MIKA

Only For Music

(p) 2003

CD:

Tracklisting:

 
01 Everyone  
02 Be Strong (ft Derick Brown & Steel Pulse)  
03 C Tha Lion  
04 Tonight  
05 Citoyen Du Monde  
06 Il N'Est Pas Trop Tard  
07 Only For Music  
08 I Create  
09 Ils Sont Devenus Fous (ft Candid Child)  
10 Ma Liberté  
11 Good Intentions  
12 Blind  
13 Only For Dub  
14 Dub Tonight  
15 Ils Sont Devenus Fous (Live Version)  
16 Ils Sont Devenus Fous Dub  
ONLY FOR MUSIC LABEL 12345 CD

REVIEW IN ENGLISH:
SOURCE: ROOTS MUSIC Reggae & Dancehall
AUTHOR: Teacha Dan
(The original Dutch version of this review was published in the Cannaball paper, may 2005)



Across from the Dutch border, near Brussels we find Mika, a lady of greek heritage who was raised in Belgium and was infected with the reggae virus at an early age. Her fourth (!) album to date is called Only For Music and that is exactly the kind of vibe Mika and her musicians spread. Take a moment to appreciate the playing of the instruments, the singing and the arrangements and you will be carried away by the pleasure and drive of this band. It is a very diverse album with English as well as French lyrics and music that ranges from British flavoured steppers-dub to lazing summer afternoon reggae with rock guitars and even some hip hop influences. Mika gets her own typical sound across on all styles and in both languages, a sound that one will soon be able to recognize out of thousands of others because of her somewhat nasal voice and her slight French accent.

Her backing band on stage is called The General Dub Progress and do they know how to play! I have had the pleasure of experiencing Mika & The General Dub Progress on stage on a bleeding hot summer afternoon at the open air festival of Reggae 2003 near Geel in Belgium. A very skillful move to let her and her band play away the slow and heavy atmosphere of a demanding night on the festival's campsite with thrusting basses and more musical pleasure. The entire audience was immediately swaying with the music and awakening in high spirits.

Only For Music is a compelling, thrusting album crying for attention, on which the not too quick steppers-sound is the most representative. All tracks are fitted with real horns in stead of the mostly heard synthetic alternative. Mika has some scattered surprises up her sleeve like on 'Citoyen Du Monde', on which a French chanson-like accordion slowly morphs into a sounding melodica and back again. And what to think of the original compositions contributed by Duckie Simpson (Black Uhuru) and by Steve Nisbett and Selwyn Brown of Steel Pulse. Also note the acoustic rough diamond and chill moment 'Ma Liberté' on which the backing is built around hand-drums and guitar.

On the French lyrics tunes Mika is less reserved than on the English ones and because of this they sound slightly more natural and sincere. Accompanied with a nice fullcolour booklet with all the lyrics and some photo's in it, the album boasts sixteen tracks with the last four being remixes and dubs. Mika produces and does lots of her own promotion and she does that out of love for music, Only For Music!

(Teacha Dan)