Mike-K - MAD!!

Hear The Track Here

I have to admit that I cheated with this track. Well, that's not strictly true. In actual fact, Mike Kohlgraf (aka Mike-K, for it is he!) cheated on this, not once but several times to my certain knowledge. I know, the blackguard!! Would you have ever thought such a thing possible from a DJ/Musician/Indie shining light? Seeing as I can at least several nodding heads, I can assume most of us know the real answer to that question. Yep, Mike as much as a cool cat as any of us gets terribly excited about his work and wants to share it with everyone - so he does. And again. and again....and again.... In fact, by the time I had finished that particular version of Saturday Night Rocks (Mike's excellent radio show on Mixposure) I had hear MAD!! a grand total of four times. All of which, I might add, blows away my 'don't listen before reviewing rule'. Still, he's a musician and I do know that kind of breathless OMG-look-what-I've-done-now excitement you get when a new track is burning a hole in your brain.

Aaaaah, bless 'em eh???

As Mike so eloqently states in the song comments 'this is normally NOT my kind of music' it being a peice of heavy rock which - if you already know this musician - is DEFINITELY not his usual style. Despite his obvious love for guitar based rock, its not an area Mike normally dabbles in; his is usually the less splashy but no less important mellow guitar tracks he has become well known for. Written as an antidote to a bad case of the blues MAD!! is Mike literally railing against all comers at the hardness of life sometimes, albeit with his guitar as the voice. Regular readers will already know that I have spent years twitting Mike (gently, I hope) about his chosen smooth path and I guess this is also his answer to verbal snipers like me lurking in the Soundclick undergrowth. I certainly shut me up, that's for sure. Should get a Must Have just for that eh? ;)

For me, as a long standing friend of this musician, it shows that a guy like Mike can still pretty much turn his hand to anything and make it work, and work exceptionally well. I also think that his long association with world class players like Christopher Martin Hansen and the firestorm known as Kephas has definitely rubbed off on his own playing style because - to be honest - I wouldn't have said he could have pulled this off a couple of years ago. Pull it off he does though, and in raucous style too. I am not always a fan of straight ahead guitar instrumentals but this one is more than a bit special - not least because of my own connection with this musician. However, all bias aside I know what rocks and what doesn't and this by God does... Now all I have to do is remember where that little riff comes from, a could have sworn it goes with the lyrics 'life in the fast lane...' :)

Highly Recommended and a MUST HAVE for fans.