Droopsy Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 (edited) Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much Article de type Chronique publié dans le genre Pop/Rock le 20/09/2009 par Michael Rochette Attendu pendant plus de deux ans, le deuxième album de Mika tient toutes ses promesses et s'inscrit d'emblée dans la droite lignée de son prédécesseur, le désormais classique Life in Cartoon Motion, sanctionné par chez nous d'un disque de diamant. La concurrence va encore être marron, bleue et violette… Deux ans. C'est en moyenne le laps de temps tacite qu'un artiste peut s'accorder pour sortir un nouvel album sans trop avoir à s'inquiéter de l'oubli (que voulez-vous, nous vivons des temps désespérément amnésiques, à faire passer Memento pour une finale des Chiffres et des Lettres). Encore qu'avec les rotations costaudes de Grace Kelly, Relax, take it easy, Love Today et Big Girl (You are beautiful) sur nos ondes, le temps nous aura paru nettement moins long et aura permis à Mika de peaufiner tranquillement ce deuxième opus avant même que les premiers symptômes de manque n'aient eu le temps d'apparaître. Que les fans se rassurent tout de suite, l'écoute de The boy who knew too much vaudra chacune des secondes qui le séparent de son prédécesseur. Plutôt que de bâcler à la va-vite un deuxième album pour s'empresser de surfer sur le succès tant qu'il y a de la vague, Mika aura pris son temps pour rendre une copie impeccable, combinant un songwriting exigeant à des arrangements brillamment élaborés à base de cordes, de cuivres, de chœurs et/ou d'éléments électroniques délicieusement vintage pour une pop plus flamboyante que jamais. Rien que les trois premiers morceaux qui ouvrent l'album ont des airs de podium de Top Singles : l'exubérant et ultra-efficace We are golden (où, désormais affranchi du doute, le chanteur se permet des structures atypiques – surtout pour un premier single), la fantaisie percussive et dilettante Blame it on the girls ou le très new wave Rain et ses faux accents d'OMD sont d'ores et déjà en lice pour le titre de single de l'année. Tandis qu'avec sa grandiloquence chorale très 70's, Dr John talonne de près (et sans forcer) ce trio de tête. Posé sur un lit de cordes, le délicat I see you adopte un ton plus solennel, comme un mouchoir subtilement brodé de fil de plomb, puis retour aux bagatelles avec un Blue Eyes espiègle bondissant quelque part entre Queen, Simon et Garfunkel ou un Good Gone Girl qui pourrait lui aussi se payer une jolie escalade des charts sans même transpirer. On s'attarde quelques instants sur Touches You, de loin le morceau le plus auto-référencé de l'album qu'on pourrait facilement sous-titrer Love Today 2, et on termine sur la bizarrerie Toy Boy, sorte de fugue baroque qui rappelle sous certains aspects le Coin-Operated Boy des Dresden Dolls… En bref, Mika a laissé le temps au temps et le résultat, sans appel, ne pourra que ravir ses fans (et pourquoi pas même séduire une bonne poignée de sceptiques). Attention toutefois à ne pas tomber dans le piège de la formule facile, notamment ces envolées aigües pas toujours pertinentes qu'ont déjà systématisées -M- ou Muse (pas forcément pour le meilleur). Sinon c'est du tout bon. http://musique.sfr.fr/mag/article/chronique/mika-the-boy-who-knew-too-much --------- Working on translation. Video extract of the press conference: http://musique.sfr.fr/mag/article/interview/mika-je-suis-content-car-jai-pris-des-risques Translation: Awaited for over two years, Mika’s second album keeps all its promises and follows the footsteps of its predecessor, the now classic Life in Cartoon Motion, giving us a diamond disc. The competition can still be brown, blue and purple ... Two years. It’s the time that an artist can implicitly agree to release a new album, without having to worry about being forgotten (we live in times of amnesia). Because of the many plays of Grace Kelly, Relax, take it easy, Love Today, Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) on our airwaves, the time seemed much shorter and has helped Mika to refine this second opus quietly even before the first withdrawal symptoms appeared. Let the fans be reassured right now: listening to The boy who knew too much is worth every second being separated from the first album. Rather than rushing to get a second album done in time for it to ride the first wave of success, Mika has taken the time to make a perfect copy, combining demanding songwriting with brilliantly developed arrangements based on strings, brass, choirs and / or electronic elements for a delightfully vintage pop-sound which is even more flamboyant than ever. Only the 3 first songs on the album are typical top singles: the exuberant, ultra-efficient ‘We are golden’ (in which the singer allows atypical structures - especially for a first single), the fantasy and amateur percussive Blame it on the girls or the very new wave Rain with the “faux accents”, are already in the running for single of the year. But Dr. John with its very 70’s bombastic choral follows the top 3 closely behind (without forcing. Resting on a bed of strings, the delicate I see you adopts a more solemn tone, like a handkerchief embroidered with subtle lead wire, to then return to a playful bouncing Blue Eyes somewhere between Queen, Simon and Garfunkel, or to Gone Good Girl which could also do a nice climbing in the charts without breaking a sweat. We lingered a few moments to Touches You, by far the most self-referenced song the album could hope for and which can easily be called Love Today 2. And it ends with the bizarre Toy Boy, sort of reminiscent of Baroque fugue and in some respects of the Coin-Operated Boy by Dresden Dolls ... In short, Mika allowed to take it step by step and the result can’t do anything but delight his fans (and why not even attract a handful of sceptics). --- Queenie´s note: I found this in another thread. Thanks to nicoleta 2009,september-mika-interview-video-SFR music(France).flv http://www.mediafire.com/?ze4wcq02tzm source http://musique.sfr.fr/mag/videos/ Edited September 21, 2009 by Queenie Adding download link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inbar_assaf Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 T4P droopsy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thank you Droopsy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTel20 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Merci! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikalollipop_karla Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Droopsy Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 Voila, translation's up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Angel Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thx for posting He do look lovely in it... (made the piccies a lil smaller cos they were huge) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natmika Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Merci Droopsy! I always get the feeling reading articles and interviews, that the french not only like him, they embrace him without making assumtions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inbar_assaf Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 very nice review- thanks again Droops! and the video- I dont understand a word in french (and in general, only understood a few he said in english) I was drooling over every word... deadly gorgeous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANI56 Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 t4p, Droopsy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Droopsy Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thx for posting He do look lovely in it... (made the piccies a lil smaller cos they were huge) Huge pics eh?? Nothing wrong with that! Gotta say the quality of those caps are great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 on YT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNoVDrD2sHM&feature=sub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miro Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 The video is on Youtube in HQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ccv4CzQm0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamette Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Thank you! J'aime bien le "1 vues" J'espère que çà va vite changer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kodes100 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 (edited) Thanks Droopsy! I can't get enough of these reviews! Edited September 29, 2009 by Kodes100 spellin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiibet Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Wow, what a lovely review!! Thanks for posting. I can't see any pics in Dark Angel's post, what happened to them? Um, I just love that cardigan, so was wondering if there are any pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickadee Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Thanks guys. I'd missed this one somehow. This person LIKES Mika:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiza Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Lovely review!! And thanks for the youtube link:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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