26 May 2011

@mikasounds - Twitter更新 Twitter Updates


RT @mikasounds Back in London for a few days ;) http://yfrog.com/h8e9njbkj
RT @mikasounds 返左黎倫敦幾日 ;) http://yfrog.com/h8e9njbkj
2:42 AM May 26th via Twitter for iPhone
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via @mikasounds on twitter

@mikasounds - Twitter更新


RT @mikasounds spent the eve bumbling around Lamb Conduit street in London with my sis Paloma. My new favourite part of the city. A secret buble
RT @mikasounds 成個黃昏都同家姐Paloma係Lamb‘s Conduit Street行。呢度係我係呢個城市入面最新愛上既地方,一個秘密泡泡
5:26 AM May 12th via web
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via @mikasounds on twitter

11 May 2011

@mikasounds - Twitter更新:新專輯明年推出! Twitter Updates: New album out in 2012



RT @mikasounds infact, @Charlie_Gaze, the colabs have been kind of like finally being comfortable getting naked in front of other people... its quite nice
RT @mikasounds 老老實實,今次呢D合作既作品,就好似可以很舒服咁係D人面前除衫咁⋯⋯係唔錯架
about 1 hour ago via web

RT @mikasounds @Charlie_Gaze there are some colabs and some big ones
RT @mikasounds 冇錯有部分歌係同其他人合作既,而當中都有D大製作既
about 1 hour ago via web in reply to Charlie_Gaze

RT @mikasounds new album is out top of next year, its one of the best things ive done in my life, completely liberating and most of all fun
RT @mikasounds 新碟出年年頭出,將會係我呢世人入面其中一樣整過最好既野,製作過程完全自由之餘又好玩
about 1 hour ago via web

RT @mikasounds its been a while since ive been on here i know, how u doing? gonna start throwing you some of my new song titles/lyrics
RT @mikasounds 我都知我好耐冇上黎喇,大家好嘛?係時候掟D新歌名/歌詞畀你地喇
about 1 hour ago via web

RT @mikasounds my dog just vomited a chapstick, good god
RT @mikasounds 我隻狗o岩o岩嘔左成支Chapstick潤唇膏出黎,你好野呀下
about 2 hours ago via web

RT @mikasounds Finish Line by Yasmin, pure summer pop joy Lurve...!
RT @mikasounds Yasmin首Finish Line真是令呢個夏天又Pop又開心!大愛!
about 2 hours ago via web

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via @mikasounds on twitter

7 May 2011

Mika: Pop Up! - 2011年4月號xL Repubblica的每月專欄 Mika xL Column April 14th 2011

Mika在意大利月刊xL Repubblica,2011年4月份的專欄
Mika xL Column 14, April
Mika Talks Art
On a cold January morning this year, I made my way up the winding roads of upstate Connecticut. I was nervous, not only because I was the one doing the driving (I am a terrible driver), but because this felt more like a pilgrimage than a meeting. After getting lost I finally found a discreet painted wooden house, secluded in the middle of a dense forrest. I had arrived at the home of ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ illustrator, Maurice Sendak. Walking into the house, I came across a short, elderly man, dressed in his pyjamas and sitting at the dinner table talking loudly on the phone. When finally presented to him, he looked at me softly and smiled - “you’re very young”, he said, “I’m 82, have a seat”.

Over the next three hours, I glimpsed into the life of a man who’s work has been one of the biggest creative inspirations in my life. Sendak is most famous for the Wild Things but has illustrated over 100 books. His art has reinvented illustration and children’s books, the same way Norman Rockwell reinvented the art of marketing illustration. He lives with his female assistant and friend. With visitors he is generous with his thoughts and time but prefers to work and listen to Schubert. He does this in the same room that he sleeps in, working endlessly, desperate to achieve and leave behind a body of work as good as his heroes, William Blake and Keats.

If I hadn’t become a musician I would have become an illustrator. Illustrations work in a very similar way to pop songs. In pop songs, melodies and lyrics have to be direct. They work best when something indescribable is created out of the most simple ingredients. It can take only seconds for a song to grab your attention. Illustrations have to do the same thing. The lines seem simple and the image quickly understandable, but what goes into it can take as much skill as any painting in the Louvre. In this way, Sendak is the Beatles of the art world.

When sitting with Sendak, it is hard not to feel like you are sitting with one of his characters come to life. Small, big faced and bursting with expression and one-liners. He is a perfect combination of wickedly cynical yet constantly in awe of art and music. It gives him a childlike quality. His ‘Jewishness’ is almost exaggerated. He speaks bits of Yiddish, often with a raised voice and theatrical flair. Many people are unaware of the massive influence Eastern European (mostly Jewish), fine artists from the 1940s, shaped the imagery of their childhood to this day. Fleeing war and political instability, many eastern European painters emigrated to the USA. There they found themselves out of work, with paintings that had no hope of making money. It was in the booming publishing industry that they found a future. With the development of cheap high quality colour printing, books and magazines flourished and illustrations were needed to fill them. The skill of the emigré artists revolutionised illustration. The drawings were still direct and pop, (the publishers made sure of that), but they had a wealth of sophistication and training behind them. Artists like Gustaf Tenggren and Tibor Gergely would later be poached by Walt Disney and many were responsible for creating the intricate visual world of many Disney classics, including Snow White, Disney’s first full length film.

The resentment that some of these artists felt was not unjustified. They were for a long time the unsung heroes of pop culture, rejected by the fine art world, and underpaid by the mainstream companies. How things have changed. I got my first job at eleven after being expelled from school. Unable to read and write, my mother decided to give me a new start and keep me out of formal education for almost a year. During that time I learnt to sing, play the piano and would stare at the pictures in children’s books. The pictures were far more important than the words and there began my obsession with illustration. A couple years later, after I finally managed to save some money, I used all the cash I had to buy my first drawing. It was a watercolour by Jim Woodring, of a bunny called Frank. Frank is drugs, sex, insecurity, happiness and fear. The only thing is, Frank doesn’t speak, there is no text in his comics and he lives a made up surreal fantasy land. Somehow, all these emotions are still communicated and crystal clear. Frank was subversive but my parents had no idea. My Frank picture cost me $300, a fortune at the time. I didn’t stop there. Whenever I made money, I found a picture to spend it on. By the age of 17 I was already trading and selling my pictures online. I often kept this addiction secret from my friends, embarrassed of some of the risks I was taking. It seems I was by no means alone. A whole generation who has grown up with illustration art refuse to see it as merely something disposable. Those Tengrenns and Gergelys that were once given away, can now fetch over a $100,000. How they would turn in there graves!

Now for the illustration on my latest article! My illustrator sister Yasmine, who goes by the pen-name DaWack, thought it would be fun if one of you would illustrate my next article.

So, if you would like the chance to illustrate next month’s column, make your own illustration inside the frame, scan it and email it to feedback@xelle.it with ‘Illustrazione Mika’ in the subject line by the 13th May and we will then choose our favourite…

Check out the paper’s website here: http://xl.repubblica.it/

Translation in Progress
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by Mika on xL Repubblica
Firstly posted on Mikasounds

5 May 2011

Mika新專輯推出有期? Mika's new album in early 2012?


早前有法國歌迷給Mika在法國的演唱會宣傳團隊Alias Production傳了電郵,查詢了一些關於Mika今年夏天在歐洲開演唱會的事。
回覆中暗暗透露了Mika推出新專輯的大約時間!
真是越來越興奮了!
大家好喔!
早陣子我給Mika在法國的演唱會宣傳團隊Alias Production傳了電郵,查詢了一些關於Mika今年夏天在歐洲開演唱會的事。

以下是他們其中一名總監給我的回覆:
你好!

沒錯Mika今個夏天會在歐洲舉行幾場演唱會,而相信他到時也會表演幾首新歌的;不過是甚麼歌,或者新歌是怎樣的,我就不知道了。他開這幾場演唱會的目的主要是跟粉絲維持聯繫,也因為他無法一整年離開他最心愛的舞台。

這次貢比涅(Compiègne)的音樂節在Place d'Armes舉行,背靠鎮上的一座城堡,預計到時會有15,000至20,000人參加,相信整個活動必定會很精彩。

至於在科西嘉島(Corsica)的演唱會規模就真的會小很多了。這個活動在島上西岸阿雅克肖(Ajaccio)的Cosone舉行,預計會有約4,500人出席。

這一連串的演唱會並不是為宣傳新專輯而設的,因為根據Mika在法國的唱片公司Barclay表示,Mika的新專輯直至2012年頭以前都不會推出。

謝謝你的查詢。

Earlier a French fan sent an email to Alias Production, which is Mika's gig promotion team in France, to ask about Mika's European gigs this summer.
In their reply, they predicted Mika's new album might be released early next year!
*is excited*
Hi guys,

I sent an email to Alias Production, which is Mika's gig promotor in France since 2007. I wanted to know a little bit more about these summer gigs.
The co-director answered me and here is what he said:
Hello,
Mika decided to make a few gigs in Europe this summer, and he will play for the occasion a few new songs, but I don't know them. He makes these gigs especially to keep in touch with his fans and because he can't spend one year without being on stage, what he really loves.

The Compiègne gig should be a nice event because it will be in front of the castle, in town, on the "Place d'Armes", and there would be about 15/20 000 people.
The gig in Corsica will be really smaller. It's at Casone, in Ajaccio and there would be probably 4,500 people.
These are NOT for the promotion of his next album, because according to his major (Barclay), his new album won't be out before early 2012.

Regards
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via MFC
Click here to read the original post by French_Deb

新Mika豆腐人起名活動 Help Us Name The New Mika Tofu Doll!


首先感謝所有在早前參與了Mika豆腐人投票活動的朋友!是次活動的反應好得出乎意料!
而我們也很高興宣佈今次獲得最多Like(讚好)的Mika豆腐人就是⋯⋯


Thanks to everyone who voted for their favourite Mika Tofu Doll. The response has been astounding and we are pleased to announce that we have a winner!

The Mika Doll with the most likes is…

不要以為活動就此告一段落!我們還需要大家為這隻新的小小Mika豆腐人起一個名字呢。

立即到Mika Facebook頁的這篇Note下留言,講出你心目中的Mika豆腐人名字!(截止日期為2011年5月9日)我們最後會選出1名得奬者,而該名幸運兒將會得到由Mika親自送出的豆腐人公仔一隻!

立即行動吧!

But we’re not stopping there. We want your help to come up with a fitting name for this glorious new mini-Mika.

Simply comment on this Facebook post with your suggestions before Monday (9th May) and the person who submits the best name will win their very own doll personalised by Mika himself.

So get your thinking caps on and tell us your name choices!
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via Mikasounds