Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much

I was first introduced to Mika by my roomate who blasted "Grace Kelly" on repeat for days. I normally got on his case for doing that, but this song was a lot of fun. Similar to the Scissor sisters, and with very feminine male vocals that reminded me of Freddie Mercury more than just a little. I listened to the rest of the album, and found more of the same thing: sugary, layered pop. Most of the songs were fun, though not necessarily memorable, as I can't seem to recall enough about them to actually compare that last album to this one.

Overview
This album sticks mostly to fun piano vibe throughout, although there a couple tracks that have a more somber tone. The overall sound is a fusion of Elton John's piano rock with 80s-00s girl pop (but sung by a man with a feminine voice), with the addition of big band horns and/or orchestra strings and/or synthesizers as backing tracks. You'll even hear touches of latin music (Blue Eyes), lo-fi electronic indie (bits of One Foot Boy), Eric Clapton a la the "Unplugged" album (Pick Up Off the Floor), old-time carnival music (Lover Boy), and Electric Light Orchestra (Dr. John).

Highlights
We Are Golden:
This opening track gives you a pretty good idea of what Mika is about right off the bat. Campy vocal lines with liberal use of falsetto like you would hear from Queen, or more likely The Darkness channelling Queen. A choir of children backs Mika up on the pre-chorus, and the bridge is driven by a dance rock beat before alternating hushed vocal lines and banged piano chords lead back into the big pop rock chorus.

Touches You:
This piano-driven tune bounces along with squelchy synth bassline, and Mika sings like he's Freddie Mercury channelling Michael Jackson. Choir vocal backups add some atmosphere.

Toy Boy:
If you have read more than a few of my reviews, it is probably apparently that I often enjoy silly, theatrical music as much as I enjoy guitar dirven rock. In this song, Mika tells a story in the first person of a toy boy who is thrown away, neglected and abused by various owners. It could almost fit into a Disney movie, other than the lyrics being somewhat suggestive at times. The sad but silly vocals ("She stuck her voodoo pins where my eyes used to be") are backed up by strings, with flute and tuba accents here and there.

Music Nerdery
I didn't realise when I chose this album to review, but Imogen Heap (whose album I reviewed Two weeks ago) worked on one of the songs on this album, called "By the Time". If you are familiar with her style at all, it is very obvious that it was either her that wrote it, or a well crafted ripoff. I originally thought it was the latter, until I realised that both artists reside in England, and probably wouldn't have too tough of a time running into each other now and then. Also, Mika sings with such a feminine voice, and he apes other voices well, so it was a little tough to tell if some of the backing vocals were done by Mika or Ms. Heap.

Recommendations
If you are a fan of the Scissor Sisters, Mika's previous album, dance-pop (not the clubby kind, more like the Spice Girls Kind), or even Queen or Elton John, this album has something for you. If you do not like sugary pop, piano, or campy vocal styles, cover your ears and start running.

Two Hours Traffic - Territory

Two Hours Traffic is a band from Prince Edward Island, and they certainly sound like it. If you have heard much from Matt Mays, Joel Plaskett, Hey Rosetta, or Sloan (all east coast acts), you will likely find much of Territory very familiar.

Overview
I would say that on this album, the style sits mostly somewhere between Sloan when they are channelling 70's rock and earlier Matt Mays (like say...Cocaine Cowgirl), but leans a little towards the folkier rock of Plaskett and Hey Rosetta. I'm sure it will take me a few more listens to figure out the other familiar styles I noticed on the first listen, but there certainly were snippets of Sonic Youth in the intro/verse of Noisemaker, And 40's pop/barbershop quartet influence on Weightless One and Sing a Little Hymn. Lots of borrowing going on here.

Highlights
Painted Halo:
Darker, rockin' song. The chorus of this one really reminds me of Cocaine Cowgirl by Matt Mays and El Torpedo, but I think I like this song better, due to the more varied dynamics and sounds. I
really like the synthy stuff that leads into the chorus.

Drop Alcohol:
This one alternates back and forth from smoky organ to reggae style muted guitars and vocal echoes before the soft new-wave pre-chorus leads into the smooth sweet chorus. I was a little surprised at the direction the chorus took the first time I listened to it, but it fits really well with the song, and manages to generate some energy without getting louder. I liked how the ending added the organ back in, and took everything up just a couple notches, keeping the feel of the whole song coherent, but still taking you somewhere.

Happiness Burns:
I think the melancholy songs on this album were my favorite, including this one. Another smooth blend of styles, starting with the Sloan-ish intro rhythm guitars, into a verse that is very Weezer sounding with its oooo-wooo-oooo backups, but not so Weezer sounding in its atmospheric looseness, the pre-chorus that seems to borrow from Saves the Day's In Reverie, who in turn were borrowing from Electric Light Orchestra and their contemporarys, and finally the chorus, which is the intro over again, but with a melancholy vocal line over top.

Music Nerdery
The more I write this section, the more I realize I am not as skilled at picking out and identifying sounds as I thought I was. Anyhoo, some of my favorite sounds on this album were the keys, specifically the slow attack, shimmering, organ sounds on noisemaker and sing a little hymn, although at times, they almost sounded like they might be guitars through an electro-harmonix pog or hog. It is also possible that it's just some synth modelling, and I am not knowledgable about synths, so if you know what is going on there, enlighten me in the comments.

Recommendations
If you like the east coast rock sound, you will surely enjoy this album. If you are are a fan of catchy music in general, and don't mind the occasional somber or melancholy song  mixed in with the upbeat, danceable stuff, this will also likely be right up your alley. The album borrows very much from other acts, and is not strikingly oringinal, but that does not mean it is not enjoyable, maybe just a little less exciting.

Imogen Heap - Ellipse

If you've ever watched the movie Garden State, and wondered who is singing that song when Zach Braff is on the plane at the end, that's Imogen Heap, with her former group, Frou Frou. Apparently she got sick of people thinking that all she did in the group was sing, so she procured a studio, and pretty much locked herself in for a year to write and record, "Speak for Yourself", all by herself. You may have heard the vocal only song Hide and Seek if you are a fan of The O.C. As much as I made fun of that show, (while watching it on a regular basis) it certainly featured some fine music. Overview "Ellipse" is the follow-up record to "Speak for Yourself", and has a similar overall feel (dreamy, airy, synthy pop, with lots of harmonies and odd vocal sounds), but with a few curveballs, such as Aha! (which sounds like it would be more comfortable on a Danny Elfman movie score), or Half-Life, which sounds strangely sensitive singer-songwriterish for this off-the-wall Englishwoman. Even on the tracks that remind me of the old album, Imogen sounds like she is more comfortable with her sound. Her songs are stronger, more varied, and she throws in unexpected mood changes, nintendo blips and other seemingly odd ideas with smoothness and confidence. Highlights Little Bird: Not too far off from the last album, but I love the dark turn into the "Rats in the kitchen" line, followed by the turn way back the other way with some sweet, smooth harmonies on the same lyric. Bad Body Double: A good head-bobber with some brisk melodies, random shower vocals, my favorite weird imogen voice sound ever at 2:08 , an acoustic guitar breakdown that sounds like Madonna's Don't Tell Me, and half-talked vocal lines (boy do I love those). If you are a fan of clever lyrics, this one seems to be an interesting out-of-body take on body image. Aha!: I might complain that this song doesn't fit with the rest of the album, but I sometimes like surprises, and this is by far my favorite track on the album. Maybe Imogen loves Danny Elfman as much as I do, and this is how she tells everybody. Whether the musical tip of the hat was purposeful or not, wicked song. Music Nerdery For those that don't know, Danny Elfman is the guy who does most of the scores for Tim Burton movies, especially the spooky ones. He also did the themes for the Simpsons, Futurama, and Desperate Housewives, and he used to have a band called Oingo Boingo. If you haven't heard Oingo Boingo, check them out for sure. Kinda 80's new-wave, but with goofy/spooky/morbid lyrics, and all super-talented, well rounded musicains. If you've seen Weird Science, they did the theme for that. My favorite song is Little Girls. I think I will put it on this Sunday's mixtape. Anyhoo, back on the Imogen Heap train. Imogen seems to enjoy using her voice as an instrument. I'm often surprised on the umpteenth listen of a song when I notice a weird sound I though was some instrument is actually her voice. Sometimes she even does entirely acapella songs that sound very different from traditional vocal-only offerings. On the last album, there was Hide and Seek, which was awesome, and apparently all that was used was her voice (although it sounds like some of it was through a vocoder, which would technically make this song not acapella), and a frying pan. She wanted some sort of weird echo on something, so she sang straight into the frying pan. On this album there is Earth, which, unless my ears fool me, is entirely vocal. Took me a couple listens to notice, because I was looking for something like Hide and Seek with no beat (or in this case, Beatboxing). Recommendations Pick this album up in your favorite format. It's interesting and enjoyable from front to back if you are listening intently, even after multiple listens, and is also great to put on as background music. I find this is rare, music is often either too in your face and/or attention demanding to be background music, or is bland and uninteresting if you enjoy actively listening to music. If anybody sees Ms. Heap, please pass on a high-five from me.