A Moment in Hollywood

How nice spring. There’s a blizzard outside.. Anyway, I first spotted this following "band" in Last.fm’s recommendations. It took a while before I checked what it actually was but it seemed like I had just found the most bubblegum-spirited (read: fictitious) band there was. The Wonders was a made-up 60s pop band in the film That Thing You Do! (1996), written and directed by Tom Hanks. I still haven’t had time to watch the film but it must be pretty cool.

The film contains some very, very nice music.. The title track That Thing You Do! was written by Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne and sung by none other than Mike Viola himself. It’s a good track, and the movie soundtrack also includes other melodic treats – from The Wonders as well as other fictitious 60s groups.

There is one thing that bothers me about the song - or rather people's reaction to it. When I listen to it, it sounds like… well, a power pop song from 1996, and that is what it really is. Still, very many people seem to be convinced that it is an accurate representation of 60s pop. On the other hand, what’s the difference? I guess it just confuses me to hear Mike Viola sing a song that fictitiously came out before he was even born.. And I can't fit a time machine into the equation very easily.

Were Beatles power pop? That is one difficult question… While you’re thinking, why not listen to The Wonders!

Bleu’s Had Me Goin’

Since I’m such a huge Mike Viola fan, I decided to check out L.E.O.’s album Alpacas Orgling (2006). The album was and is a big joy. It sounded good right away and only got better with more listens. Bleu is the main character of the album and many people join him by singing and playing. I’m not very familiar with Bleu’s other stuff yet, but I just might get to know it.. His work is very convincing.

This is one of those great supergroup projects that seem to pop up every now and then.. There are lots of visitors on this album, and I don’t really recognize them all at this point, but I do recognize Andy Sturmer and Bleu’s Major Labels bandmates Mike Viola and Ducky Carlisle, as well as Isaac Hanson from Hanson, my childhood favourite band..

Alpacas Orgling is a great album with pleasant songs and melodies. It’s also nicely produced with rich sounds that leave the songs air to breathe. I’m especially happy with the amazing space-psychedelia. Distracted is for me the song that always sounds even better than other songs on the album. It’s pure melody magic – simple, yet probably the most complicated thing there is.

I hadn’t listened to much Electric Light Orchestra before but L.E.O. sounded so good that I started taking first steps towards becoming an ELO fan.. As you might expect I immediately found several cool songs from ELO’s Greatest Hits. We’ll see what that evolves into.

L.E.O. at MySpace

Mike Viola’s Magic

There is something really exciting about Mike Viola. I discovered him and his band The Candy Butchers last spring, and now my listening activity just keeps increasing. This music is something that feels so genuine and alive. Viola’s melodies are wonderful (at times totally mesmerizing), his lyrics are extremely honest, and his singing voice is low and husky (quite sexy, you might say..). All this makes Viola’s music sound really personal and distinctive.

So far I’ve checked out three Candy Butchers albums. Chronologically, these are the group’s second, third and fourth album. The first (self-titled) is out of print but available in mp3 form. These three following albums, however, are available.

Falling into Place (1999) is a very nice 14-song album with fresh sounds and catchy rhythms. Falling into Place and Killing Floor are really good, along with basically everything on the album. Break Your Heart is my favourite. It features very traditional powerpop instrumentation with outstandingly beautiful melodies.

Play with Your Head (2002) is even stronger that its predecessor, and contains very interesting arrangements. You really don’t hear powerpop songs like Ruby’s Got a Big Idea or My Heart Isn’t in It every day. My Monkey Made a Man out of Me is also hook-filled, and has a cool sitar riff. The even more tremendous side of this album are the beautiful slow songs You Belong to Me Now, Baby It’s a Long Way Down, and I Let her Get Away.

Hang on Mike (2004) is the most gentle-sounding creation of this album trio. There are no rock guitars but quite a lot of piano and peaceful ballads. Again, the album is filled with high-quality songs that are so strong that picking a favourite is difficult. Nice to Know You is beautiful, and Hang on Mike a nice, encouraging song. Sparkle! is interesting, and brilliant, of course. It deals with a very serious subject and is accompanied by some very happy harp sounds.

These following paragraphs that I spotted in last.fm describe Mike Viola’s essence so well that I’ll add them here (for once do some copy-pasting like everyone else):

“A worthy heir to The Beatles and Elvis Costello, Mike Viola blends catchy, creative tunes with clever, true to life lyrics and a hushed, desperate voice.
Viola is brutally honest with his listener; bearing his soul on the microphone, he reveals a man who, like ourselves, does not always have his emotional needs met, but in quiet desperation he fights through life to find happiness.”

Mike Viola has also participated in a couple of other projects in addition to Candy Butchers albums and solo material (solo album Lurch was released last year). He was a part of the pop supergroup L.E.O. with Bleu and many others. Earlier this year he released an album Aquavia, also made in collaboration with Bleu under the name The Major Labels. The album can be downloaded for free at Mike Viola’s website – you just have to tell three friends about the album (or alternatively pay anything you like). It’s a very, very nice album with awesome songs. Check it out now, as well as Mike Viola’s other music!

Mike Viola at MySpace
Mike Viola Website
L.E.O. at MySpace