video,” Germany’s answer to Depeche Mode, Camouflage and long nights of “Dancing in Heaven” to the orbital be-bop sounds of Q-Feel. There’s even a hint of the old Hot Butter classic “Popcorn” tossed in (no pun intended) for good measure. Before long, you’ll be reaching for your old Dead or Alive albums for a frightening series of 80s flashbacks that will have you revisiting corners of your mind previously thought to have been cordoned off from the rest of your consciousness.
There’s a glitchy syncopation that creeps into “Just Expect” that delivers a robotic spin on the darker, minor-chord excursions of vintage Human League (think “Louise”) and Libman successfully captures the height of the 80s’ New Romantic/White Disco movement throughout. Libman opts for a real drumkit on “Like A Turtle” and it sounds strangely muffled and tinny, and, coupled with his burping, farting synth noises, it’s a lo-fi garagey disappointment.
Depeche Mode’s metallic drumsound is all over “Calling You Back,” which synthesizes (pun intended this time) Vince Clarke’s gift for creating terminally infectious beats and melodies into an all-inclusive happy foot request party! So let’s all get up and boogie down! The rollicking, hi-NRG, highstepping “Afro Oven” is sure to be another crowd pleaser and dancefloor favorite, while the punny, tongue-in-cheek “Plagiarhythm” demonstrates that Libman knows exactly what he’s doing and is surely wearing his heart on his dancing shoes!
If there’s any downside to the album, it’s that wallflowers and other non-dancers may grow weary of the repetitive beats, but this is an album to dance to, not to sit in your easychair and contemplate its significance in the annals of 21st century electronica. So approach it as a fun party album and you will return to it again and again throughout 2006.- Jeff Penczak

Copy - "A Slight But Delicious Warble."
[Lemon Red] USA
Ever since I started this rusty heap of junk, I’ve been receiving gross amounts of CDs. They come from all over, some good, some bad — but mostly indie hip-hop… which means bad. is not indie hip-hop, and that’s not the only positive thing I can say about the dude (whose real name I don’t know). Or rather, I would have a lot of positive things to say, if I knew how to talk about electronic music. As it is, I’ll say that this doesn’t bore me in the least — it’s dynamic and interesting, which is something I rarely find myself saying about this genre. The album this comes from — Mobius Beard — will be out January 10th on the Audio Dregs label. Cop(y) that.

February 07, 2006
Imma Make You Feel Alright
DJ Copy - Mariah Carey : Emotions.
[Music for Robots] USA
One wouldn't necessarily think that R'n'B from the early 90s would have much in common with electro beats from 2006. But you'd be dead wrong. The emotional core of these two artists is somehow the same. Just listen. Two things happen: 1. you sorta miss how Mariah Carey used to be. 2. You marvel at how beautiful the whole thing is. This isn't some cheesy publicity stunt or jokey mashup. This seems to be about love for the music to me.
DJ Copy, who's album Mobius Beard is very quickly dropping on the Audio Dregs label, gives this treatment to five other songs on his latest mix. It's called The Diva Mixtape v1, and features TLC, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson and Destiny's Child. It's all great like this. The take on "No Scrubs" is particularly inspired, and the Janet Jackson is just awesome. He works through great, sad beats underneath these enormous r'n'b hits.
It reminds me a lot of Ratatat's mixtape from two years ago. It's no surprise that they're on the same label.
At any rate, the mix comes free when you buy the cd or vinyl versions of Mobius Beard. The vinyl comes in a hand-screened sleeve, limited to 500 copies. When you place your order, put in the code "Hook Me Up." You can pick up the album on CD or LP from our friends at Audio Dregs.

When the Ceiling Has Become the Sky
Copy - "A Slight But Delicious Warble."
[Music for Robots] USA
This song is fucking dope. Copy is coming seemingly out of nowhere (well, Portland, Oregon) with this debut, and it's very good. It's got beats and synth and all these things you've grown to love from the wonderful Audio Dregs label. It's a thick, deep sound with hot action. The main melody is quite pretty, and the beat is one that could definitely work on the dancefloor. On the rest of the record, there are lots of similar sounds, but it's all very well done, and there's even some Ratatat-sounding elements which I found to be particularly awesome.

I think this is a good record for this Thursday -- it's an exciting day. Tomorrow is my last day of work for the year, my brother is coming in to visit tonight, and there are some really cool projects I'm working on. So on days like this I want my music to share in my excitement and eagerness. So let's get to it, ok?

The record will be available on Valentine's Day (February 14th, 2006). Until then you'll have to be satisfied with this mp3 right here. You can also go check out the rest of the audio dregs catalog for some cool shit.
And randomly, a quick google search reveals that the title of this song may have been culled from Pitchfork review of the Conet Project. That would totally be the case if Copy's Marius Libman had ever heard of Pitchfork. So, one can guess it's just a super weird coincidence.