Mike-K - Whatever You Say

Hear The Track Here

I write this review suffused with the knowledge that I can spend a few hours needling this artist while he does his acclaimed Saturday Night Rocks radio show over at Mixposure. It fair warms the cockles of my heart I tell ya. Then, and only then, will I post this review. Do you see now how much FUN the internet can be? OK, fine, enough horseplay (Ed: nay!). Melancholy (October 2003) introduced me to this excellent musician and I wrote ' it is a piece of serious music, a beautifully constructed, classically influenced piano/nylon guitar rondelet that is a form of aural poetry'. Between the almost six years between then and now, Mike has kept up a steady stream of equally likeable tracks and made some substantial changes to the way he sounds - and that's something that has only just struck me.

Now I'm not sure that the influence of Kephas is exactly the reason for that change or whether Mike was naturally moving that way stylistically. Whichever it is, it isn't a bad thing because - to be blunt - I prefer that latin influence to Mike's more comfortable song zones and, as a by-product, it does show how fluid and precise Mike is becoming. The reason I dragged the Melancholy elephant into the room is to highlight just how far I think this musician has come, to say nothing about his much wider influence as an indie supporter and radio DJ.

Whatever I Say has a personal poignancy because it is Mike's tribute to Sharma Kay who passed away recently. Consequently, its a solid piece of classic rock (with that latin edge as I say) with not much in the way of frills. I suspect most of the creative energy went into capturing and refining this track because its certainly a fine, clear sound with just the right mix of instrumentation. I think it's probably one of the best sounding tracks Mike has ever come up with, that's for sure. Whether you like it or not depends on your view of the genre I guess.

Highly Recommended latin-influenced rock ;)