Glam Boys : Mika , Bobby Conn

September 16, 2007 7:19 PM

After a spell of listening to my usual morose and rustic alt. country, and classic rock, my daughther cheers me up today with the light-on-the-testosterone phenomemon that is Mika!. Happy happy joy joy. thumbs up here. Compare with the darker, and more underground low budget contemporary answer to David Bowie, Bobby Conn. Bound to get comments from pop star lovers.
posted by celerystick (37 comments total)

look, i found a guy who sings love songs to rats!
posted by pyramid termite at 7:32 PM on September 16, 2007

Bound to get comments from pop star lovers.

Oh, how far we have fallen.
posted by dhammond at 7:35 PM on September 16, 2007

Bobby Conn's The Homeland is one of the swankest things ever. Click the link and you can stream his entire Thrill Jockey catalog (with a bit of navigation).

"Relax" and "We're Taking Over The World" get five stars from me.

"I am a mason 33rd degree/
10th generation Illuminati/
A pagan god from outer space/
Here to enslave the human race

Franchised Jesus Christ/
Organized Paradise/
Digital Marketplace/
We're not very nice"
posted by bunnytricks at 7:36 PM on September 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

While we're at it, everyone should check out Port-Royal, an experimental/electronica/post-rock band from Italy comprised of three guys on synthesizers and guitars. They've released what so far is the album of the year for me, Afraid to Dance.
posted by Mach3avelli at 7:40 PM on September 16, 2007

I was in a hotel a few months ago and turned on MTV during the 15 minutes a day they still show videos, and saw the Mika video linked here. Fantastic. A huge hit in England, I think, inspiring lots of hate, but I think this song is terrific -- best triplets in rock since Pavement sang "in an abandoned houseboat." Actually, Mika's triplets are better.

Your Bobby Conn link starts with 3 1/2 minutes of a video by (according to the comments) somebody other than Bobby Conn. I also kind of liked them better than Bobby Conn. But not as much as I like Mika. Mika, Mika, Mika!
posted by escabeche at 7:46 PM on September 16, 2007

Wait, I'm sorry, is this now the thread where we randomly assert the greatness of almost unknown bands that we really like? In that case, I give you Madison, WI power-pop legends The German Art Students (think Rezillos, New Pornographers; YouTube link to live signature song "Civil War Re-Enactor"), San Francisco indie-pop obscurities The Invisible Cities (early REM and early Magnetic Fields; album streamed on web site, go straight to track 8, "Bumper Cars"), and Spare Snare, certified as the 46th-best band in Scotland, masters of lo-fi fuzzed-out greatness, and suppliers of perhaps the greatest live show I have ever seen.
posted by escabeche at 7:59 PM on September 16, 2007

Aww, heck. I thought this was a post about Miko.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:59 PM on September 16, 2007

Damn I meant THIS clip to represent Bobby Conn! shoot.
posted by celerystick at 8:02 PM on September 16, 2007

That Mika is amazing. I have never heard anyone successfully channel Freddie like that kid does.
posted by Ber at 8:04 PM on September 16, 2007

sorry every body, Miko just made me a little giddy.
Nuke the thread if it doesnt rate. boo hoo
posted by celerystick at 8:04 PM on September 16, 2007

I like this boy singing love songs to rats better.
posted by pywacket at 8:07 PM on September 16, 2007

Mika asks "does sexualty matter?"

"Anyone can label me, but I'm not willing to label myself...Anybody who says that I don't talk about sexuality or that I don't politically sexualize my music because of taboos, because of being afraid of [not] selling records, is completely wrong. I've made a record that doesn't compromise in any way what I'm allowed or not allowed to say in my lyrics."^*

Mika wonders why he's not as popular among gay people as he feels he should be: "I don't understand it. I've never taken sides on any gender. I like to confuse people but it would appear that the gay scene hasn't embraced my sound, or indeed, my look. I just hope all that can change in the future."

He claims there have been "gay death threats" because he won't discuss his sexuality:

"I get hate messages all the time, a death threat. It was over whether I am gay or not. He wasn't happy that I won't talk about my personal life like that. Sometimes I think that I have made it, other times it is a bit worrying...I never talk about anything to do with my sexuality, I don't think I need to. People ask me all the time. In order to survive I've shut up different parts of my life, and that's one of them, especially this early in my career, I don't really feel that it's necessary to know in terms of my music. Some people make records that are defined by their sexuality, but mine really are not. It does play a lot with campness. It has a theatricality to it. Why not? It's pop music. If you're 14-years-old and you're gay, well, just do whatever you want. I'm not confused and I don't have any barriers about the way I live my life. That's why I don't want to put it under the microscope."

Mika: "Pop is about beauty and class."
posted by ericb at 8:09 PM on September 16, 2007

BTW -- "Princess Stephanie of Monaco says her late mother Grace Kelly would have approved of pop star Mika's chart-topping song referencing her: 'He is very talented and handsome and I'm sure my mother would have liked the song very much.' Said Mika of the icon: 'The song is all about identity and what people expect of me and how I'm perceived. I think Grace Kelly was a rebel and I liked that about her, rather than actresses like Audrey Hepburn or Sophia Loren.'"^*
posted by ericb at 8:10 PM on September 16, 2007

sorry every body, Miko just made me a little giddy.
Nuke the thread if it doesnt rate. boo hoo

Aww, quit yer bawlin' and take yer punishment like a man! ;-)
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:11 PM on September 16, 2007

But glad you checked out Miko, anyway! Nice little tune she's got there, eh?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:12 PM on September 16, 2007

Mika is light and airy like cotton candy, and completely disposable. I'd probably go into hyperglycemic coma if I listened to the album more than once at a time, but his music is infectious and makes me smile everytime I hear it.
posted by djeo at 8:13 PM on September 16, 2007

sorry every body, Miko just made me a little giddy.
Nuke the thread if it doesnt rate. boo hoo

Well, it's really just the framing. There's absolutely no context beyond "I found out about this awesome band today, here, enjoy!" I'm always interested in new music and checked out the links, but the only thing I got from the FPP is that you like a band.
posted by Mach3avelli at 8:18 PM on September 16, 2007

Flapjax, Miko is overwhelming at the moment (Circus History aside) . I needed something light light light. : Mika.
posted by celerystick at 8:21 PM on September 16, 2007

Yeesh. Last time I listened to Bobby Conn all that much, he was a performance artist advocating the "Continuous Cash Flow System" and claiming he was, in fact, the Anti-Christ. In some perverse way, he seems to have mellowed out since then.
posted by unfairlight at 8:26 PM on September 16, 2007

Oh yeah? Well, Bobby Conn sings PASSOVER songs to PUPPET rats that are seemingly named after Dustin Hoffman's character in Midnight Cowboy. SO THERE.
(He's at 5:00 or so)
posted by miss lynnster at 8:28 PM on September 16, 2007

Mika is more looks than talent. Must be the child of something important. And Bobby Conn sucks straight away. So I must ask, why have you wasted our time?
posted by elwoodwiles at 8:29 PM on September 16, 2007

That guy has an amazing range.
posted by delmoi at 8:40 PM on September 16, 2007

Pfft. I'll see your Mika, and raise you Alizee. Don't speak French? It doesn't really matter.
posted by Pastabagel at 9:00 PM on September 16, 2007

Wait, I'm sorry, is this now the thread where we randomly assert the greatness of almost unknown bands

Man, I'd love to be considered unknown with 15 million Youtube hits and a double platinum UK album.
posted by phaedon at 9:00 PM on September 16, 2007

Mika? almost unknown? Not only has his album been out for ages now, but he played T in the Park, Coachella and Glastonbury. Hardly obscure. Maybe not FPP quality either, as he isn't really new.... but he's still amazingly fun to listen to.
posted by KingoftheWhales at 9:51 PM on September 16, 2007

Man, I'd love to be considered unknown with 15 million Youtube hits and a double platinum UK album.

I was talking about Bobby Conn and Port-Royal. I agree, Mika is well-known, as he should be.
posted by escabeche at 10:29 PM on September 16, 2007

Well, they're both new to me. Thanks Celerystick.
posted by doctor_negative at 11:18 PM on September 16, 2007

Both incarnations of Mika were new to me so thanks for the post.

But especially want to thank Mach3avelli for port-royal. Hadn't heard of them before but they're rather beautiful.
posted by pandaharma at 11:56 PM on September 16, 2007

The first thing I thought of when I heard Mika was "this sounds a lot like some of the lighter, happier Queen." When he did that "so I tried a little Freddie" in Grace Kelly I think I physically twitched. He really does sound like he's chanelling Freddy Mercury.

He is clearly talented. His songs are very catchy. I like them and will probably spend a good bit of time seeing what I can listen to before I hunt down any CDs of his to purchase.

Thank you for introducing me to this, and for reminding me again why I continue to click links off of the blue.
posted by chemoboy at 12:06 AM on September 17, 2007

Mika Miko?
posted by thatswherebatslive at 12:41 AM on September 17, 2007

thatswherebatslive wins!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:32 AM on September 17, 2007

This is such a lame FPP. A YouTube link to a Mika video from last year? The UK has been subjected to this at least a million times on TV, radio and festivals. Thanks for sharing...
posted by brautigan at 2:57 AM on September 17, 2007

This a great anti-war song, courtesy of Mr Conn. Better audio can be found at bunnytrick's link.
"No need to fear, no need to run, we only kill our enemieeeeeees!"
posted by tiny crocodile at 4:42 AM on September 17, 2007

I like the Dave Spoon remix of Love Today a lot
posted by empath at 4:51 AM on September 17, 2007

ah, well apparently, dave spoon didn't do it. But i still like it.
posted by empath at 4:54 AM on September 17, 2007

Yeah, come on Mika is not some new discovery. Grace Kelly has been on my IPod for at least six months now and on TV over and over and over again.
posted by Lezzles at 5:48 AM on September 17, 2007

Thanks! I'd never heard of Mika or this song.
posted by papercake at 8:55 AM on September 17, 2007